Our Camping Experience

We joined Mimi and Papa this past weekend on their annual church mission trip.  Chad and I were planning to just stay the weekend, but Chad was going to have a busy week of work the following week, so me and the kiddos decided to stay for the whole week rather than being at home on our own while daddy worked late nights.  We headed to Fort Payne, Alabama which was only about 2 hours from us.  This area was hit with tornadoes a year ago so the men in the church were going to help rebuild a few houses. 

The car ride was pretty peaceful while the kids took their afternoon naps.

 

The first day was nice.  Everyone got their campsite organized and set up, the kids played games, and we ended the night with dinner and devotions.

This was Caroline's first camping trip and the first night was pretty rough.  She was apparently very afraid of sleeping in a camper.  After crying herself to sleep, she woke up at 2:30 am and did not fall back asleep until about 5:00am.  We were sharing a camper with my parents--so no one got much sleep.  Thankfully, Grayson somehow seemed to sleep through it all.

Oh yeah, and did I mention that it started raining that night?  Um....pouring! And it rained pretty much for 2 days!!  Rain was not a good combination with 2 kids under 3 in a camper!  Thankfully, a nearby church allowed us to use their church building for meals and to have a nursery so that the kids could play and nap.  

 

The kids LOVED it!  By the  2nd day, Caroline  was getting used to camping, so our nights were much better!  We maxed out a minivan!  Me, Bonnie, and Courtney got around everyday in a minivan with 4 kiddos!  That would be me squished up in the backseat with the 4 littles.  We had to drive about 30 minutes from the campground to the church, but it sure was better than being locked up in a tiny camper because of the rain!

Finally the rain stopped and we were able to enjoy being outside.  

Grayson and Caroline enjoyed spending a week with Aunt Bonnie, Uncle Willy, and Abby Ruth.

And nature calls....

Cousin time!!  A bucket of water was a great way to pass the time away...

The day that Chad was with us, he insisted that we go see a waterfall.... in the pouring rain.....

so we did...

we were all soaked!

Our week was filled with GREAT fun and GREAT memories!!

Summer Update

We have been pretty busy since the summer months are here.  

the KIDDOS spent a few days with Mimi and Papa

so...Chad and I patched, sanded, primed, and painted our new exterior windowsills.  Fun, right?  Well, we thought it was!   It was so nice to be on our own schedule for a few days and actually feel productive!  

I got to spend some time with  two of my sweet college friends--while I was KID-FREE!! 

 it was refreshing.

we enjoyed our Summer Neighborhood Picnic

I hosted a dinner for my neighborhood women friends-I LOVE these girls and feel so blessed to have them so close-by!

We went for a Family Bike Ride

the kids were troopers while daddy took us all around town...

Grayson got a new "watergon" at a friend's birthday party--it has been a great source of entertainment over the past few days...

 Caroline is a busy little bee and absolutely LOVES being outside..

 

 grayson finally learned to pedal ALL BY HIMSELF and now actually enjoys his tricycle (however, the bike we bought him for his birthday, still sits untouched and he will probably be too big for it by the time he shows any interest in it)

 

 Caroline's obsession with shoes continues to grow---DON'T mess with the girl's shoes!

 

This past week Grayson has been sick so we have been quarantined to the house (with the exception of multiple walks a day and playtime outside).

We're hoping Grayson feels better soon because I miss seeing people!

A Trammell Weekend

 Last weekend we enjoyed a nice visit with the Trammell side of 

the family.  

The girls are walking now so things have become a lot  more active AND entertaining.

 So this is what we do at Mimi and Papa's house...

 We do a really good job of trashing their house!

Of course the girls had to wear their matching outfits everyday that we were together.

 

 2 squeaky clean baby girls after bathtime...

 

Thanks Aunt Bonnie for all of the AWESOME pictures!  She has a nice camera now, so she is very sweet to capture all of the action when we're together!

13 Months

                        Just a little update on our sweet girl, who is now 13 months old!

                         First of all, she is walking EVERYWHERE, and it is now her preferred mode of

                          mobility.

 She LOVES Pat the Cat and Pat the Bunny.  These are always the first books that she grabs and she brings them to us while saying, "this this".  

Please take note of the poor baby doll on the floor.  This is her absolute favorite doll ( which was actually one of my very first dolls).   She walks around holding it and "talking" to it (often in a whisper voice)--it's too cute. 

Digging through her diaper bag and pulling everything out is another one of her favorite activities.  I often find her playing with my wallet.

 She loves her "bear bear".  Grayson has helped to nurture this bad habit.  He loves to bring her the bear anytime she whines or cries.  So when she gets tired, she quickly heads to her room to pull "bear bear" out of her crib.

 She got a new chair for her birthday and absolutely LOVES it.  I often find her in her room sitting in her chair with her books and babies. 

 She's starting to play with Little People, so she particularly likes this dollhouse. 

A few more favorites:  shoes and brushing her teeth.  

She has started to say the word "shoes" and loves to pull out her collection and attempt to try them on. 

And whenever I mention brushing her teeth, she gets really excited and makes her way to the bathroom.

Our little girl is growing up so quickly.    She's such an active little thing with a BIG personality! 

Circus Fun

 The circus came to town last weekend.  Mimi and Papa were here for one night, so we treated them to a night out.  Grayson slowly warmed up to the carnival rides.  Caroline just hung out and observed from the stroller.

 His favorite ride of all was the roller coaster that he rode with daddy!

 He even rode some rides by himself. 

 Finally, we enjoyed watching the circus acts.  He was most excited to see the clowns and he did not leave disappointed.

Random

 Isn't she lovely?  This is how she looks after eating spaghetti.  This must be a 2nd child thing, because I never would have allowed Grayson to get this messy while eating!

 Caroline still loves driving the car.

Grayson is improving his drawing skills.  I was impressed when he showed me the "man" that he drew on his own.

 This past weekend we celebrated my 31st birthday!  It was very relaxing as I didn't have to cook any meals and Chad cleaned the house for me!  I actually took a nap in our hammock!  It was so nice!

 And my neighbor brought these beautiful hydrangeas over yesterday.  

They make me smile!