Camp Disappointment

 

Yikes. I got behind. Again. So we'll start with the most recent and work backwards. Eventually I'll catch up.

We went camping last weekend at Camp Disappointment State Park. It's located on a peninsula at the mouth of the Columbia River. It was a bit of a hike to get there, but a very cool spot and the kids had a blast. It was a beautiful weekend in Seattle and the weather looked good for camping as well. We headed out on Sunday morning. It was a gorgeous drive down along the coast and was sunny until we hit Ilwaco, about 3 miles from the camp site and then we were hit with dense fog and high winds. Apparently the peninsula has it's own weather.

We got out of the car and immediately had to put on fleeces and sweatshirts... it was not warm.

 We went to check out the surroundings. Mom wonders "Is there a reason it's called Camp Disappointment?" Only Nora seems entirely unfazed.

 As a child of the Northwest, I should never had expected sun and mild weather at the beach. Erin and Nora were happy with the sand regardless of the temperature. 

The views are spectacular there, but this was all we could see when we got there ... fog. Like I said, the kids didn't seem to mind the weather. Erin found a driftwood house. Nora rediscovered how much she likes (to eat) sand.

 We made it back from the beach and set up camp. Nora was particularly fond of exploring our campsite and telling us she was "cold." We found a few short hikes in the park. The first took us to the North Lighthouse which was the first lighthouse on the pacific coast.

The second little hike took us on the bay side of the peninsula and through some old growth forests with some HUGE sitka spruce.

 Erin was pretending to be a bear in her den.

 We were looking at different types of pine cones. Even Nora thought it was interesting. 

Erin crashed for a nap and Nora and I drove to Astoria to get her a nap. She's amazing. She won't fall asleep with other people around except in the car. And when she sleeps in the car, you'd better plan to drive the whole time because the moment the car stops, she's wide awake. Stinker.

Luckily the weather improved some after nap time and we got to enjoy some sunshine and enjoy the views on the beach. Note that our fleeces are still on because it was still only 60 and VERY windy, but at least we got the use the beach toys. 

 Back at camp for dinner we were treated to some of Nora's best silly faces.

We enjoyed a tasty dinner of hot dogs, potato salad, carrots, grapes and lemonade followed by some very tasty s'mores. We got Nora to bed around 8:00 without too much fussing and Erin followed at about 9:00. Unfortunately Nora woke back up at 9:30, but by 10:15 we were all snoozing.

The weather on Monday was a repeat of earlier Sunday. Foggy, cold and misty. Luckily the wind had died down so we did a little exploring after breakfast. We walked out on the North Jetty and saw the fishermen, the pelicans dive and a few ships in the distance.

 Just to prove that Matt was there. He was the photographer all weekend. What a treat!

Lessons learned from our solo camping trip:

1. Bring more warm clothes than you think you'll need..
2.  Ditto number 1 and not just for the kids.
3. The solar lantern only works if you remember to charge it during the day.
4. Nora is officially an 1:1.
5. We're not ready to do any real cooking because of #5.
6. Although I felt like we brought SO much stuff, in comparison to several of our camping neighbors we were minimalists.
7. Bring/buy more wood.
8. Somehow 36 hours of camping requires several days planning and several more to recoup. We're exhausted!
9. It's hard for a 4 year old to understand why we can't just take all the cool things we find home. Strangely I remember trying to learn this same lesson when I was 4 in Yellowstone.

PS. Just because I may forget to include this elsewhere, Nora is saying a lot more words. She's still spotty about using the ones that she knows, but she's always good for animal noises. She's 15 months old in a few days and here is her list of words: All done (done), cold, ball, bowl, shoe, nonono, Mama, that, hi, car, milk, rock and good. She'll also make animal noises for: crow, dog, cat, cow, horse, elephant, lion and owl. She has learned to play "kitty," from Erin and the cousins. In REI the other day she refused to be carried and wanted to crawl around the store meowing. She still has a temper and is easily frustrated by things, but also loves to get snuggles, give kisses and read books. She's still a total ham for us and loves to play silly games and make silly faces. And unfortunately she still bites and pulls hair, but I think it's getting better. Gotta love our little biter.

