Rock Creek Camping 2013

It's hard to believe that it has been 3 years since we last came up here!  Bean was just a little younger than Boy was on this trip (and if I remember, harder to take camping!)  The weather was awesome on the way up.  Rain is one of the reasons (believe it or not) that I love coming up here.  It makes everything so green and smell so good.  I was excited to see it so overcast and near ecstatic when it started to rain on us as we drove past Strawberry Reservoir.  Unfortunately, this would be the only rain we got on this trip.  The rest of the time was perfectly sunny.  Darn.

As I hinted, Boy actually did pretty good on this trip, which was a small miracle considering that he is at that stage where he is into and all over everything.  Little difficult to take a crawler camping.  But we found creative ways to keep these little kiddos busy.

We took lots and lots of walks.

I told Bean she should be a rocket ship pretending to get back to camp safely. 

The Upper Stillwater Dam.  A little unnerving I suppose that we camp right below one of the largest dams (of its kind.)  But for a giant mass of concrete, it really is beautiful!  It's hard to tell in this picture, but the ranchers bring their cattle up here for the summer.  We've had cows walk right through our camp before.

Bean's home away from home.

This was S's idea: bring the old playpen from my parents' house and fill it with toys for the Boy.  He would stay in there and play happily for about 10 minutes at a time (which, sometimes, was all I needed!)  Grandpa J would sit next to him and keep him company.

I introduced Boy to the tent and he was in heaven.  This kid loves crawling on beds and the tent, to him, was one giant bed.  Incidently we brought a tent up for S and Bean to sleep in.  Like at the cabin, I couldn't stomach the idea of both kids waking up screaming in the middle of the night.

There was a lot of sitting by the campfire--and roasting marshmallows.  S and I stayed up really late one night talking by the campfire.  I love my time with him after the kids go to bed.

S woke up early to go fishing one morning.  Unfortunately, this was the only fishing any of us did this trip.  I was pretty bummed, but Bean was just happy to hold the fish.  I was happy to eat the fish.

Bean spent the majority of her time in our trailer or my parents' motorhome, playing and coloring.  She was definitely easy to please this trip.

Our last evening there we took the kids for a hike up to the Upper Stillwater Reservoir.

It's sort of a rocky climb but Bean did great!

This trip I continued the J family tradition of Treasure Hunts.  Growing up, my mom would have several treasure hunts for me when we would go camping.  There are several clues along the way and, at the end, a fun new toy or treat to play with.  I always thought they were so much fun when I was a kid, but, as the adult in charge now, I think they are equally (if not more) fun to set up and watch!

I love this.  It's the last clue and her 'treasures' are 'hidden' at the base of her seat.  She stood there looking around for about a minute until she actually saw them!

Still confused.

It was a great camping trip.  My heart tangibly aches to go back up there again.  I certainly hope that it is not 3 years before we get the chance (and I hope we are able to stay a little longer next time.)

I've been waiting for the moment when Bean would discover that her little brother wasn't just a cryingeatingpooping machine but that she could actually play with him.  While he still ends up causing more disress in her life than companionship, Bean has actually started asking me if she can play with Boy.

Bean is such a good big sister to her little brother (sometimes too big of a help, but I'm not about to discourage her.) 

I'm sure plenty of fights and sibling rivalry await us in the future, but if this simple trip to Home Depot is any indication, we're in for a lot of fun too!

We finally made it up to our family's cabin the week after Boy's birthday.  Each winter I dream of the long summer days, particularly spent at the cabin.  And this year, like the last two, we were kind of late getting up there.  Bean was excited to camp out in our trailer with daddy again while Boy I slept inside the cabin (still a little nervous to have Bean and Boy sleeping in the same "room"--could make for a not such fun night.)  She was even more excited to go for a bike ride with daddy.  (I stayed behind and took Boy for a walk instead.)

They were gone for awhile when I received this photo from S.  Lucky kid got to make a stop at the local ice cream shop!  I think she liked it!

I told her to bring her binoculars up and that we would be explorers and go for hikes.  She loved this idea!

The river was so low in July (I hear it's dropped even lower now) that it made throwing rocks in it quite the feat.  I'm grateful for the flood control but I miss the accessibility.  Bean still had a good time chucking pebbles into what little water there was.

Boy and I hung out and watched.

We stayed through that evening and got home very late that night.  I thought the kids would both zonk out but instead Bean had a very good time entertaining Boy (who thinks his big sister is the most hilarious person alive.)

July Sixth

I can't believe that Boy is already one!  I was just telling S last week that, while he has certainly had more challenges than Bean did her first year, his first year has gone by a lot faster than Bean's did.

The day of his birthday was kind of low-key.  We had taken Bean to the zoo for her birthday but it just rained on us the whole time.  I don't know that she really cared too much, either.  So we mostly just spent Boy's day lounging around and playing.  I think it was better that way!  Boy went down for his nap and I started setting up for the party.  This is what I saw rolling into the valley.

Great time to host our first outdoor party!

I said a silent prayer that the storm might miss our house and, once again, my prayers (small and insignificant as they might seem) were answered!  The storm completely missed our neighborhood.  I say neighborhood because I could see it pouring rain only a mile away.  The weather did end up being nice and cool so it was really pleasant and, while it did end up sprinkling towards the end of the party, it was no big deal.

I don't know who was more excited for presents: Bean or Boy.  Bean is a smart little kid.  She knows that Boy is too young to really appreciate the bounty that comes with a birthday.  She, on the other hand, is more than willing to appreciate it.  Which she has every day since.

We told Bean that she was in charge of helping Boy open presents and she took this task very seriously.

I love this picture of Bean and her friend hauling this present over.  I also love the look on Boy's face.  It's his last present and he's definately warmed up to the idea of a birthday party by this time.

Boy hasn't been the eater that Bean was so I wasn't sure how his cake smash would go:

We sang the song.

We tried to entice him.  He started to cry.

He looked at me as if to say, 'Do I really have to eat this?'

He eventually caved, though I think we ended up smearing most of what you see on his face!

The party sort of dispersed after that: a smattering of rain and lost balloons and toddler metldowns will do that!  But it really was a great evening and I am grateful for all of our family and friends that came to share this special day with us.

After Boy and Bean were bathed and in bed, Bean helped us clean up the party.  She made sure to grab all of the pinwheels so they wouldn't blow away.  She has a deathly fear of the wind since her turtle tent was blown across the yard one afternoon.

It ended up being a gorgeous evening.  What a wonderful day!