1st camping trip

Last week on our fishing trip, we check out a campsite that Will found while out biking and decided to come back. The girls were so excited all week for our trip. I haven't camped in years...since before Will and I got married. Yet, I was surprised with how smooth our trip went.

Since this campground is only about an hour away, Will went out with all the heavy duty set up early Saturday morning and then went for a ride. The girls and I packed up all the fun stuff, food and crafts and drove up at nap time. They both slept on the way. We dropped Aiana off at her girlfriends, she didn't want to spend the few days before school starts in the woods...which I totally understand. I kind of lost my love for camping during my teen years, unless it was beach or lake camping, this place is pretty remote.

It was so nice to get to our site and find that Will had all the tents up and ready to go along with a tree swing for the girls. We were able to get the site close to the creek, I loved the sound of the running water. It was hot, but there was a swimming hole maybe 1/2 mile away. The water was perfect, the girls swam and caught frogs. After swimming we went on a night hike. Then came back to roast hot dogs and marshmallows. The bonfire season just ended so we had to roast on our little stove..it worked!

This campground is small, and quiet. We turned off the lights after smores and went on an adventure to find the big dipper and marvel at the millions of stars.

Bed time was the rough part. Caylin ended up sleeping in the little tent by herself and Anika slept with us. I pretty much laid there all night listening to the symphony of crickets going in and out of sync with eachother. I dosed on and off until someone had to pee or a little limb hit me in the face. Around 4am, the mass cricket song died down and I could hear the trickling of water in the creek, it was soothing and I could feel myself drift off...until Caylin needed a tissue and to pee AGAIN! Once I got settled again, the wonderful water sound was mixed with birds. I could see the morning creeping up, and then heard the buzz from afar come closer and knew it was the bugs waking up. Amazingly enough, I wasn't too ruined by the night, and the kids were fine and happy to wake in their tents. It just felt good to be away, away from t.v., phones, computers, people, cars, etc...I'm really looking forward to doing this again very soon.

Summer coming to an end

I feel like summer is just starting! The weather has been chilly this year, and it's just now getting warm. So we are trying to live it up these last days before school starts.

Aiana and I took the little girls to Legoland, and we've hitting the beach, but I haven't been bringing my camera. I've enjoyed spending time with all my girls this summer. It's challenging trying to find things to do that involved a teen, kindergartner, and a preschooler.

No face painting for big sis, just a beautiful smile :)

First fishing trip

It was a chilly day at our house, but in spite of the weather, we packed up our fishing poles and drove out to the lake. It was nice, warm, and sunny out there, a great day to fish! The girls loved taking turns steering the boat, and casting their fishing poles into the water. But they could not understand, and were a little upset that they did not catch any fish. The winds picked up a few hours in and we had an adventure with crashing waves getting back to the dock!

Tarantula

I can't believe we found this by our house!

Aiana was so scared to see this guy when she was putting her bike away!

Soccer time!

Caylin's first (real) soccer season has begun! She's super excited and she loves playing. Daddy is starting back at the beginning after coaching Aiana for 7 years. Caylin is getting more and more aggressive out on the field. She told me "I love soccer and I don't care if I get sweaty out there because I get to play with my dad!"

The kids got to all suggest a name for the team, and Caylin wanted the team to be called Smith (??). The name that was chosen was Red Speeders. Can't wait for the first game!