We Went Camping

I thought about calling this post "I Survived Tent Camping" or "Three Bears in One Night" but decided to just state the obvious. We went camping...and we had a great time! I was in favor of the idea of the trip from the get-go and really did want to try camping since it always sounds like so much fun when other people do it. But my reservations were a)I'm not a camper b) John David is not a sleeper and c) I'm terribly afraid of bears and other wildlife. Much to my surprise, I am more of a camper than I realized! It really was nice to be out in nature and to be away from the normal distractions of suburban life. John David did great sleeping in the tent. John did an unbelievable amount of work to get us packed and then set-up and then packed up again. He had not been camping in a really long time either so we were both eager to give it a try. There were a total of 5 familes that went and among those families was John's brother and his wife and three kids. They are what I consider hard-core campers - Travis and Susan went on a camping trip out West for their honeymoon and this was their 4 month-old daughter's second or third camping trip. Serious campers! Travis is a chef by training and we always have fabulous meals any time he is involved. In fact, I think the smell of the roasted chicken was what attracted the bear. Or was it the rice pilaf...or the roasted vegetables...or...Yes, you read that correctly. Bear. And Roasted Chicken. And Rice Pilaf. All at our campsite! Just as we were finishing our yummy dinner, my friend Karla went to her car for something. She came running back frantically shouting about her bear sighting. He/she ran away for the moment but came back later, once the excitement had died down and most of us had gone to bed. Travis scared the bear off on the second visit but said that it looked like the bear had been back during the night to scavenge for any morsels of food we may have overlooked. So I guess it wasn't technically three bears, just one bear three times.



We had a really good time in spite of the bear's visits and in spite of the fact that there was no shower or other running water. And John David got to take his first ride on a jet ski with Uncle Travis. Even tonight as I put him to bed he was talking about riding the jet ski with Uncle Travis and how fast they went. And he wants to go camping again...tomorrow. Here are some more pictures from our adventure:


Examining some of the "wildlife" at our campsite


Said wildlife, up close and personal


Susan and baby Kara Lynn


Ready to go again!

Off to the Beach!

We are heading to the beach tomorrow for a week of vacation with my family. This picture was taken during our last trip to the beach in February. More soon...

Twenty-two Months Old

On Tuesday, July 3rd, John David turned 22 months old. I've said it before and it sounds so cliche, but I can't believe time is passing so quickly. He is such a joy and just makes our life so happy. He is very verbal and will try every word that he hears. Last week it was "bulldozer" which came out like bull-docious. Lots of his word end in cious...like lo-cious which is how he says lotion. His word for "tickles" is ti-cicles, like the ending for popcicles. He is speaking in full sentences and comes out with some doozies. He loves to watch the show "Caillou" on PBS and we are allowing it for now - I think Caillou can be rather whiny - but until he starts picking up on that, I'll indulge him. One of the sentences he said recently was "I ride yellow school bus like Caillou." Which means, of course, that he wants to ride a school bus. He knows all of his colors so he can be quite descriptive when he is stating what he wants or what he likes. He has become really attached to John and askes all the time "Where da-ee go?", even when John is just in the other room. Other sentences that we love to hear are: "I be right back" and "I go get some-en" or "I need go get some-en" when he leaves one of us in the room to go get a toy from another room. He is still just as caring and sweet as he has always been and blesses my heart with the way he expresses himself. Like last night - we had this exchange:
John David: What's that?
Me: Mommy's elbow
John David: El-bow?
Me: Yes, that's mommy's elbow and you have one too, right here.
John David: Mommy's elbow nice. Nice elbow.

He still loves to read books and we realized recently that he has even memorized some of them that we read frequently...like "Goodnight Moon". John was reading it and started hesitating before saying some of the words. Without skipping a beat, John David filled in the blanks. We were amazed! So now I'm going to start teaching him scripture since I know he can memorize his books. He also can count to 10 with some help and he almost has his ABC's down. These aren't things I've been forcing him to learn, he has picked most of it up on his own. I do read him books and count when we are going up stairs, but it's not like I've sat down with him and said "Okay, now we are going to learn our ABC's." I didn't even realize he knew most of his ABC's until he started singing along with his Leap Frog ABC toy on the fridge. It's true what they say, kids are such sponges!!

He's definitely all boy when it comes to play time. He loves his truck that his Grandma gave him for his birthday last year and zooms through the house on it yelling "beep, beep!!" until he intentionally "crashes" into the island in the kitchen or the leg of the table. Then he loves to yell "Mommy, I crash..like this!!" His newest trick on his big wheel that Granny and Papa bought for him is to pop a wheelie, or a "wholly" as John David says. He can't do it by himself yet but loves for John to help him "drive" and pop "whollies".

He's still a bit of a peanut compared to other kids his age, but it doesn't seem to bother him. And since he has been on the same growth curve his whole life, I'm fine with it too. He's been between the 5th and 10th percentile for height and weight at every check-up. He weighs about 23 pounds now (according to my bathroom scales) and is probably about 31 inches tall (at least that's what he measured at the end of May). We love our little peanut!

Thankful Thursday

Last year after Christmas John was in Hobby Lobby and picked up this adorable "Frosty" for John David for just $20, which was 80% off of the original price. I just love a good bargain! John has a great knack for picking out things that John David absolutely loves. John David had so much fun with it that we have kept it out all year. He gets such a thrill out of tackling "Prosty" as he calls it, and giving him hugs, that I'm glad we didn't banish it to the basement with all the other Christmas decorations. Today I'm very thankful for such a sweet, thoughtful husband who loves our little boy so much. (I feel the need to explain why John was in Hobby Lobby...he goes to lunch with the guys from work nearly everyday. Since they all ride together, John often finds himself "along for the ride" at different stores and errands. I think the mission that particular day at Hobby Lobby was to purchase Christmas trees that the Regional Vice President's wife had requested. They were a good deal too at 80% off...and we now also own one of those!)

Today I'm thankful that my garden is producing fruit! This is the first cucumber that we picked and there are currently 3 more that should be ready to be picked in about a week. It was a little small (short and fat) but it was deliciously crisp and tasty. I also have 7 green bell peppers that will be ready soon if I can find a way to keep the bugs from eating them. And there is a little bud of an eggplant that is just too cute!

We had a fun 4th of July. John David rode his big wheel in a little parade in our neighborhood that morning and then we went to my mom and dad's house for barbeque and some fun in the hot tub. After that we went to church and heard a very inspiring speaker, Dr. Gene Winfrey. He is 85 years old and has led such an interesting life. It is always a blessing to hear one of his messages. After church we went to SONIC for a corn dog and a grape creamsicle with our good friends, Jason, Karla and Jacob. Today I am thankful for our freedom, our family, our church, freedom to worship the one true God, and for our friends. We have so much to be thankful for!

On a very serious note, I am thankful that my friend Meredith survived a horrific automobile accident recently. I thank God that He spared the life of Meredith and her two young sons, Cole and Nolan. Meredith and Nolan are the ones on the left in the picture above.