Camping 2011

Camping 2011 was lots of fun!  We decided to check in a day earlier than everyone else.  We got there in the evening and set up camp. The first night in the camper was a rough one.  It was hot!  I didn't slep much.  Plus Matthew fell out of bed 2 times.

He did have fun being co-captian!

He was proud and looked so grown up.  He was not thrilled to have his picture taken.

When he woke up, he came and snuggled with Daddy. 

There may or may not have been some tickling/giggling going on.

Later in the day, there was some fishing going on.

Daddy tried to get Matthew's fishing pole fixed up.



He was having fun and smiling for his mama!

 Emma was there too! 

Matthew helping Daddy with his fishing pool.

Emma got a fish and was pretty excited!

We moved locations and Daddy was helping Matthew fish!

He caught his "whale" (sunfish).

The night before we went camping, Matthew told Grammie and Papa that he was going fishing and he was going to catch a whale.

Being brave enough to touch it but he wasn't brave enough to hold it.

Our campfire one night!



Scott is the master chef when we are camping. 

He has this awesome griddle for his grill that he loves to cook on.

It works the best for breakfasts!

 Aunt Karyl and Aunt Debbie also cooking.

Aunt Karyl is Scott's aunt who started the annual camping trip 24 years ago.  I started going the year Scott and I started dating 16 years ago.  We do 3 days and 2 nights.  By the 3rd day, everyone is getting tired and a little on the grumpy side.

Matthew and Daddy hanging out.  I think they were debating about trying fishing again.

Matthew with his cousin, Eva.  He loves that girl.  He is always talking about Eva and asking where she is.  They had lots of fun playing together.

And giggling!

There was lots of swimming on the second day.  First day was way to windy and a little on the cool side.

Splashing himself!  He was a little braver in the water this year.

He was being a ham! 

He was very open and very talkative to everyone!

The ranger gave the kids these fun frizbees with the holes in the center!

This is how Matthew wore his!

The second night, we had a birthday celebration for Emma!

Her birthday party had been scheduled for a few weeks early but she ended up with hives of some sort (at first they thought chicken pox) so her party was cancelled and rescheduled for when we were all together at camping.

Matthew and Eva again!

Like I said, they have so much fun with each other!

Some more swimming with little boys with matching swim suits.

Matthew's little cousin, Jack, had the same swim suit!

After swimming, we had a awesome dinner of grilled chicken, cheesy hashbrowns, corn and dessert!

Then we packed up and headed for home.

After year done! 

We can't wait for next year!

Camping 2010

Every year for the last 23 years, Scott's aunt, Karyl has been taking her nieces, nephews, grandkids and great nieces and nephews camping.  It is so much fun.  I have been going since Scott and I first started dating 16 years ago.  Things have changed a bit since then and we had added a quite a few more people.

Two years ago while camping, we let our niece, Emma, announce to everyone that she was getting a new cousin.  We had found out 5 days before camping that year that we had been chosen to be parents!

I remember the day clearly.  After we had set up our tent, we took Emma inside the tent to finish getting the inside ready to sleep in and we explained to Emma (she was 3 years old) that Auntie and Uncle were adopting a baby and she was going to get a new cousin.  We asked her if she wanted to tell everyone and of course she was excited!  So at dinner that night when everyone was there, I had Emma come over to me and I stood her up on my lap and I told her to tell everyone her secret.  The first time she said it, it was really quiet and I don't think anyone heard her.  She repeated it several times after that! The first thing I remember hearing was "Does that mean what I think it means Scott and Joanna?"  It was the best part of camping in 2008!

Here are lots of pictures from Camping 2010:

Matthew on his 1st motorcycle ride!

Uncle Kyle gave him his first motorcycle ride and he LOVED it!

Coming back around the campground on his motorcycle ride!

Our Camp Site at Gull Lake Recreation Area!

I got to hold and cuddle this cute little boy!

There was LOTS of swimming!

The kids helping bury Whitney!

Finishing touches! 

 Only her head was out!

Emma

Alexa and Eva

(These two are the sisters to the little boy above!)

Matthew having fun with all his cousins!

Little Levi! (Emma's brother)

Levi again!

Scott's uncle Wayne giving Scott's cousin RaeAnne a boat ride!

RaeAnne is due in October with a baby girl!

She was going to roll up her pants to get to the boat but Uncle Wayne just picked her up and carried her to and from the boat so she didn't have to get wet!

Auntie Debbie pushing Matthew on the swing.

He had lots of fun at the park with Debbie, RaeAnne and all the cousins!

Uncle Wayne did a fly over!

Can you see him waving?

Kyle and his girlfriend Jessica went for a boat ride.

It was the first time Jessica had been on a boat in 15 years!

While pushing the boat out, I almost fell in!

YUMMMMMM!

Making pudgie pies over the campfire!

Pudgie pies?

Similar to a grill cheese but it has a fruit filling!

We had cherry, blueberry and apple!

We made s'mores too!

I tried a new idea for a s'more: graham cracker with peanut butter on one side and chocolate frosting on the other graham cracker with a roasted/melted marshmellow in the middle!  It was YUMMY too!

Matthew on his 1st boat ride with Daddy and Uncle Wayne!

Giving Uncle Wayne a hug for his first boat ride!

Getting ready for a second ride because he LOVED the first!

On the way out on the 3rd ride!

The 3rd ride was too much and it put him right to sleep!

Sleeping on his momma!

This was our camping crew!

We are missing a few in the picture!

Aunt Karyl is the one on the bottom right side of the picture!

We had so much fun and can't wait until next year!

PS Matthew slept on me for just over an hour and a half before I slowly woke him up so he could eat dinner.

It was our last day so he was really tired!  He is still catching up on his sleep! 

