Our First "Real" Camping Trip

We successfully completed our first camping trip. Some of you may know we attempted camping last year, but only made it six hours.

We went to Liberty Lake with our friends the Brown's. Aiden had a wonderful time with their children; Mia, Silas, and Macy. I have never seen him so dirty, bruised or happy. We swam in the lake, roasted marshmellows, hiked around and visited.

There were no wood fires allowed because of how dry it is over in the Spokane area right now, so that was a little weird to sit around a campfire of coals. Not quite the same feel, but it did the trick.

There were very few bugs, but three mosquitoes did manage to bite Nolen on the head. He looked very bewildered as to why I was smacking him. Poor kid.

It is fun to sleep under the stars, and not shower, and be one with nature (plus the car load of comfort items). But I am still in the market for a nice lake house.

Jinx

I tell the pediatrician my son is fully potty trained, no accidents in weeks.
Later that day he poops in his underwear.

I tell my friend my littlest is going down for naps without a fuss and sleeping several peaceful hours.
No nap at all later that day for him. Just screaming and crying.

I say to my husband, "isn't it great that the dog is staying on her bed at night?"
Then the dog is up on the bed 30 times that night.

I think when I say it out loud it jinxes it, but do I ever learn???

Two To Go

It is scary, but it is true. Nolen is almost officially a crawler. He is definitely a mover. Though awkward, it is efficient and he gets where he wants to go - fast. Which is usually towards some sort of power cord or electric component. Naturally the more dangerous the more enticing, and the more persistent he becomes.

What is funny is the way he moves. It is a series of pushing himself to a hands knees position, then he lunges forward probably just hoping something besides his face will catch him. Then a belly scoot, a roll, and back to hands and knees. And now he is five feet from where he started. Amazing!

Now they can start going in opposite directions at the same time. Good thing I am taking up running.

We LOVE the Beach

We had a wonderful 4th of July trip to Cannon Beach. The weather was mostly cooperative, although a little cool and cloudy and one day of rain. We still made it out to play on the beach everyday.

Driving took an hour and half longer each way due to several unplanned poop stops. For those of you who do not have children I apologize for all the potty talk. It is one of our more all consuming topics these days. Anyway, it was not bad driving. Our GPS does seem to think it knows quicker routes, but has yet to prove it self.

On our rainy day we took a trip to the Seaside Aquarium, which I would say to all who are wondering if it is worth their time - It is not. The fish all looked depressed or dying and the seals were cute, but in a very small tank. Every time we have been to Cannon Beach I say, we should visit the Tillamook Cheese Factory. So since outdoor activities were postponed due to weather we headed south. Well, so did everyone else. It was beyond packed. We past on the hour long lines for cheese and ice cream samples and opted to just buy some. The "squeaky" cheese was a big hit and I will have to look for it in the stores around here.

Steve was sick from my driving when we returned so Megan, Aiden and Nolen and I headed to downtown Cannon Beach for a little over priced shopping. We sipped lattes and wandered the shops and then headed home (hotel) with another delicious pizza, from Pizza a Feta (I believe we had four while we were there).

The 4th was great. My anticipation of a quieter celebration completely met my expectations. There are no firework festivities in Cannon Beach and very few amateur shows were going on. So instead of the noise that goes until 4am in Mill Creek, we only had a couple of explosions, which myself and our dog Ellie were very grateful for. Our friends the Woodgates came from Portland to celebrate with us and we had a wonderful day on the beach. The kids, all under five were not the least bit fazed by the wind and sometimes cold rain. They played and played. We had ice cream cones in town and more pizza for dinner. It was one of my favorite 4ths ever.

Leeming Family Reunion

I LOVE MY FAMILY! I can hardly wait until we can see each other again. And I think the majority of the Leeming party felt the same. We ended our trip trying to schedule our next get together.

The Schwark’s trip to Reno went like this:

Our plane trips were great. The boys were super. Nolen spent most of both flights sleeping and after a minor melt down on the first leg of the trip Aiden straightened up and behaved. I must say the DVD player was a BIG help. Aiden was cute saying things like “bye Seattle” and “hello Reno”. I can’t give the airlines any commendations. Southwest was cheapest and that is the inconsistent, unhelpful, uncomfortable service we got for our money.

We flew in Friday and unpacked at our “home base”, Aunt Carrie’s, aka super aunt. She was so awesome with my boys. Aiden and Nolen equally adored her. Although, the backyard baby swing with running fountain and pond came a close second for Nolen. After we dropped our stuff off we headed to Aunt Jody’s for dinner. All I can say is YUM. She put out quite the spread, appetizers, drinks, a fabulous dinner and dessert. And to top it off all our family was there. This is also where James (cousin) unveiled the much anticipated family reunion t-shirts. These completely lived up to all the hype. A bright obnoxious green with coded numbers on the back. By the way James, I wore my shirt out since I have been home and had several compliments!

