Backyard Campout

We have been itching to get up to Yosemite all spring and this past weekend we were finally able to go.  Since Uncle Burke has been eager (major understatement) to go see the waterfalls before the spring snowmelt went away (they've had an unusually high amount this year), we figured we'd drag him and Auntie Jenn along too. Originally we were going to try to do Mist Trail, but realized that a long (straight up!) hike with two little kids probably wasn't in anyone's best interest. Instead we opted for a bike ride around the valley floor, something that just so happens to be one of my favorite things to do in Yosemite anyway. After fighting our way through the crowds down the bike paths, I have to say that we have been spoiled in living so close to Yosemite. We rarely visit the park during tourist season and because of this, I had forgotten just how crowded it can be. There were people everywhere while we were there! Fighting the crowds was all worth it in the end though. The waterfalls really were amazing, and the rivers were so, so full. I don't know if I've ever seen signs posted saying you can't float down the river, but they were there this time and after a little while, we came to realize why. Besides the obvious fact that the river was running incredibly quickly, there was only about a foot of clearance between the water and the bridges you usually would float under right now! Yikes!

Upper and Lower Yosemite Falls

Collin spent a good amount of time trekking around on our shoulders that day

Drew wanted to actually get in the water. We tried to explain that it was too cold, but Nathan finally let him go feel it for himself 

Burke and Jenn

Check out Collin's wind blown hair! The base of the falls were super windy! ...and super wet, and super loud! There was just a ton of water!!

Climbing rocks

Cheese!!

Up at Mirror Lake. Two things: one, this lake is seasonal and usually isn't there this time of year. And two, check out the ridiculous amount of people!!!

And finally, for those of you that didn't know, this past Saturday was National Camp in your Backyard Day (thank you REI for filling us in on all those little known dates!). Nathan found out this day was coming up a while ago and has been looking forward to "camping" out back with the boys ever since. Since Jenn and Burke had already done the wilderness portion of campout night (a.k.a. Yosemite for the day) we roped them into camping with us that night too (the more the merrier, right?) We put a little tent up, pulled out Nathan's telescope, made s'mores, and all around had a pretty fun time. Drew slept in the tent (at least for most of the night, anyway), and we all slept on blow up mattresses on the lawn. Collin started out the night in his bed since he goes to bed earlier than we were going to, and then we moved him to sleep inbetween me and Nathan once Drew and everyone else had fallen asleep. Our campsite was clean, comfortable, and had bathrooms close by! Not a bad way to camp with two young kids, if I do say so myself!

Uncle Burkie and Drew setting up the tent. 

Checking it out as it went up (Drew was only a little excited)

Because Drew was scared of the dark at first, Nathan gave him a headlamp that he had to check everything out with

Thanks to the "no burn" days in Fresno, in lieu of a bonfire, the BBQ served as our sophisticated way of making s'mores for the night :)

Playing Legos in the tent with Auntie Jenn

We actually found Saturn and got to see it's ring with the telescope!

Reading Curious George (of course!) with the headlamp. Don't you love the furry audience? (The two minions Puggies are Jenn and Burke's)

Our hillbilly (and probably most comfortable way I've ever camped) campsite :)

Backyard camping was apparently exhausting for Drew. Ok, it probably had more to do with the fact that he had stayed up most of the night, but still. This was after naptime the next afternoon. He asked for a movie and fell asleep again maybe five minutes after I had turned it on. Not only have I never had him fall asleep on the couch, I've never ever had him fall asleep after already taking a nap! Proof that a good time was had, I guess. :)

A good day for golf

This week, the driving range where Nathan spends many a lunch hours, hosted a Mommy/Daddy and Me golf clinic. Nathan's mom was actually the first one to hear about it and when she told me and Nathan, we knew it would be a hit with Drew. Nathan was able to take a little time out of his work morning to meet up with us, which made for one very happy little boy. I'm not sure if Drew was more excited about golf or the fact that we pulled up and Daddy was there. In any case, he had a ton of fun and has talked about it all week. Meghan, the instructor, was great! Drew loved her! She was very easy going and made the class flexible to fit whatever style of instruction each kid needed. I loved that about the whole thing. There was no pressure whatsoever. The entire point was to have fun. Perfect!

 Collin and Auntie Jenn Jenn came along to watch too. Thank goodness for Auntie Jenn being willing to be drug all over the county with us! I would never get any pictures of events like this if it weren't for her entertaining Collin for me!

 "Oh! I got that one!!"

 Meghan had put a sticker on the bottom of Drew's shoe to encourage him to pivot and lift his heel at the end of each swing. She walked him through the motions first, and then let him try.

 This was his attempt to show her the sticker as he swung. Looks more like the start of a skip, right? Hehe.

 And just in case she had missed seeing the sticker during the "skip", he made sure to turn all the way around to give her a good look. Silly boy.

 By the end though, he had actually gotten the hang of things!

