Camping and Pumpkins

Dear Nathan and Hannah, 

We've been prepping for this trip for days, reading books about camping, going over the recipe to make s'mores over and over again, and making sure you guys are fit to do your share of the work. We figured out pretty quickly that Hannah, you are not quite ready to pick up Nathan in the kid carrier. Just work on keeping track of your sunglasses. 

 On Friday afternoon, we loaded up the mini-mini van and headed out to Pedernales Falls State Park. Our car was packed to the roof. We could not fit another thing.

On the way there, we realized that dinner was still in the fridge, so we took a quick detour to McDonalds. Worked out pretty well because by the time we had set up the tent, and unpacked our gear, it was already getting dark and pretty close to dinner time. All we had to do was pull out some food and we were ready to go.

 Afterwards, we improvised and made s'mores on the camp stove. We got a few funny looks, but the look of bliss on your chocolate covered faces is pretty priceless.

 As it got dark, we brought out the headlamps and let you guys run around with them for about an hour. Who knew those things could be so entertaining. When it got really dark, we took a short walk to the bathrooms and for the first time, Hannah, you saw stars. You pointed up and excitedly yelled, "stars!" and proceeded to sing your favorite song, "Twinkle, twinkle little star." You were in awe the rest of the walk. I mentioned how they looked like sprinkles in the sky, and so you incorporated that phrase in the repertoire of phrases that you used to describe the beauty. "Ohh, so pretty!" "Twinkle twinkle little star!" "Like sprinkles in sky!" and when you saw someone, you made sure to point to the sky and say, "Look, stars!"

 So, so far camping with little ones sounds pretty amazing, right? Yep. But then night time rolls around and it happened to be the coldest night of the month: a brisk 44 degrees. Thankfully, we brought along an electric space heater, which we connected via a long extension cord into our tent, but it was still drafty.
We all went to bed around 9:30. And in the middle of the night, Hannah wakes up, "Mommy, no more nap. Still hungry." At this point, I'm not sure what time it is, but I was thinking that it may be closer to 6 since I was feeling pretty rested. I told you that it was still dark outside, so it is time to sleep and rolled over. You started to climb all over me, waking Nathan as well. I knew Nathan would go back to sleep if we left, so we went for a walk to the potty and came back. Again, you were mesmerized by the stars and luckily Nathan fell asleep too.

I checked the time 3:15. Sheesh. Ok, so I gave you a bag of gold fish crackers and drifted in and out of sleep as you ate. Eventually I woke to check on you and you were passed out next to me. But then Teddy starts growling at something, which wakes you up. 30 minutes later, everyone is asleep, and so I slowly drifted back to sleep. The next thing I know, light is shining into our tent and I hear a few kids outside. We get up and start our day.

Nathan you was super excited to be able to wear your explorer vest. You showed everyone on our hike all the pockets.

 Hannah wanted a vest too, so I gave you mine and you were pretty content with that.

 We went hiking to the twin falls overlook. Even though the trail is just under half a mile, it was a pretty rugged terrain. You both did such a good job walking on your own to the look out point.

 Along the way, we spotted so many butterflies.

 There were so many things to touch, rock to pick up, and sounds to listen to.

 The twin falls reminded me of a mini version of hamilton pool.

 We tried taking a family picture.

 And then Nathan decides to set the camera up for another one, which had everyone looking, just a bit off centered.

 When you are camping, you really lose track of time. When we arrived back to our campsite, everyone was hungry, but I was thinking that it was only around 10ish. When I checked the clock, it was close to 12:30!

So we had lunch in the tent, and afterwards Hannah, you and I took a nap while Daddy and Nathan, you guys went exploring around the park. You guys hiked to a duck pond, visited some horses, and tried to get into the bird blind.

After Hannah woke up, we went to the swimming area to play in the water for awhile.

 Even Teddy got in the water for a swim.