The Schwark’s plus one cousin Leiya headed to Aunt Jody’s pool for a bit. This pool was awesome. 3 ½ feet deep with a big slide and fun water features. Aiden adored Leiya enough to actually go down the slide and follow her around in the pool. He wanted her in eye sight at all times and when she wasn’t he would say “I neeeeeed Leiya”.

Saturday Aunt Carrie set up lunch at Grandma’s house and we all gathered for sandwiches. It was fun to see the sea of lime green invade the living room. This prompted the slogan “The Leeming Family Goes Green”. We spent the afternoon swimming, chatting and soaking up the sun.

Saturday evening my grandmother had a dinner catered at her club house. It was so delicious and no one had to worry about dish clean up! Then we sat in a big circle and shared funny stories.

Sunday we headed to Tahoe. Everyone gathered at Meek’s Bay. We spent the afternoon playing in the water and eating. My mom, aunt Nancy and aunt Carrie took turns holding Nolen and playing with Aiden. Nolen does not care what the temperature of the water is he just wants to be in it. Maybe he is so well insulated that he can’t even tell the temperature! We did have one tragedy while though. Steve’s brand-new $$$, father’s day gift, sunglasses found a new home at the bottom of the Lake due to an unfortunate capsizing of a small water craft.

We spent Sunday night at the Reno Rodeo with My mom, brother Chris, cousins Brock, Erica, April, Aunt’s Carrie and Nancy. Aiden had a blast seeing all the bucking broncos, bulls, and cowboys. He kept saying “I need to touch another horse”. He clapped and yelled and jumped around, which could have been impart due to his first experience with cotton candy – thank you Erica!

Monday was a perfect day of Starbucks for breakfast, swimming at 10am, and lunch with the family. We packed up our stuff and headed to the airport, where we ended up waiting an extra two hours, but that was not about to ruin all the fun we just had.

We are home safe and sound and all avoided sunburns but soaked up lots of vitamin D. I can’t wait to do it again!

Father's Day

Fathers Day makes me think about all the wonderful men I have in my life. So, I just want to take a moment to brag about them.

First, my awesome husband. He is consistently the most wonderful person. He is the only person I want to be around all the time. He is patient, oh so patient. Patient with the kids, the dog, ME, with life. I want to be more like him. He is SO smart. I am constantly amazed at all he knows. He is funny, he has to have a sense of humor to live in our crazy house. And last but not least, he is a hotty. I got the best man on the planet and I am thankful everyday for him. Plus, he wasn't even mad that we had left over waffles and starbucks for Father's Day breakfast :)

Second, my boys, the men in my life that stretch me the most. They test my patience just about every waking moment of the day - and night. They make me laugh. They make me be creative - like what is the solution to your two year old pooping in his underwear at a fancy bellevue baby boutique? Toss the undies, clean up the kid, let him go comando until shopping is complete. I didnt drive 15 miles on $4+ gas, and load up the infant in the front pack, to turn around and go right home! (I know, I know - bring extra undies....but what fun would that be?) These boys give me a sense of purpose, and for that I am eternally greatful.

My dad's. I got two of the most wonderful, wise, caring, Godly, hardworking dads in the world. They pray for me and give me good advise, and give me the peaceful feeling that come what may they are there for me.

My grandfathers are full of wonderful life experience and wisdom. They are funny and kind. They are authentic and loving. I love my grandpa's.

I even have amazing brothers and uncles and cousins!

Thank you Lord for all the wonderful men in my life.

Smoothie Machine Makes Baby in a Basket

So, I recently purchased a new blender which happens to be incredibly loud. This volume worries Aiden to no end, and he will cry if I don't give him fair warning and time to run to the couch. So, being the considerate mom that I am I place Nolen on the couch and tell Aiden I am about to turn on the machine. He climbs on the couch next to Nolen while informing me that he would protect Nolen.

I hit the smoothie button and wait for the deafening sound. After about three seconds I hear another incredibly loud alarming noise - Nolen - SCREAMING, pretty much the same scream he has when he gets shots. I look at the couch, no Nolen, I run to the couch - oh, there he is, in the empty laundry basket!

Aiden is screaming at me now too. "FEED HIM" "FEED HIM" "FEED HIM" and looking more worried than I have ever seen him look. So somehow Aiden either picked up, pushed, or rolled him off the couch into the empty laundry basket. Poor Nolen. I was angry at Aiden, but realizing this would not be scarring for Nolen, but if handled improperly could be potentially scarring for Aiden. Yelling "Aiden what did you do???" Probably wasn't the most calm collected thing I could have said, but that is what came out. Fortunately that was the end of my tirade towards Aiden. I ended up comforting Aiden more than Nolen.

I believe Aiden's plan was to indeed protect Nolen from the loud noise (which incidentally doesn't bother him) by transporting him to a safer, quieter location via the laundry basket. At least that is the version I am willing to go with at this point.

I am happy to report everyone has come through seemingly physically unscathed, emotionally I guess time will tell :)