Camping

Immediately after the fireworks mentioned in the previous post, we jumped in the already-packed car and drove north to our favorite campsite. We got the tent up and a fire started just before sunset, and had just enough time to made some s'mores before putting the kids to bed.  

It was perhaps not my wisest idea to hand an entire s'more to miss Miri, who got half of the s'more stuck to her shirt and the rest smeared all over her face and hands. She sure enjoyed it though!

After putting the kids to bed, Jesse and I tried to be super quiet while they fell asleep. An easy going card game and some star gazing was the way to go!

This moth landed next to us on the table and it was WAY lovelier than whatever terrible insect was biting at our ankles! (whatever it was, I had bite marks on my ankles for 2 weeks after!!)

The kids slept terribly, in a way that was simultaneously awful in the moment and made me realize that I'd appreciate the memory and laugh about it later. A certain 4 year old was convinced it was morning, and those declarations woke up a certain 1 year old, who didn't want to go to sleep in her pack and play once she realized we were all in the tent together. Long story short: we all fell back asleep, but Nikolai was in my spot while I curled up next to Miri in the pack and play under Niko's tiny sleeping back with his tiny pillow under my head. 

Definitely not the best sleep I've ever gotten. Which reminds me to make my usual yearly statement: Mom and Dad, thanks for taking us on all those camping trips as kids! I have barely begun to appreciate your patience and longsuffering.

In the morning, we got up, had a lazy breakfast, and walked out to the pier to appreciate the morning's beauty.

Lily pads for days! (do people still say 'for days'?)

Running with rocks:

The wind up (doesn't he look like he's practicing shot put??):

The aftermath:

A red-winged blackbird in flight:

Also, have I ever told you the story of when I first met Jesse's dad Dave? I found out he was an excellent birder, so one day as we were driving along I spotted a bird out the window and thought I'd see if he could identify it. "What's the black bird with the red wings?" I said. Dave's answer was swift and matter-of-fact. "A red-winged blackbird." 

And now I can never forget it's name. ;)

After the pier we packed up our site and went for a little hike. Miri took a nap in the carrier, but Nikolai mostly complained about being tired and wanted to be carried (we tried to reply calmly when we said, "well bud, why do you think we're ALL so tired??").  To make him forget his tiredness, Jesse told him the story of the Hobbit, which was incredibly delightful. 

Eventually we decided Niko wasn't going to walk any further and Miriam had gotten as much of a nap as she was gonna, so we headed to the other lake to spend the afternoon swimming.

The water was a little cool for Miriam to want to get in much (which is saying something, cause this baby is a fish!) but the rest of us enjoyed it and Niko even found some little friends to play with. 

At one point I may or may not have fallen asleep on a beach towel and gotten minorly sunburned, but it wasn't too bad. Eventually we headed home, sleepy but glad we had gotten outside!