Camping in October

When we planed our October camp out we decided we would not go to the mountains, but stay down lower, where it would be warmer. Then we saw the forecast. It was suppose to be 101 degrees where we planed to camp, so we headed to the mountains once again. The temperature was perfect (if you are in the sun you can wear jeans and short sleeves, but in the shade you need long sleeves on), and there was hardly anyone up there. There was an almost constant breeze, so there were no bugs to speak of. The only down side was the cows. Yes, there were cows. I did not get any pictures of the cows, though we did see and hear them a few times. Mostly we just saw what they left behind, large cow patties (I didn't think anyone would want me to post pictures of that). The kids were really good at spotting the cow patties, and thus avoiding them. I may not have liked and cows being around (mostly because of what they left behind), but I think for the kids it was the highlight of the trip.

We had a great view from our campsite. Here are London and Joseph posing for the camera. Jacob did not want his picture taken. Every time I got out the camera he would hide his face and try and run away.

London wanted me to get a lot of pictures of her. Here is London and Rob

Here is a picture that Rob got of the great view we had from our campsite.

I think that this picture of my two boys walking along talking is just so cute. They don't get along most of the time because Jacob is into imaginative play like London, and Joseph doesn't understand what they are doing. I think once Joseph bridges that gap that they will be inseparable.

The kids have finally started to enjoy being able to just sit around the fire and watch it "dance".

London was kind enough to take this picture of Rob and I as the sun was setting.

I am kind of sad to see this camping season come to an end. The kids did so great on this camp out. They didn't fight very much, they were content to be outside and just play and enjoy the weather. Sure, Jacob still woke up around 3:30am and would not go back to bed, but that is better then the last few camp outs. I will enjoy having Guinevere with us next year, and I do love all the winter holidays. I think I can come up with plenty of other family activities for us to do till we start camping again in March or April.

Sleeping babies

It cracks me up how kids can just fall asleep any where, no matter what is going on around them, or what they are doing.

Here is Joseph sleeping on one of our road trips. This position would definitively make my neck sore.


Most babies sleep with there knees tucked up under them, but not mine. You might think this is uncomfortable, but this is how she always sleeps. I have decided that she is exceptionally flexible.

Guinevere 9m

Sundays seem to be particularly hard on babies sleep schedules. It is difficult to know whether they should just be put down for a nap, or if they need to eat something first. I guess on these two occasions sleep just could not wait.

Guinevere 9m

Joseph 11 months
(at least he finished the bottle before promptly rolling over and falling asleep)

This picture is of London when she was 2 1/2. She refused to go to bed, just wanted to sit there and eat her Chex, so I let her. Next thing I know she was fast asleep with some Chex actually sitting in her mouth uneaten.


Oddly enough I could not find any pictures of Jacob in really weird positions, but I do think where he puts his arms is kind of funny. They are either spread out wide like below, or he sleeps with both hands behind his head like he is relaxing on the beach or something.


So did this post make you laugh, or run for your bed to get some shut eye?

September

While others are out enjoying the fall colors and cooler weather we were swimming. Yes it was that hot. I don't think the kids minded, since they love to swim. All summer long when we would go swimming Joseph would refuse to get in the water. He was quite content to sit at the edge of the pool (flooties on just in case) with just his feet in the water. I figured this time would be no different, but to my pleasant surprise when I asked if he wanted to come in with me he said yes. As I figured, he loved the water. He was happiest when he was also inside a floating ring for the extra buoyancy.

Jacob


We knew that Guinevere loved the water, but this was the first time that we put her in her own floating thing. I was not sure if she would be big enough for it yet, but she was.


London

We also started giving Guinevere finger foods in September. I tried for a couple of weeks to get her to eat Cheerios, but she could not figure out how to get them out of her hand. She would get so frustrated that she would just sit in her high chair and scream till one of the kids would put Cheerios in her mouth. I finally broke down and gave her sticks of graham crackers. She was in heaven. As soon as all she had left was the part she was holding on to she would drop it and pick up a new stick. She made a big mess, but I am glad that she was enjoying them.

That is September in a nut shell. Hopefully since I am caught up I can stay on top of my blogging entries.

August

In August we celebrated my birthday. I will leave everyone to guess how old I am now. We did not have enough candles, so I got one candle for each child. London was very excited that I was four just like her.
The main attractions at my birthday celebration were these two. The other kids always give Guinevere baby dolls to play with, and I am sure that she thought Jalynn was the most real looking baby doll she had ever seen. She kept grabbing at her face. I chose this picture because I love the look Jalynn is giving Guinevere.

