On Tuesday night I was in the kitchen making dinner while the boys played outside when I heard Avery screaming. I ran outside to see what was going on and only found Asher who told me that Avery was in the camper and had probably just gotten bit by Emma. For the summer, we are borrowing Eric's parents' pop-up camper to attempt a few weekend-campouts together. In preparation of our first camping adventure (at the end of this week) Eric had the pop-up set up so that we could pack what we needed. We had told the boys not to play in there but apparently they did not listen. Not only had they gone in there to play but they also brought Emma in there as well. While Emma is a great dog she has never been a big fan of kids. When she was less than a year old we noticed this for the first time one evening while Eric and I were watching TV. A baby started to cry on the TV and she started to growl...never a good sign for a couple hoping to have kids. From that point on we have worked closely with her, introducing her to kids and the park, etc. and helping her through the situations where she feels cornered. In the past 6 years she has been great with the boys but she does require some alone time now and then. If they play too rough with her and/or make her feel trapped she gets very agitated and excited. Back in the day we noticed that a good sign of her current feelings of anxiety is her tongue. When she feels overly excited or trapped her tongue hangs a little out of her mouth and vibrates. Weird, but true. So, we've learned to remove her from a situation whenever we see this and the boys know to give her space. Unfortunately on this particular evening I was not paying close enough attention and Avery had decided it would be a good idea to chase Emma around the small confines of the camper which resulted in her snapping at his face to give herself some space. She got him right by his right eye! I was very upset with our pup who knows better, but knew that Avery knows better as well. Thankfully she missed his eye and although it could have been MUCH worse it was not. Avery was fine and mostly just frightened (and became almost inconsolable when Asher informed him that there was blood on his face where she had just barely punctured the skin). I got him a compress for his eye and settled him down with some cartoons. The adventures of kids and pups!
On Wednesday Asher and Eric both had some adventures at Asher's school. First it was Donuts with Dad day which meant a yummy treat for the boys (I am a little jealous that Moms get muffins instead of donuts). Then in the afternoon Asher experienced his first Field Day at school. I was a little disappointed to miss it but enjoyed looking at the pictures that were posted later. The looks of concentration on his face during his events make me smile!
On Friday it was the day of our first ever weekend-long solo family camping adventure! After Avery and I did some grocery shopping that morning and then picked up Asher from school, Eric met us at home and off we went to our campsite in Brighton (20ish minutes away).
Side Story: During our morning trip to Meijer to get groceries for our weekend ahead I was possibly the angriest I have ever been with either of our kids. Shortly after we arrived he needed to go potty (I'd asked him right before we left if he needed to go and of course he said no). I took him to the women's room to go and when he realized there were no urinals in the bathroom he was mad at me. We argued back and forth about the fact that I could not take him into the men's room and finally he headed into a stall after I threatened to cancel our camping trip. Once in the stall, he closed and locked the door behind him. Then he turned his back to the toilet and proceeded to purposefully pee standing up all over the bathroom floor!! Knowing I was furious, it took me some time to get him to come out of the stall, but once I got him to come out I made him help me clean it up and then wash himself. Usually this boy has me wrapped around his fingers and can melt my heart with the smallest glance, but this time was different. I was seething with anger and he knew it. Lucky for him, he spent the remainder of our loooong shopping trip (I may have drawn it out a little just to punish him
) trying to give me lots of love and being the very best little boy he could. |
| Asher & Avery waiting to cross the street to leave Asher's school. |
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| It may be the #boymom in me but I couldn't help but laugh at this apple I pulled out of the fridge while packing for our camping weekend. |
After our "very long" drive to the campground, we quickly found our site and began setting up. We very quickly realized two things: 1. It is pretty tricky to set up a pop-up camper on a sloped site. 2. The mosquitos were horrendous! Before we had barely unpacked anything else the four of us were all doused in bug spray to try and ward off the swarms of biting insects. :(
Once we'd finished setting up and the boys had enjoyed a little swimming adventure at the pool we made some pie-iron pizzas for dinner followed by some s'mores for dessert and then headed into the camper to get some sleep.
Our first night of sleep was pretty rough. We tried to have the boys both sleep on one end together but Avery kept waking up and Eric was afraid he would fall off the edge onto the floor. Midway through the night Avery came over and slept with me which was fine because I had some extra room but still a bit annoying as he wanted to sleep as close to me as possible all night and then when he fell asleep moved around constantly, sometimes ending up perpendicular to my body. We got as much rest as we could, but morning came much too quickly. Pretty much everyone in the campground was still sleep, save our boys. To give me a little extra rest, Eric took them for a bike ride to check out the rest of the campground.
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| While on their bike ride the boys found the Happy Acres Kampground petting zoo. |
When the boys returned Eric made a yummy breakfast of eggs and sausage on the camper stove. It was a little tricky and we quickly realized things that we had forgotten, but we made the best of it and enjoyed our breakfast together.