Camping

We had a awesome time camping last week!

Matthew even had a couple firsts!

His first motorcycle ride with his Uncle Kyle!

His first boat ride with Daddy and Uncle Wayne!

Matthew had lots of fun playing with his cousins and swimming!

I will be posting lots of pictures soon!

Camping Pictures

We had lots of fun camping at Gull Lake Recreation Area. Like I said before it is an annual trip that was started by Scott's aunt Karyl about 23 years ago. We decided to go a day earlier than the rest of the group.

DAY 1

We borrowed my mom and stepdad's motorhome.Matthew had lots of fun on the first day with Scott and Emma. Scott put some blankets on the ground so Matthew didn't get so dirty. He of course didn't always stay on the blankets. Hee was almost always on the edge looking for rocks.
Playing with the beach toys on the blanket. We never did get to use them on the beach because it was either raining or way to cold to go to the beach.

Emma giving Matthew a kiss!

Matthew resisting Emma's kisses.

Emma and Scott looking at something up in the sky. We did get to watch a pair of robins feed their young. I tried to take a picture but it was behind some leaves and you can't see it in the picture.

Matthew joined them to see what he could see. He is looking in a total different direction.

Can you see him? It is Scott cooking hamburgers on the grill! The hamburgers turned out awesome but they wanted to smoke lots. Plus we wanted to make the whole campground jealous from the smell of grilling burgers.

Our fire on the first night! Matthew and Papa by the fire. Matthew was intrigued by the fires! But who isn't! They are so mesmerizing that I could sit and watch a fire for hours.
DAY 2

Uncle Kyle is bow fishing. Yes it is a legal sport but I believe that they can only shoot at rough fish (like carp and suckers).

Matthew was watching Uncle Kyle!

We decided to go for a quick walk in between rain showers. We didn't make it back in time and got a little wet. On Thursday, it rained for awhile then the sun would shine. It was back and forth all day. We did have a clear evening with another campfire.

Some ducks that we seen on the other side of the road on our walk!

Some of them just couldn't figure out how to get out of the fence!

For supper that night we had spaghetti. It was Matthew's first time eating spaghetti. He enjoyed it as you can see!I think his shirt had more on it than his face.

That night it did clear up so that we could have a campfire and some smores. Wow they were yummy! Three of Matthew's cousins in a group hug!

I was really surprised at how well Matthew slept in the pack-n-play in the motorhome. He only woke up when he couldn't find a nuk. He only had 2 or 3 nuks in the pack-n-play where at home he has anywhere from 5 to 10 nuks in his crib. He almost always woke up when he heard me moving around. I always wake up at 6 am when we are camping. It is a quiet time to go take a shower. I enjoy having time to myself in the mornings. He woke up when I got back from the showers.

DAY 3

Daddy was still sleeping until I put Matthew in bed with him.

Once we were all up I gave Matthew a bath in the little tiny sink in the motorhome. I think that I got wetter than Matthew did and he was the one that was suppose to be getting a bath. After he was dressed I put him on the bed to look out the window.

He was watching daddy build a fire for us.

And looking annoyed at me for taking his picture.

Scott is awesome at building fires and always had a warm fire for us to sit by.

Matthew even took naps. The naps were not as long a normal ones at home but they helped alot. When he woke up from this nap he was peeking out the window at us. I didn't have any camera outside so I didn't get any pictures.

After his nap we went to the park to play for awhile.

Matthew waving at us! He has been putting his hands up in the air like this because Papa is teaching him to put his hands up in the air and saying "So Big".

Alexa giving Matthew a little push on the swing

Matthew would not stay on the blanket unless someone was on the blanket with him. Scott had to cook on the grill so I got to play on the blanket with him. Man is the ground hard and rocky which is why I am so glad that we didn't have to sleep in our tent.

More playing but this time I think he was mad and throwing a fit.

Scott is an awesome cook! He did all the cooking on the grills!

Matthew when he was suppose to be going to sleep. He was smiling at daddy instead.

Matthew when he finally zonked out. It was hard to keep him covered up. He slept in this position for about an hour while Scott and I played cards at the table beside him. Why were we playing cards? It was raining so we could sit by the campfire :(. Our campfire was still going though but by the time it stopped raining it was already after 10 so we decided to go to sleep. We prayed really hard that it didn't rain again that night because the vent above the bed was leaking and we would have gotten wet.

DAY 4

Matthew was suppose to be waking Scott up but he was watching the sunrise instead.

He was giving me his "are you done yet" face. His new look whenever I pull out the camera.

It was a rough couple of days. On Day 2 while sitting at the table in the motorhome, Matthew bumped his head on the edge. He did the same thing on Day 3. Then on Day 4 he was holding onto my leg walking around the table when he decided to sit down. He sat down a little to quick and fell back and bumped his head on the cabinet. He was a couple of bruises on his forehead.

Cleaning up puke. Yes he is still puking. On Day 1 and 2 it was only after supper. On Day 3 it was 3 times during the day. The last day was the worst. He puked all over himself and Adie. Adie is sitting on the ground cleaning off her legs.

More cleaning of puke. I think it was another time.

Emma sharing her sucker with Matthew. He got the whole piece off the stick so Adie had to stick her finger it and get it out so that Matthew didn't choke.

Alexa loves Matthew to pieces.

Karyl and I playing ladder golf. It was a fun game!

Karyl trying to hold Matthew so that Scott and I could play a game of ladder golf with other partners. As you can see, he is not so happy.

Scott holding Matthew and trying to play. He ended up giving Matthew to me and I sat the game out.

We had lots of fun and can't wait until next year. Scott and I both have said that next year will be easier because Matthew will be a bit bigger and will be walking.