 After water time, we went back to camp to get ready for our pot luck meal with other members of our church. We had a great time eating together, followed by a quick devotion about rest, but ironically, I was running around taking care of diaper business. There was a fire pit that night so you guys also got a chance to roast marshmallows by a real fireplace.

 So, in the end, would we do it again? Absolutely yes, but I think I would make sure that the temps don't dip below 50 degrees for having a 2 and 4 year old. Hannah was wearing multiple layers, but your small body just isn't ready to regulate your body temperature.

Overall, you guys were on your best behavior, happy, and very cooperative. We left the campsite a little after 8 pm to go home. We had planned on staying another night, but after a rough previous night, and the fact that we were planning on loading up right after breakfast, we decided to just go home and make sure everyone got a good night sleep before a very busy Sunday.

It's nice to be back home and I now appreciate all the conveniences like a potty within a few second's walk and soap.

Yesterday afternoon, we met up with Nathan, your all-time best friend at our church's pumpkin patch. Hannah, you guys went during school last week and it's all you talk about anytime we go near the church.

 We took a few pictures and you each picked out another pumpkin.

 And then an impromptu hay fight happened. You guys were all so happy, running around, chasing each other with handfuls of hay. Poor baby M, was the brunt of most of the attacks, but he was a trooper and enjoyed the attention.

Today we sat down and painted the white pumpkins that we bought yesterday. Nathan, you've always had a great attention span and you were patient enough to sit down for enough time to paint your entire pumpkin teal.

 Hannah, you were interested for maybe 5 minutes and then you started to paint your hands.

 In the end, they turned out beautifully. Special, just like you two are.

Fall is a great time in Texas. We have Halloween coming up and also the grandparents will be here to celebrate it with us. So there will be lots of fun times ahead.

Until next week,
Love,
Mommy

Nathan is Riding a Bike and Hannah Speaks in Sentences

Dear Hannah and Nathan,
Remember last week when both of you were CRAZY? (I do.) Looking back, it all makes sense. Nathan was grumpy due to the side-effects of the tdap vaccine and Hannah was going through some sort of mental leap, because this week you are now talking in 3-4 word sentences. Amazing.

Your yogurt eating skills, that's another thing. I'm still waiting for the mental leap on that one. But this is ok, because it's pretty cute.

 Even when you are 4.

 This week, Nathan graduated up from prep-chef to sous chef as you we worked on your stove skills. We discussed all the different ways we can get hurt, talked safety and you even recorded your first cooking show. You are pretty much imitating the chef from the hibachi restaurant on the cruise ship, but it's cute, none the less. Hannah even identified an onion as I was chopping it and said, "Onion, choo-choo." I was a bit confused at first, but then I remembered how the chefs used the onion volcano to make a choo-choo train after the flame died down. Good memory.

 On Saturday, we celebrated a friend's 4th birthday party. A pinata was involved.

 And then after you picked up the prizes, you were kind enough to share one with Hannah.

 On the way back, you guys were not being great sports. A vengeful battle of legs thankfully, morphed into a fun game that led you both into giggling fits.

 That same afternoon, we attended a military retirement. You guys had lots of fun at the children's table that they had.

 Even did some dancing.

 And at the end. Nathan, your favorite part was playing with the "big guns" outside.

 And then I shot this sweet picture of Hannah sitting in the setting sun.

 So, in other news, Nathan can now ride a 12" bike without training wheels. Now, you had been riding your 14" bike with training wheels and since you couldn't quite reach both feet on the ground, we didn't really help train you. But then, we traded bikes with a neighbor who was ready to move up to a bigger bike and we took off the pedals. This was Tuesday.

For a couple of days, you rode the bike around like a balance bike. You scooted to the mailbox, you scooted up and down the driveway, you scooted around the house. One day, we even when to a park with a tennis court to practice more there.