We also picked up some new pajamas for the boys in August. I think kids look so cute in feety pajamas. I just love the ones that Rob got for Joseph. Little monsters, and they even have faces on the feet. I think these pajamas truly exemplify Joseph's personality, a cute little monster.

Jacobs have a cute monkey on them, but he would not stay still enough to get a picture of it. I made the mistake of leaving and empty laundry basket downstairs, and the kids quickly made use of it. Sometimes they would all pile in, and others they would have one person in while the other two pulled/pushed them around the living room. They put a nice crack in the bottom of the basket, and I had to take it away.

Hopefully I will have a quick overview of September up soon. Have a great day!

July Birthdays

I know I am really behind on my posts, it is almost September, and I am doing July birthdays. How does life get so busy?

My Aunt Brenda celebrated her 50th birthday this year. We wanted to do something really special, so we had a big family get together. The theme was disco. I even found some neon die for the cake frosting.


I spent a lot of time gathering, sorting, and scanning pictures for this wonderful photo album that I was going to make for her. My siblings and my mom helped a lot, watching the kids so I could work, and going through all the pictures with me, but still I only got 8 years done, when I had originally planned to do like 30. I know, that was a pretty novel ambition, but I am still working on it, so hopefully by next year at her birthday I will be able to present her with some more pages. All in all it was a really fun party, and I was really happy that so many family members could drive into town for the occasion.


We had Joseph's birthday party the following weekend. I can't believe he is already 2. I did not have much time to work on a cake or any of that stuff but I got a dog on there (he loves to point at dogs and say the word, but he is not a big fan of dogs getting to close to him). He was not very happy at the beginning of the party. I think he was a little confused since we had to wake him up from a late nap after church. Here he is looking less then thrilled about everything.




He did warm up as he started to open the gifts, and he was really happy when he got to eat cake and ice cream. He insisted on playing with his new toys while eating. Not something I usually go for, but since it was his birthday, I let him.



I think his favorite toy was to large bag of blocks he got. Or at least they are the toy that is the most fought over. Here he is building a large tower. He loves to make a tower run over to me and say "big tower." After I look at it and smile he promptly kicks it and takes all the pieces apart and then builds a different tower.

Today

We got a really good thunderstorm and plenty of rain last night, so I had late night visitor to my bed. Jacob hates thunder, lightning, and rain if it is dark outside. Rob and Jacob spent the night taking turns hitting me in the face as they both fought for more space on the bed in there sleep. Needless to say, I did not sleep very well. I am not a fan of children sleeping in the bed with us, but for those rare middle of the night thunderstorms I make an exception for Jacob. Once the sun was up I could not keep the boys at the table to eat there breakfast because they wanted to go outside and play in the puddles. It was drizzling off and on, but it was warm outside, and the boys were ok getting wet, so I conceded to let them go and splash in the puddles. London went out for a little while, but she didn't like the boys getting her wet so she came back in.


Inside Guinevere was very proud of herself for learning how to sit up. Isn't she just so cute.


After all that sitting she thought she would wage war with another baby over a toy. She lost, and then spit up in protest. Apparently she is a sore loser.

That's my morning so far. It should prove to be an eventful day.

Fourth of July

We woke up early as usual of the 4th of July. We decided since it was so darn hot out that we would take the kids to the pool in the morning. Would you believe we were the only ones at the pool at 8am. It was really nice to have the pool all to ourselves, and the water was already plenty warm, I don't think I would have wanted to be out there any later in the day.

Here is Joseph, London, and Jacob waiting to get in the pool. They all insist on having there floaties on and having a noodle. Joseph refuses to get in the water, but he needs floaties and a noodle on just so he can look cool or something.


Here is Guinevere and Rob enjoying the water. This was her first time in the swimming pool. She loved it.

London


Jacob


Later in the day we had my mom and Aunt over for some fryed chicken and biscutes. They took London and Jacob to see the fireworks. This was the first time that either of them had been to see fireworks. London absolutly loved it. By the third firwork Jacob was screaming his head off. My mom tried to calm him down and keep him quiet, she even tried stuffing food in his mouth. Nothing worked. Then about half way through the show London turned to him and said "Jacob aren't the fireworks beautiful?" That did it, he imidieatly stoped screaming and started chating away about how wonderfull the fireworks were. He said to my mom "Nana there are no monsters in the fireworks, they are in the woods." Maybe this is why he has a hard time sleeping while we are camping. They did not get home till a little after midnight, but they all seemed to have a lot of fun. Hopefully next year we can skip the screaming incident.