Labor Day Camp Out - Part II

Since yesterday's blog about camping was getting rather photo heavy I'm going to wrap up our weekend here.  On Sunday after breakfast we made our way to Drake's Beach for the Annual Sand Sculpture Contest.

Uncle Matt loved this baseball theme for the Giants saying Beat LA - Dave not so much.  Even the hotdog had some real ketchup and mustard!

We thought this one paying tribute to the OctoMom was rather creative!

After braving the whipping winds on the beach we made our way toward the warmer campsite, but not before making a pit stop at a nearby Oyster Farm.

Dave was on a mission to BBQ some oysters!  They were actually pretty good - at least that was the opinion from most of the adults.

That night it was rather nippy and we enjoyed the last evening around the campfire. 

Dave Drew and Adrina (sans her two front teeth).

The one thing about camping is that it always seems to come to an end so early.  Monday morning it was time to pack it up and head out.  Another great adventure with family and friends.

Labor Day Camp Out - Part I

You know how it is, you go camping for a weekend and take a crapload of pictures.  So that means I can bore entertain you with plenty of snapshots over two days of blogs! 

This past weekend we ventured back to Olema where we used to camp all the time as kids growing up.  For those of you not familiar with California it's north of San Francisco near Pt. Reyes.  Beautiful area, but boy can it get cold.... I remember one year when my mom forgot the sleeping bags and the 5 of us were huddled up together, never so close as a family as that summer night in Olema.

But enough about 1990-something, let me tell you about this past weekend.  Dave, Drew and I were the first to arrive around 2pm and Drew was ever so helpful (I'm serious) in helping us put up our tent.  Something that normally takes 3 people was successfully put up with 2 1/2!  He held a pole - put some real muscle into it sometimes - but managed to really help his parents out.  What a kid.

Next to arrive was Uncle Matt, Rana & Adrina.  Matt was "armed" and ready to go....

Courtesy the belated birthday present from my parents.  For all of us once we settled in, it was time to relax!

L-R: Rana, Grammy, Me

Drew was content playing behind the trailers on Mollie's rug (my parents' dog) playing with all the toys Rana's Mom brought up.  He pulled every one of those toys out of the bag, and then put them back in the bag.

The next morning I ran for more than an hour along the quiet roads (a feat that will come back to bite me in the butt later that night, but I'll fill you in on that in a bit) and then afterward we headed toward the Earthquake Trail and snapped a few photos...

Drew at a tree near where the fence split by 16 feet during the 1906 quake...

Grammy & GrampC

Drew and Adrina, sitting in a tree.....

Our Family Tree....

Rana, Uncle Matt & an unhappy Adrina. (she pouted for all group photos).

A bit later we ventured out for some wine tasting in the area.  I mean we are camping near wine country and all!

L-R: Dave, Rana, Matt, Mom & Dad  - Adrina & Drew are in the far back

Here's a close-up of the two of them who were staying out of trouble at the winery by coloring.  When they weren't coloring they were apple picking!

Enjoying the "fruits" of his labor - hardee har har

After wine tasting (we went to one more winery - where Rana was stung by a bee) we headed back, but that's when it hit me.  My allergies.  In hindsight I think they flared up after my hour long run through all of Pt. Reyes' natural best... but I was MISERABLE.  I stayed in Grammy and GrampC's trailer with Drew who was trying to settle down for the night - and I needed a few zz's as well.  I woke up around 8pm when Dave came in to check on us, with no voice.  Zip. Zero. Zilch. 

I decided to sleep in the trailer instead of our tent for the night to see if I can kick the worst of it.  Thankfully it worked, while I woke up at first without a voice, it gradually returned.  For a while there I was trying to figure out how to convince Dave that we needed to go home a day early.  Whew, crisis averted.  I'll deal with a few sniffles and sneezes.  Not the achy, no voice miserable feeling I had a few hours earlier.

As for part two of our camping trip... you'll have to wait until tomorrow!

Lemonade Out Of Lemons

So what's worse than coming back from a long weekend of camping with several loads of laundry?  Having your child pee through his car seat.  Walk in the house and the same child pees on the floor.  And then he pees again at the foot of the toilet 30 minutes later.

The best part is you only have enough laundry detergent for about 4 loads - and you just had about another 2 loads added to your already 5 loads of laundry.  Oh and the dryer is broken!  After having Dave attempting to play Mr. Fix-it with the dryer, we gave up and I came up with a plan B so I could avoid the laundromat.

That's right I strung up some rope in our mini patio!  I managed to phase out the dry laundry as the next load finished.  Thank goodness for the really hot temperatures yesterday!

