3/4 of a camping trip

We thought we'd take the kids camping. We thought it would be fun to be out in the elements once again, eating smores around a campfire, sleeping under the stars in our "huge" tent and sharing our love for the outdoors with our kids. So we packed up the car, a 2+ hour ordeal, drove north 2 hours to Moosehead Lake and snagged a campsite on the shores of the lake. It was senic and beautiful. The water was quiet and peaceful. We had arrived.
I nursed Olivia on the stump of a tree. It looked like the perfect seat. As I got up I realized I was covered in tree sap! Of course this was my only pair of shorts. But I wasn't going to let this ruin our camping trip. We fed Jacob and ourselved lunch and prepared to set up the tent. With only minor setbacks, like the ocassional toddler fleeing our campsite, and our 4 month old deciding to perform her newest trick; rolling over, we managed to put up our "huge" tent. Now that we are a family of 4, this 4 man tent seemed tiny. Oh, well, we were only staying for 1 night, so we could all squeeze in, right?
With bathing suits on and towels in hand we walked down a path to the water and swam in the very shallow water. It was perfect for Jacob and we all had a blast. We spent the rest of the afternoon swimming and returned to our campsite to begin the art of building a fire.
After the fire was going strong, we cooked our "spider dogs" on the fire and filled our bellies with potato chips and pasta salad. Then, it was time for smores. My favorite part of camping! I taught Jacob how to make a smore and I think it must be genetic, because he was delighted. Shortly after we were done with the smores, we decided to get ready to settle down for the evening. Have you ever tried to make a toddler sleep in a tent? It's not an easy thing to do. Jacob was "all done" with camping! He repeadly kept on saying, "all done camping", "go home to Jacob's house". We looked at each other and without saying a word, we began to pack up all of our stuff.
After another 2 hours in the car, we arrived home, tired and worn down, but HOME.

My favorite part is the smores anyways!



Jacob eating his first smore!

Olivia rolling over for the first time!

Potty Training

I thought I wouldn't start potty training until the craziness of summer had passed. However, the other day, Jacob was naked on the deck and we asked him if he wanted to put a pee-pee into the potty and he did! Just like that. We were thrilled and so was he. I had told him several times previously that when he puts his pee-pee into the potty he will get a candy. This kid hardly ever gets to have candy, so he was very motivated. I dug out some Hershey's kisses leftover from the holidays. How on earth, is there chocolate leftover from the holidays in MY house? I have no idea. Jacob ate that chocolate kiss like it was the most delicious thing ever. I decided to begin pumping the kid full of liquids to give him lots of practice. Water, juice, milk, watermelon, cups with water and ice in them (a favorite now), anything I could think of that would make him urinate. Of course he did and he had some accidents, but for the most part, he got the hang of putting it into the potty. He's only in it for the candy, but I don't care!

Today was day 2 of potty training and he only wet his new underpants 1 time and it was my fault. He has yet to do a #2 on the potty, but I guess that will happen with time.

It's funny because a couple of days ago, Jacob was running around the house in his diaper and I commented on how different he looks from last summer when he was just learning to walk and wearing his diapers. I then thought about how next summer he won't be wearing any diapers. Literally the following day he decided to go ahead and grow up a little more on me and ditch the diapers all together. This part of growing up I'm ok with.