When breakfast and cleanup was finished we decided to go out on a family bike ride to the pond to fish. When we arrived at the pond though we realized that a ton of people were already there swimming and boating and the boys desperately wanted to join them. So, rather than fishing, we headed back to our campsite to get swimsuits on and then back to the pond so the boys could swim.
The boys both thought that the water of the pond was rather chilly, but that didn't stop them from enjoying it. Asher, seeing a raft far out in the pond, bravely swam all by himself to it where he needed to be pulled on by the teenagers already there. He was incredibly proud of himself! :) Avery had fun running and jumping into the shallows of the water over and over again and also playing in the sand on the beach. Eventually though they both got chilly enough to get out of the water, but since they still wanted to swim we decided to head over to the pool.
At the pool the water was warmer and unlike the pond it seemed to be much sunnier. Since we really hadn't planned on swimming or being in the sun (as it was very cloudy at the campsite and pond) I had only put sunscreen on the boys and didn't bother to put any on myself. Most of me was covered with a light sweatshirt but my knees didn't fair as well as I laid in the bright sun watching the boys swim.
Video: Pool Fun
When the boys were done swimming we headed back to our campsite for some lunch. Then it was time for Halloween! Yep, you read that right the campground had its own halloween fun this weekend (in June) complete with a costume contest, site decorations and trick-or-treating. Since Eric and I knew about this ahead of time, I secretly packed some past costumes for them to wear in preparation. Thus, Asher dressed in his old Optimus Prime costume and Avery dressed as his favorite: Batman.
We headed up to the pavilion for the costume contest first. There were multiple kids dressed up and some in more original attire so I thought our boys had no chance of winning with their store-bought costumes but I was wrong. There were two teenage girls making the decisions and apparently they took a liking to our little cuties. In the first round they couldn't decide who to pick so they had the kids that wanted to participate do a quick "showing" of their costumes/character. I wasn't even sure if our boys would be brave enough to go up in front of everyone but they did.
Asher was the first of the two to go up and he said something quietly (which I thought was Prime's line "Do you know who I am?") but we didn't actually hear anything because he was too quiet. Then he proceeded to do a spin move and ninja kick which won the crowd. Avery went next and walked silently on stage. Then in complete Batman character he very seriously looked at he girls and said, "I am Batman" with no smile or anything. It was perfect and hilarious. At that point I realized that the boys actually had a chance to win this and sure enough a few minutes later they were announced as the winners and given $9 in "Donkey Bucks" (wouldn't donkey dollars sound better?) to spend at the campgrounds gift/snack shop. They (and their Daddy) were both quite excited.
Video: Asher's Optimus Prime Spin Move
Video: Avery is Batman
The boys had a lot of fun trick-or-treating but we did quickly realize that Halloween costumes are not made for the hot sun of a summer day. Both of the boys were drenched in sweat and Avery's chubby little cheeks were bright red. To cool down we made the campgrounds gift/snack shop our last stop to see what the boys could buy with their winnings. After a long time perusing the aisles and carefully making their selections they each purchased some glow-in-the-dark bracelets and a slushy.
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| Several of the campsites had decorated their campers/sites for the "holiday" and Asher wanted to participate as well. One of the campsites had light-up eyes on their camper making it look like a spooky monster. Asher wanted to do this as well and so I helped him find a way to make our own light-up eyes. I found two paper plates which he drew eyes on and then we taped the boys' LED flashlights to the back of them to light them up. You couldn't see it very well, but it still make Asher very happy. |
After our Trick-or-Treating adventure the boys got back into regular play clothes and then we let them spend the remainder of the afternoon riding their bikes up and down the camp road and playing with other kids at the playground. I was surprised how quickly they joined in with the other kids and made friends. Asher has come a LOOOOOONG way since starting school last fall! At one point I heard a boy ask Asher what his name was. He responded, "My name is Asher but when I am in trouble it is Asher Robert." Then he pointed to his little brother and said, "His name is Avery but when he's in trouble it is Avery Michael." I couldn't help but laugh!
When playtime was over we headed back to the campsite to make dinner (Campfire Hobo Dinners) over the coals that Eric had made earlier. Then we enjoyed a yummy dinner together and headed off to bed.
That night we all slept much better than the night before. However, during the night it began to rain as it had the evening before. This time though it did not stop. When we woke up the next morning it was the day to pack up and head back home but it was pouring out. We spent some lazy time in the camper relaxing and then eating breakfast. Then since we really couldn't do anything else at the campground due to the rain, Eric and I put the boys in the van with a movie while we braved the rain and packed up our site.
By late that morning, we were back home and unpacked with nothing but the mountainous adventures of laundry left to conquer for the week.
So that was our week of adventures. Some were good, some were bad and some were in between. If I'm honest I didn't enjoy our camping adventure as much as I'd hoped, but I'm not quite ready to give up on it yet. Hopefully another weekend with less mosquitos, better toilet facilities (despite having running water and working toilets in other locations at the campground our site only had close access to two port-a-potties...which Avery REFUSED to use) and better attitudes will change my tune.
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