Camping

At the sort-of last minute we were invited to go camping with some friends this past weekend.  They had been planning on going with some others who were unable to make it and had a trailer rented.  So pretty much all we had to do was show up and it was awesome.  It was like luxury camping.  Yes, there was A/C.  And a freezer.  And a bathroom.  And enough room to stand up in.  But we were also outside more than we would have been at home and had an excellent time.

Friday night was a wagon ride.  Nothing all that exciting, but the boys were excited about it.

The boys also spent hours at the playground.  We did a lot of "can you find your way back to the trailer from here?" over the weekend.  Isaac could find his way back from the playground pretty quickly and Joshua could too by the second day.  Most of the time we just let them go and come back as desired.

Squirters were a big hit for all the kids.

This tree got squirt especially a lot.

Ben and I read a lot. :)

One downside to the campground is that since they are in a residential area they are rather strict on when you can and can't have fires.  We only had a fire one night, so we made sure to have hobo pies and s'mores.

CC stopped by on Sunday!

Joshua wanted his picture by these flowers.

Magnet blocks were a big hit.  These boys really do love their blocks.

We also finally got an anniversary picture.

We had lots of ice cream throughout the weekend.  There was also a great candy store that we all loved.

Monday was hot hot hot.  We had ice cream (above) and slowly got ready to leave.  We were all packed up, played a game of mini golf, and then took off.

Monday: funny things

I'll talk about camping soon, but in the meantime the boys were especially funny today.

1. We were playing mini golf and I told Joshua he couldn't touch the decorations.  He asked if he could touch the bricks around the edge of the holes.  I said yes, as of course you can touch those and he had been balancing on them earlier.  Right after I said that, on his way to the next hole, he bends down to touch one.  Almost like he was defying me...except that it was ok.

2. Isaac was talking about water bottles on the way home and how the one he was using had a good seal.  I said, "arf arf arf."  Ben said, "ARF ARF."  Two minutes later Isaac bursts out laughing, saying that he gets the joke.

3. As part of Joshua's bedtime routine, the adult has to fill up his water bottle so that he can hide under his blanket.  Ben read to him and left the room, bringing Joshua's other blanket with him.  I hid under the blanket and brought him the water.  I had to say "no" in a low voice a few times, and then I left the room.  Ben went back under the blanket.  Joshua pulled the blanket of Ben and said, "WHAT?!?  You were pretending to be Mom?!?!"  Ben told him it was a trick and that it had been me, and for the next several minutes he mumbled to himself about the trick.

Friday: outside

Joshua and I were outside for a bit and he decided that he wanted to mop the driveway and run up and down the hills.  I sat in the shade and watched. :D

Next up, camping!

Wednesday: friends and naps

This morning we had no plans.  No plans tends to be a problem for me, so I checked in with a friend to see if they were available.  They were!  Joshua and I spent a happy morning at a different location playing and taking a walk.

On the way home Joshua fell asleep.  I was a bit annoyed, but then decided to work with it.  I unbuckled him, opened the car door and the garage door, made him a lunch, and took a nap myself.  It really worked out very well.  He woke up and came in.  I called to him to come find me, but he found his lunch instead.  By the time he finished his lunch it was screen time.  Ta-da!  It almost never works out that well.

Ice skating went pretty well today.  Joshua just did his own thing on the ice.  I decided I'm fine with that.  The teacher checked in with him a few times and tried to get him to participate, but he didn't want to.  He's skating and half of learning at this point is just practicing.  Isaac again doubled his speed and it only took him two minutes to get across the short dimension of the rink.  I saw his form getting better...a few more bent knees and a few times with one foot off the ice.

Tuesday: made it through

Today was actually pretty good.  Except for a few parts.

The first was the morning.  Joshua wanted banana bread for breakfast.  We don't have any more.  That set him off.  So he wanted a special granola bar.  I don't really know what that means, but the answer was no...he could have a normal granola bar.  He proceeded to throw his slipper at me.  Since we're working on not throwing things when he's mad, he went in time out...and proceeded to try and throw the rug.  Then he didn't want to get dressed before breakfast, but I use that time to make breakfast, so I made him get dressed anyway.  He finally calmed down, got dressed, and told me the normal granola bar was the kind he wanted.

After that my sinuses wouldn't stop filling up.  Seriously, every ten or so minutes they were completely full, which makes it hard to do anything.  I quickly gave up and worked from home, where the tissues are plenty.  I also got some different medicine this afternoon and it might be helping.  I still need to blow my nose and I feel a bit of sinus pressure, but I don't feel quite so miserable.  (Ask me again tomorrow though. :D)

During snack time Isaac was making dinosaur noises and Joshua was correctly identifying them.  Isaac would let out a squawk and Joshua said, "pterodactyl" and Isaac said, "yes!"  Then he did some other sound and Joshua said, "t-rex" and Isaac said, "yes!"  I have no idea how my sons have the same sound for an animal that no longer exists and isn't in animal noise books.

Monday: rainy day naps

Today was a beautiful rainy day.

I still have this cold/allergy thing.  I feel really good for about thirty minutes after waking up, but then get all stuffed up and tired again.  Anyway, I was making some progress on house work and laid down for a bit because Joshua didn't want to do our errands.  I was clear...he could play by himself, then he should get dressed and we would do our errands. 

He didn't want to get dressed.  I think he wanted to do errands in his pajamas, but I'm not really sure.  He was crying for a bit.  Then he said, "I'm going to take a nap!"  And so we napped.  The rain started.  It was lovely.  We napped until noon, at which point we ate lunch and then did our errands.

Sunday: out of the house

We were out of the house for most of the day.  It's been a long time since this has happened.

We had church.  We went out to eat with family for birthdays, but the restaurant took a while.  We went to Cheryl's house for desserts.  I took a nap there because I'm still sick.

We had small group after that.  We had some good discussions.

But I was also really glad to get home.