Then, on Saturday morning, you told Daddy, I think I'm ready for the pedals. I was a bit skeptical, but sure enough, Daddy put the pedals back on and you were able to roll/pedal down the driveway pretty well. On Saturday evening, after dinner, we took Teddy on a walk and you wanted to practice your bike. You scooted to the school and after a few tries, off you went!  

 On Friday, the wildflower center had their annual plant sale. We went a got a few cool plants for our front yard.

 And that evening, the school had their annual fall festival. We rode the barrel train, something Hannah wanted to do, but then rebelled as I lifted her in the barrel, and then had lots of fun and even asked to ride the train the next day.

 Nathan also went through a big kid obstacle course. You needed some help climbing in, but you did great the rest of the way.

We are getting ready for a big camping trip this weekend. I think the weather will be perfect, perhaps a bit chilly at night, but I think we will be able to make lots of great memories. There will definitely be a post about this trip later.

I better go pack up our gear!  Until next week,
Love,
Mommy

... (just)... (Hannah is 2Y 8 weeks and Nathan is 4Y 2 weeks old)

Dear Hannah and Nathan, 

The pictures that I'm about to post below were probably the only calm and good days we had this week. I don't know what it was (well, I kind of do), but you guys were CRAZY this week. When I would give you guys a choice about something, for example, whether or not we should go to the library first, or the playground first, you would each pick something different. And then for Nathan, you were extremely unforgiving and didn't want to share anything with anyone. Since you didn't want to share, Hannah became frustrated a lot and threw tantrums as well. 

And then there was the physical: kicking, "casually" bumping into, pushing, screaming into ears; etc. We had lots of time outs and little talks. 

And then there was the post-dTap vaccination side effects that Nathan suffered, which happened to occur on the night when Daddy and I had plans to go attend a live taping of ACL. We had a babysitter lined up and everything! But we stayed home, you needed cuddles and the next morning, you woke up in a way better mood. 

So in the end, I think it was a reaction to the vaccination that caused Nathan to be crabby, and in turn caused Hannah to be more volatile than normal. Hannah still doesn't like to be too affectionate towards Nathan. You don't even want to hold his hand ever. I see so many other big brothers and little sister holding hands, why can't you guys do it too? [sniff, sniff] 

One thing that seemed to calm you down this week, when you started to throw your tantrums was peeling garlic. In the picture below, you started to get upset because I cut your watermelon into small chunks. I immediately handed you a head of garlic and you calmed down as you meticulously picked off each layer of skin. 

 We've been spending as much time outside as possible because the weather is simply gorgeous. This is the reason we live in Texas. We went over to a neighbor's house to play and they let you both borrow their car.

 Hannah still needs a bit help in the steering department.

 And then, this past week was the annual trike-a-thon, which benefits St. Jude's. Hannah walked/scooted around the course.

 While Nathan and his friends zoomed fast around each other.

 That day, I even got to meet up with a few of the Taiwanese mommies for a food truck venture!

On Saturday morning, I went to a parenting class. At that session, I discovered that for the most part we were doing pretty good as far as following the "Safe House" style of parenting, however I feel like I need to be a bit more nurturing. I won't go into too much here, but you can read more about my perspectives of being a mom on my new blog which goes a bit deeper beyond our daily adventures, ups, and downs, here. 

On Saturday evening, we drove up north to a Hibachi restaurant because we didn't get to on Nathan's birthday. Everyone had lots of fun and both of you ate so much. As we were walking towards our car in the parking lot, Hannah was reaching back and whining, "More rice! more food!"

Both you have been so crabby the previous days that you didn't have much of an appetite, so when we went out to eat on Saturday, you guys were a ravenous bunch. (You two even almost finished off about a dozen roasted chestnuts on the car ride home!)

I have a feeling things are going to be back to normal for now. I am now feeling a bit better about bringing you two out in public and leaving you two alone while I get some housework done. Let's not be crazy again, alright?

Until next week,
Love,
Mom