Our Anniversary Camping Adventure

Not sure if I already wrote about our camping trip in my last post and am too lazy to go back and read it, so sorry if this is a repeat (although I know I didn't post the pictures yet). For our anniversary we headed back (for the 5th year in a row!) to Portersville, PA where we got married. We visited the barn where we had the wedding and reception and then camped with the kids at our favorite campground nearby. It's always so fun to go back to this familiar place, especially with the kids along for the ride! We had dinner at our favorite/the only restaurant in the town :) and then went back to the campsite to make a campfire and smores (even though it was 100 degrees - a little toasty for a fire). The kids had a ball climbing in and out of the tents and running around the campsite.

Mitch was looking sleepy, so I took him into the tent just as the biggest, loudest group of people pulled into the site across from ours. Then reality set in. Nobody was ever going to go to sleep. Mitch wandered around the inside of the tent (I was laying in there with him) for 2 hours, laughing/crying/tackling/diving/playing. Everything but sleeping. Finally, at 10:30, both boys fell asleep. At 4 a.m., Mitch started stirring. Then, he was fully awake, again wandering around the tent yelling and screaming with excitement. As I pondered what the heck to do with him to keep him quiet, I looked up out of the tent and noticed that the wind was blowing like crazy and the sky was filled with lightening. Uh oh. By this time, Mitch had woken up Drew and Finn in their tent. We made a snap decision to pack everyone up and head home. As we drove out of the campground, the storm really hit. Thank goodness we missed braving the torrential downpour in our tents. So, this is what camping with a 1-year-old and a 2-year old is like. Not too far from my expectations, I guess. Although the thunderstorm was a surprise! Here's to five years with my favorite person in the world and to hoping that camping with kids gets easier as they get older!:) Here are the pics:

Hot, tired, dirty, cranky baby

Wrestlemania in the kiddie tent :)

Everyone bailing out when Wrestlemania went bad

Relaxing by the fire

Hamming it up with the stuff from the cooking bag

4:30am packed back into the car

When we got home, we slept for an hour and then went down in the Metroparks and cooked breakfast.

After breakfast, Finn wanted to try fishing. This is his new favorite pastime and he loves that he gets to use Grandpa Jim's old fishing rod. :)

Back To School

We're back in full swing of school - can't believe how quickly the summer flew by (it always does). The boys started at daycare (this was their 3rd week). It was definitely a rough start, for all of us! I felt so prepared and confident about everything, and then as I was dropping them off for their first day, we all fell apart (me included). Finn cried and didn't want me to leave (so I started tearing up), then Mitch totally lost it when I dropped him in his room (and I totally lost it then too!). I didn't expect to be the crazy mom walking out the front doors of the building bawling my eyes out...but I totally was. They're doing great though - still some rough mornings where they don't want to see me go, but I can hear them pull it together and quiet down before I even get to the end of the hallway.

Finn tells me that he's learning how to be a good friend at school. He loves going to the gym and riding on the bikes and playing outside. Potty training is still a work in progress. He's doing so great with it, except at nap time. I'm not really surprised about this, I think 2 1/2 is still pretty young to be totally potty trained (especially for a boy). I'm just happy he's doing it when he's awake! He is full of new words and phrases he's learned at school. A favorite lately has been: "do we have a deal?" or when he's being less formal, "deal?" When he's trying to reassure himself he'll say things like, "if my sandwich drops on the floor, I just pick it up! It's no big deal!" or "Here Mitch! You dropped your fork on the floor. Don't worry...no big deal!" We've been picking great things from our garden - Finn LOVES this job. He will pick everything in sight (including all of the not-quite-ripe tomatoes - so you have to be right there with him to steer him in the right direction!). He picks the cherry tomatoes, takes a bite, and then remembers that he hates them and spits them out all over his shirt. This happens almost daily :)

Mitch also likes the garden, but prefers to sample the rocks, imitating us saying, "mmmm!" He is learning so much and it's amazing to see how much language he understands already! He still sticks to simple words when he "talks" - if he wants you to hold him, he'll imitate you saying "up" by saying "pupupupupup!" He says "hot" when he sees my coffee or if he goes near the microwave or oven. He says "shoes" and points to his shoes. He signs "water" whenever we see a lake, stream, river, puddle or if it rains. But he understands so much more. If I say, "Mitch, let's sing a song!" He starts humming or singing. The other day I told Finn not to take his socks off because we were getting ready to leave and Mitch started taking his socks off (okay, he didn't quite understand that one, but he knew the word "sock"!) He loves playing the "point to a body part" game, but has no idea where any body parts are, so every time you ask him one he just covers his head or eyes. He walks around the house with one hand up to his ear saying, "hello?" like he's on an important phone call. He LOVES riding on Finn's old tricycle. He obviously can't pedal it by himself, but likes to get on and just push himself with his feet. He'll go all the way down the street like this! Mitchie is a very emotional little guy. It seems like all of his emotions - happy, sad, angry are much more intense than I ever remember Finn being at this age. If he's happy, he's giggling to the point of falling over. If he's sad, he'll cry harder and longer than you can believe. If he's mad - WATCH OUT! He'll bang his head on the floor (or your face if you're nearby), hit or push, or throw things. And he's only 1. Can't wait to see what the terrible 2s are going to be like with that guy. Yikes. But above all, he's still a cuddler. Nothing makes me happier after a long day than him hugging me and putting his little head on my shoulder. It's the best.

That's all for now - up next...pictures from our anniversary camping trip adventure!