Camping

This weekend we met my aunt and uncle at Fall Creek Falls to go camping.

It was a wonderful weekend. The forecast called for rain, but we were pleasantly surprised to have beautiful weather all weekend. The kids were even better at camping than we'd hoped.

Setting up the tents.

Washing dishes.

Our canopy. We wanted to be prepared in case it rained. Turned out it worked for a sun shade for the tents during nap time.

Sitting on Aunt Holly's lap for worship.

 

Bedtime. The kids were so excited about being in the woods in a tent that it took them over an hour the first night to calm down and go to sleep. They then woke us up numerous times during the night. Between them and the raccoons, it was a very long night.

The raccoons were a big pest. We had left some brownies in a pyrex container with a lid on the picnic table. It was pretty heavy. They dropped it on the ground (thankfully it didn't break) and carried it over 10 feet into the woods. The noise woke us all up. Aunt Holly and Uncle Bob went out and rescued the brownies and tied everything down. The next morning there were coon tracks on everything. They came into camp almost as soon as it was dark both nights. They weren't scared of anything.

We were also visited by a skunk. Made me so nervous. Thankfully it didn't bother us.

The next morning we headed out to see as many water falls as we could in one day.

The first one was the main one - Fall Creek Falls. Sadly I don't remember the others names.

We all got in the back of the truck to drive around the park. The kids LOVED this.

Dominic - gulping air.

At the top of the falls.

 

 

Caitlin had an easy hike. She walked part of it, but hitched rides the rest of the way.

 

My cousin Greg came up on Sabbath morning and Dominic fell in love. 

He kept calling Greg his best buddy. It was precious.

 

I didn't take very many pictures at the bottom of the falls because there was so much mist and spray. I was afraid it would damage my camera. Uncle Bob didn't have his camera card so I lent him one of mine. When he sends it back I asked him to leave the pictures on it, so I'm hoping for some more pictures to post.

There were a couple of suspension bridges. We all enjoyed walking and bouncing across.

 

Stopping for a scenic break between waterfalls.

 

 

Caitlin was so whiney. She'd missed her Friday nap and hadn't had much sleep on Friday night. She badly needed a nap, but was so afraid she'd miss something. She cried for a long time. Finally I went into the tent and laid with her. I sang until she went to sleep. I guess I sang Jon to sleep as well.

The last waterfall was barely visible through the trees, but there was a nice path with a suspension bridge to the top of the falls. These last few pictures are from that hike.

 

 

 

We had so much fun. We were sad to leave, but we were also glad to be back home. The kids are now in love with camping. So we are all looking forward to our next camping trip.

For more scenic pictures, check out my other blog.

Trees

Heard a little voice saying "Yeah! You've finally learned to climb trees."

Since I know that Dominic is a good tree climber I ran out to check on Caitlin.

He's right. She's very good for it being her first time in a tree and wearing a dress.

Running to help little sister.

 The kids love this dogwood tree in our front yard. But another favorite is the pear tree in the back. It's great for climbing and since Jon put the two swings in it, the kids (especially Dominic) spend a lot of time out there.

 

Kami

My sister was on her way through to visit some friends and I convinced her to spend the night with us.

The kids really enjoyed her visit. This morning Dominic convinced her to play soccer and hide & seek.

Then we went to Burger King so the kids could play and we could talk.

It was a bit more eventful than I had planned.

Kami and I were talking and I heard a shriek. Dominic had noticed a skateboard toy that had fallen behind the mesh in the playground. They hadn't gotten kids meals, so some other kid must have lost it. He begged me to please help him get it. I wish I'd taken a before picture.

But this is where it was. It was about 2 feet from the red bubble thing on the left.

Using my long arms and this cardboard crown

 I was able to get this little guy close enough to rescue him.

Only for my son and only because it was a skater dude.

Kami and the kids playing with the crowns.

 

 

It was really nice to have a visit with my sister, however brief.

Flowers

I had all of the windows open and the kids were outside playing.

My cousin called and I went outside to check on the kids while talking to her. 

I saw Caitlin with this tiny tulip and realized she'd picked some of my flowers.

When I looked over to the side of the house I realized she'd picked ALL of the tulips and some of the other flowers. She had then headed to the front flower bed to start on those before I caught her. I couldn't find the flowers though. According to her and Dominic she'd fed most of them to the dogs. And since I found only a couple of petals - I'm guessing they actually ate them.

Before pictures.  (After was too sad.)

 

Dominic brought me these that he'd rescued.

Dominic was trying to be helpful and "planted" this one again.

Logic of a 4 yr old

Last night I was griping a bit to my sister about how smart Dominic is, but how he sometimes isn't very logical or doesn't use his common sense. She reminded me that I WAS dealing with the common sense of a 4 year old.

Then she said "This IS the child that thinks eating his boogers is a good idea."

I'm suddenly seeing things from a totally different point of view.

*********

Today we went out and when we were getting back into the car Dominic thanked me.

"Thanks mom for stopping the rain long enough for us to get into the car and not get wet."

You're welcome. It's just one of my many mom super powers.

Easter Pictures

Every year I take the kids in to have their pictures taken around Easter time.

They wear more dressy clothes than in any of the other professional pictures.

It was so hard choosing this year that I ended up getting the cd so I could have all of them.

Last time Caitlin was scared of the flash and I ended up having to hold her.

So this time I was a bit worried, but she was fine.

Dominic, on the other hand, was being very goofy. So not very many pictures of him with a real smile, but we still got some great shots.

The kids really enjoyed their session. Dominic even had some advice on what poses to do. He was the one who suggested using the fake flowers in a shot. Bear bear and Josie puppy (the kid's stuffed animals) weren't supposed to be in the pictures, but they wanted them and I figured they were a part of their lives so why not. The little bunnies were props.