Our first Waters family attempted campout

On Friday night, we decided to go camping. Bailey has been wanting to go camping forever, so with Mike's last few days off, we found a campsite, got ready and headed out. Online, I had found a site that was by one of the fingerlakes. We were excited for a beautiful view.

But when we got there, this is what we saw:

Our campsite was right next to the lake. A stone's throw away. And I wasn't happy about it. I was really nervous that Bailey or Avery might be get a little too adventurous, or maybe just a little too close. Needless to say, I was extremely diligent about knowing where they were every second. It was a very pretty view, but it was scary, and not the wooded campground we were expecting.

It was, luckily, a very warm September day. However, it was also very windy. Poor Avery was terrified. She could not stand to be in the tent when the wind was blowing. In fact, she was screaming. A lot.

The campsite was also right next to a playground. While we were playing there, we made a terrible discovery on Avery's head. Mike pulled tiny black bug after bug after bug out of  her hair. Yes, we found lice.

It's not exactly what you want to find out when you're planning to sleep all together in a tent where everything will have to treated. But, we decided there was not much we could do about that night, and that we would try to have a fun campout anyway.

When it started to get dark, we made a campfire. We had a great time roasting hot dogs, and marshmallows. It looked like our campout was going to be salvaged.

But then it was bedtime.

Bailey and Avery would not go to sleep. Every time one of them was almost asleep, the other one would wake them up. I threatened ("If you guys don't go to sleep we're going home!" "Nooooooooooo!"). I cajoled ("It's so much fun to sleep in a tent!" "I want to go home!"). And finally, after two and a half hours of this, we packed up and went home.

Unfortunately, I was planning on taking all of our camping pictures in the morning because the sun was in such a terrible place.

These are the only pictures I have of our failed campout. Mike and I decided we would only talk about the fun things we did while we camped, instead of the bad. Maybe next time (if there is a next time) it will be better.

And now we have to deal with lice!!!

Weekend Visit

Thanks to Shelli and her great job at Jet Blue, Mike's parents were able to come and visit us this last weekend. In a lucky turn of events, it was also Mike's week off. We went to Palmyra (I might add that it was my third trip there in two months), made an apple pie, worked on the hole in the ceiling, and hiked Carpenter Falls. I only brought my camera on the hike. It was gorgeous, but a little too steep for the kids.

We love it when we have visitors!

Playing church

Bailey and Avery are into playing church right now. They sit my down on the couch, give me a book of "songs", give talks and say prayers. My favorite part is when they sing and lead the music:

It makes me smile when I hear Avery sing all the words of a song. She is a huge fan of music. I have two super cute girls!

Birthday Girl!

Our little baby is two! It's hard to believe that two years have gone by. She may not have grown much hair since then, but she is getting big, and talking a ton.

 

Yesterday we started the day by baking the birthday cake. Bailey and Avery had to help, of course, and lick the mixing spoons.

Avery was a chocolaty mess before she even had any cake. (:

Lately, we have been reading the book, "How Do Dinosaurs Eat Their Food?" Consequently, Avery loves loves loves dinosaurs, and asked me to make a dinosaur cake for her birthday. I think it turned out pretty cute. I have to give Mike the credit for a great frosting job.

We celebrated around lunchtime before Mike had to go to work.

I was looking at pictures from Bailey's second birthday, where she got a purse too. I didn't even realize that. I guess purses are perfect for two year olds.

She was so excited about the trains she got from grandpa, she wouldn't even look up for a picture.

And the bubble wrap was almost as cool as the trains. (:

Right now, Avery:

• Wants to read books all day
• Sings songs by herself as she is playing (itsy bitsy spider, I am a child of God, Head, shoulders, knees and toes, Jesus came to John the Baptist, Popcorn popping)
• Loves trains
• Walks around with some serious attitude
• Talks with some serious attitude, it's actually funny (for now)
• Sends herself to timeout
• Is still our little snuggle bug
• Like to give us eskimo kisses

Avery has brought our family so much joy. Happy birthday!!

What we do at 6:00 am...

In case you were wondering, Avery is getting a little better at sleeping in to the late hour of seven. (But mostly that's because we have been staying up until nine almost every night this week.) When she does get up before the birds, this is what she wants to do:

This little stink crawls into my bed with a huge stack of books and wants to read them all. I wonder where she gets that from...

I can't do this post without her classic "anticipate the flash pose."

I can only hope that the darker mornings will mean later wake up times!

Swimming Lessons

The YMCA here in Syracuse does free swimming lessons with your membership. Needless to say, we signed up. Bailey had a great time in her Pike class, and has graduated onto Eel. Here are some pictures of her swimming fun:

Her confidence in the water has improved a ton. She'll go under water all by herself- all the way under. In fact, she kept getting into trouble for doing it when her teacher wasn't there. She will also swim all around by herself with floaties or a noodle, something she wouldn't do before this summer. I am super excited, and I hope that she'll be swimming all by herself soon.

Poor Avery just had to just sit and watch. We did sign up for a mom and baby class, but didn't end up going every week. We usually went swimming before or after the class so that Avery could swim too. She was a good sport about it most weeks.

Bailey started her new classes this week so hopefully by next summer she can swim floatie free!