If you look carefully, you can see Drew's ball.  Look towards the middle of the bush behind the shed on the top left.

 Putting. 

Someday Coll-brother, someday you'll be big enough to go play too...

Drew and Daddy. Thanks hun, for talking the time to come and play! Drew loved loved loved it!

Technically I think my three things should have been last week, but since last week's post was long, I saved them for this week.

Collin:

1. Has another tooth! His top left tooth (next to his front teeth) has come in, bringing the total to five little chompers!
2. He's started climbing things. We have to be careful about putting chairs or toys too close to counters now because he will use them as stepping stools to get onto the counter itself. Yikes!
3. Loves to play outside-in the sandbox, in the dirt, in the water....he's not picky! He just loves to be out!

Drew

1.  Asks "Are we here yet?" or "Are we here now", within the first 5 minutes of every car trip.
2.  Love to sing "Old MacDonald Had a Farm". The only thing is, instead of "E I E I O", he sings "E I E I...F!"
3.  Loves to be read to. His favorites right now are any Curious George books and any tractor related book. I actually really enjoy reading to him, so I'm glad that this is something he is enjoying now as well.

Quick Trip

Well, we're back! We had a fun and quick trip up to see my parents in Oregon, where my sisters and I threw a bridal shower for our other sister Christi. Since a twelve hour drive is a major undertaking with two small hooligans, Jenn and I decided to head up Tuesday so we could at least make somewhat of a mini vacation out of it. However, thanks to a week filled with plenty of dinners, entertaining, Ty Ty's graduation from University of Oregon (yay Tyler!), a friend's birthday, and Christi's shower, our mini vacation turned into quite the whirlwind week! We came home exhausted and teasing that we needed a vacation from the vacation!

We left our house around naptime, as it's the easiest way I've found to make the drive with kids in tow. The boys go down for their naps as we start out, they're awake for a bit, we stop for dinner and to change into jammies, and then they go down for the night for the rest of the drive. Fabulous! (If you could call a 12 hour drive fabulous....). The boys were such troopers! Even with Drew's "Are we here yet?" questions every half an hour or so, they did great! We ended up arriving at my parents' house around one in the morning where we were greeted by the entire family waiting outside for us as we pulled in the driveway. :)

The first night we arrived, Christi let Drew sleep in her bed, where he spent a good hour talking to her about "joker soakers" (a.k.a. super soaker water guns) before falling asleep. The next morning, on a run to Target, Christi happened to find similar water guns to what they had been talking about in the dollar section. She brought a few home and roped Tyler into running around and getting wet outside with Drew. I honestly think this was the highlight of Drew's trip. He loved it and is still talking about playing with the water guns and Tyler. 

P.S. Check out Drew's "bad guy" face in this picture! :)

Drew and Poppi spent plenty of time out in the yard playing trucks

My little blondie

Collin loved the sandbox!

This was the other thing Drew loved, "flying" with Auntie Kell

We had Christi's shower on Saturday evening. I had a ton of fun meeting all of Christi's friends and coworkers, but couldn't get over how weird it was to be at my parents' house and know hardly anyone the girls hang out with these days! Guess that's part of growing up and living apart. Everyone was great, and we all had a fun time embarrassing Christi while showering her with lingerie!

"Christi hearts Tyler"

The delish desserts!

The delish dessert makers! Casey and Jenn. Casey is one of the girls' friends in Oregon. She was not only super sweet and fun to hang out with, but she was a huge help in getting the shower all pulled together

Christi and Ty Ty before we kicked Tyler out for the night 

Party animal Collin, who wanted nothing to do with sleep while there was the possibility of fun to be had!

Since we threw the shower at 7pm, we tucked Drew into Lala and Poppi's bed to watch movies. Spoiled boy!

But of course, not to be left out, party animal Drewski made his appearance half way through the night as well.

Oh Ty Ty...you thought you might get a sneak peak if you checked the blog, didn't you??? Nope! This is as close as you're going to get to seeing what she got! ;)

When I got married, my sister-in-law Kim threw me a shower and while I opened gifts she asked me a list of questions she had already asked Nathan. My job was to give her the answer Nathan had said. For each question I got wrong, I had to chew a piece of bubble gum. Well, of course, I ended up with a wad of gum in my mouth by the end (To this day, I blame Nathan and his ridiculous answers!). Anyway, I have been waiting patiently to put another little bride through this hilarious torture and Christi was the perfect fit! We asked Ty Ty a list of questions and had Christi answer them in between opening each of her gifts. By the end she had so much gum she could barely talk (I think she ended with 9 or 10 pieces of Bubblicious in her mouth!). Christi was a really good sport, and we all got a good laugh.

Christi and her ginormous wad of gum!

Me, my sisters Jenn and Christi, my Momma, and my sister Kell

Anyway, like I said, it was a week filled with fun! Always love our time in Oregon!