Conference Tradition

It's been hovering around 70 degrees here for the last few weeks, and naturally, the one weekend we reserved a camping spot, the temps dropped below freezing. :/ But it was worth it. Luckily, we have a camper so we all survived. In my opinion, it's the only way to camp with young kids! You've got to keep them comfortable or it will be a miserable trip for everyone!

Here we are all ready to go and wearing matching camo... one of our crazy family traditions.


Check out this set-up. It's a ton of work! But thank goodness I'm married to a manly-man who works hard to be prepared and who sacrifices his own comfort to make life fun and memorable for us.


We went out to enjoy the great outdoors, but this is where we spent much of our time. Haha! Cuddled up in our little camper, watching conference... and trying to stay warm. Conference was amazing and inspiring as always. SO grateful to have the gospel in my life.


Sweet little snugglebunnies...

Jarom loved his first camping trip! It's a good thing too, 'cause there will be many more for this little guy! He woke up all bright eyed and bushy tailed both mornings...

Playing ladderball, a very fun and popular game here in Wisconsin...

Another camping tradition... yummy eats and lots of treats! I buy certain junk foods we never eat unless we're camping... oreos, pop, and of course s'mores. Mmm... calories don't count when camping.

Daddy found a little grasshopper and Jakey was absolutely mezmerized. I had to take a picture, because it was a sweet moment of discovery.

Then Celeste found a much bigger one! Eek!

Pondering and singing together by the campfire...

Checking out all the sights at Old World Wisconsin on Saturday...

Flying Kites! At least the freezing cold wind was good for something!

One of God's special masterpieces. No, I'm not referring to the sunset. ;) (Love you Jonathan!)

The kids seem to sleep better when we go camping. Probably because they completely wear themselves out.

Whew, what a trip! Can't wait to go again!

Now back to real life, and loads and LOADS of laundry.

The Nest

This is Celeste and her two bffs. They're standing next to "the nest" they created for the birds in the neighborhood. You can't really tell in the pic, but they're allowed to pick the flowers (the weeds) from our yard and tape them to the nest. They get so excited about this! They spend nearly every afternoon together and think up all sorts of wild ideas. They even formed a band. Celeste is the vocalist, and the other two play the guitar and the keyboard. They call themselves "The Ocean Waves." It's hilarious.

I think this kind of play is so good for their developing imaginations. I'm a firm believer in turning the tv and video games OFF and letting kids play and explore and discover. It forces them to use some creativity and ingenuity rather than expecting constant entertainment. I try to be authoritative as a parent, but when it comes to play, I usually take the "let them be little" approach. I let them run around in the grass barefoot, catch frogs and crickets (as long as they don't bring them in the house), play outside in the rain without an umbrella, and jump in puddles. I let them be kids! So what if their hands and faces get a little messy!

But yesterday, I had to intervene. Jakey was playing outside and helping the girls make the nest. I had to run inside for a minute to get Jarom, and when I came back out, he was walking around the neighborhood holding a PLUNGER. He was pretending it was a big flower, and he wanted to put it on the nest too. I'm sorry, but THAT I will NOT allow! I couldn't help but laugh and wonder what the neighbors must think. But they had kids once too, so hopefully they understand.

Superheroes

This is how the boys spend much of their time these days. They love dressing up as superheroes and running around the house trying to save the pretty princesses (or as Jakey says, pwiddy pwincesses). I'm so glad they have each other!

Check out this dangerous duo...

Dangerously cute, that is.

Out of the mouth of babes

I overheard Charity singing about Jesus today during quiet time, and had to capture it on camera. She does this often and I just think it's the sweetest thing. She has the most tender little heart of gold. I imagine Heavenly Father must be so pleased to hear one of his little ones singing His praises. (Just disregard the messy house, haha!)