Trip to MN part one

At the end of June we traveled to MN for a few weeks for our first visit back since moving last summer. This visit was long overdue. 

I flew in with the girls on a Thursday night. Erin was thrilled to be picked up at the airport by Grandma, Grandpa AND auntie Laura. She put on a nice show for them and chattered non-stop despite the late hour of our arrival. Nora was a little less enthused by the whole thing and kept uncharacteristically quiet and still. Both girls did a great job on the flight although it's not exactly fun to fly solo with 2 small children. Everyone finally crashed and slept well, finally relaxed in our home away from home. 

When we left Seattle, it was still in the throws of cool, rainy weather. What a delightful shock it was to show up to sunny, hot weather. It was instant summer. The only thing we decided that we could live without was the mosquitoes. Man have we been spoiled by the lack of bugs in Seattle.

Matt flew in late the next night and we spent the next 5 days visiting friends and family, doing some work meetings, having family pictures taken and doing all the shopping I'd be saving up. I somehow managed to visit target 4 times in 5 days. It was just so close. And I miss it so much.

Erin and Nora settled in very quickly. It was strange to see Erin rediscover the house on Silver Lane where she had spent countless hours during her first 3 years. Nora decided that Dean was her preferred alternate adult and he loved it. For me this was such a incredibly wonderful trip. After being away for a year and after all that we've been through this year, I felt such peace at being back. We've come a long way in 12 months and being back was a great reminder of how much we've all grown.

In typically Jan fashion, she had pulled out new books, toys and activities to entertain the kids. Erin found the Three Billy Goats Gruff a particularly engaging tale and for the rest of the trip (and still) you frequently hear "who's that trip trapping over my bridge?" Below Grandma Jan and Erin are playing troll and goat. Guess who's the troll?

One of the highlights of our time in Minneapolis was seeing our St. Anthony friends. It's amazing that in just a few years how many children there are! We had a nice BBQ which included homemade ice cream using the frozen ball. The kids thought it was great and ran off a lot of energy running down the hill after the ball. The ice cream was runny, but no one seemed to mind.

 "Still runny."

"More salt Dad"

Grant and Nora don't seem to even need the ball to have fun running down the hill. 

Nora enjoying the summer weather. She loves to show her tummy on command.

 Matt and Alex contemplating the ball.

Grant is already drooling over the ice cream. 

This is Erin's typical silly face. She was in rare form throughout the trip. 

Stay tuned. In part 2 of our trip, we head to the Cabino!

Happy Birthday Nora!

A little delayed, but here are the photos from Nora's first birthday. 

Happy birthday silly girl!

Just another Tuesday

It was a beautiful day yesterday in Seattle. It was warm and sunny which was quite a treat after the gray, rainy, cool June we've had. We spent as much time outside as possible and even got a trip to the fountains outside the library. One of Nora's favorite things about the good weather is the ubiquitous presence of water bottles.

I'm still having trouble getting good pictures of either kid because as soon as they notice me with the camera they move at top speed towards the camera. Anyone have tips to keep them in place?

Erin decided today that she wanted to play dress up. Our dress up bin is a little sad, but she did find this  penguin costume (thanks Laura) that is about size 2T that she insisted on wearing. Yes, those orange things are her knees are really the feet. 

Then she decided it was time to get married. She put on a much too small fairy costume (backwards) and a sheer skirt and a straw hat.  

  But really, what fun is it being a beautiful bride without someone to marry. Today, Erin declared that she was going to marry Natalia. They had some wonderful wedding dances. Aren't they a happy couple?

This is a big week for Erin. She had her last day of Spanish class yesterday and finishes up her preschool classes on Thursday and Friday. Then we're on our own! We're starting to get ready for our trip to Minneapolis next week. We can't wait to go to the Cabino! Here are a few of our favorites from last year (and yes, Erin wore the same outfit the whole trip).

Looking forward to Minnesota!