So much for a "labor day".  But I was able to make lemonade out of some lemons.  The good news I didn't heat up the house with the dryer AND I could save a little on the electric bill.  Now if only I can keep this up until the end of the month when we can try and buy a new dryer.

Most Annoying Question(s)

OK I'm going to go on a little rant today.... so I apologize ahead of time.

• When you're single the most annoying question was... "Are you seeing anyone?"
• When you're dating someone it's... "When are you getting married?"
• When you're married it's... "When are you having kids?"
• When you're pregnant it's... "When are you due?  What are you having? Have you picked a name?" (although admittedly none of those bothered me)
• When you have your first child it's... "Are you going to have another?"

In most cases those are really innocent questions and I'm just as guilty of asking them of people.  I've learned from experience that not everyone wants to get married.  Not everyone is sure that they're at a good position in life to be married.  And never ask about kids!

For those who don't know, Drew took 9 months to conceive.  Month after month being disappointed, but it happened and we're blessed with an awesome kid.

We've been trying for #2 for much longer without luck and it's a sore subject.  So please stop asking me if we want more kids.  The answer is - yes.  And for heaven sakes stop asking me when - I wish I knew!

While you may think its an innocent question all it does is remind me (and others who can't get pregnant just by thinking about it) that I've gone yet another month without getting pregnant.  My goal was to have kids two years apart... and with Drew turning 3 next week obviously that's not possible.  And there you have it. So please for my sanity, stop asking!

OK rant over.  Have a great long weekend!

Heat Wave!

For about the third time this summer we've experienced a heat wave. This is by far the coolest summer  I've ever experienced.  But since it was hot again and Daddy was at his softball game, Drew and I went back down to the pool.

He was so excited about his muscle suit last time that he asked for it again.  That and his floatie.  He was in the water all by himself when he went in the deep end (the water was too cold for me to get all the way in).  But have no fear, I was right on the side of the pool in case I needed to jump in quickly.

He did great in the water.  I know he'll love it when his swimming lessons start (the day after his birthday).

Only one thing, he refused to use a towel to dry off. Instead he did kangaroo hops around the pool.  After about 1 1/2 laps he decided he was dry enough to walk home.

I managed to get the "muscle man" in between the little hops.

Puzzle Fanatic = Proud Mama

Since Drew was about 14 months he's been addicted to puzzles.  We have videos of him telling us his shapes from puzzles that were geared toward 3 year olds back before he was even a year-and-a-half old.



Since he's mastered all the puzzles that are supposed to go into a defined slot - we've tried finding more challenging puzzles. He loves the difficult ones at school... which he mastered within about a week.

So when Drew and I went to Grammy and GrampC's on Saturday he was excited to pull out the state puzzle - the same one we had as kids. (I went through a phase in 3rd grade where I wanted to know all the state capitals - and had a map in my room where my dad would quiz me every night. Maybe it's because we moved so much as a kid and we visited a lot of those states. Or maybe I was just a dork.)

 

He's liked this puzzle for the last several visits - you know, to take every piece out and then leave a puddle of pieces for someone to put back together.  Well this trip it was different.  He shocked us by knowing where several of the states belonged as he put them away himself - even if they weren't in their correct spot they were in the right vicinity!

We knew he was familiar with California's location, but  were shocked to find out he knows where the state of Texas, Florida, Montana, Idaho, New York and several others were. Oh and I was really impressed when he was actually reading the state capitals off the backs of some of the states.  Like Arkansas... he told me it was Little Rock.  My jaw dropped at that one.  Must be those sight words kicking in.

Kady was there too, but could really care less about the puzzle.  She tried to help Drew remove the pieces until he got all OCD about where she was putting the pieces.  She resorted to showing off that she was a musical prodigy.

 

OK so our kids aren't exactly geniuses, but we're proud of them anyway!

Making Our Rounds

On Saturday after Drew's slumber party, we hopped in the car and headed over the hill to see Grammy and GrampC and as a bonus Cousin Kady and Auntie Lisa were there.  The goal was to see GG who was released from the hospital the day before.

After running some wedding errands and some personal errands for myself (we're trying to figure out what to do for window treatments for our slider) Drew and I joined Grammy, Auntie Lisa and cousin Kady to see GG.

She was doing as well as can be expected and bless her heart she was able to survive two tired toddlers running around her place.  I'm sure the neighbors downstairs weren't as excited to the hear the pitter patter of little feet as GG was.

Kady who in the past has been the peach when taking pictures with GG decided not to cooperate this time.  Drew on the other hand who is normally the pill, gave his famous cheese face.

After nearly two hours we figured GG had enough and we should relieve her of the "joy" - not to mention mess - two toddlers can create and let her get some rest.