Camping 2016

Camping 2016 happened last weekend in northern AZ with 8 adults and six kids. That's a lot of people in a small area, but also a lot of fun. This time we went to a new place about four hours away where they allowed fires and they had real bathrooms. It was a long drive, but I thought the drive was worth it (read about the real bathrooms above).

The dogs are still the same...relaxing in their own chairs that we pack just for them.

One family brought a cool "air lounge pillow chair" that all the kids loved. Ok, I don't know the technical term for the chair, but what I do know is that it took a car ride around camp to generate wind to blow it up. That extra work was worth it though cuz all of the kids enjoyed the blue lounge chair. 

Of course we took the kids fishing and Max caught a crawfish!

However, Andy caught a "big fish" and Max was so proud of his daddy. He was telling Ms. Marie all about it on Monday.

Even though Max was proud to brag about his daddy he really didn't care too much for the fish.

What would a camping trip be without kids crafts? The kids made pet rocks and colored camping themed paper sheets. 

Pinterest Amber made all the kids matching "Happy Camper" shirts with their names on the back. The goal was to get a good picture of all the kids together, but that didn't work out. Everyone cooperated except for Max. He refused his picture being taken. This he gets from his father. Notice the cute picture of the kids, minus mine?

Of course Max roasted marshmallows over the fire. This was his favorite, but he didn't care to eat the marshmallows. He didn't like the stickiness of the marshmallow. He just wanted to roast them. 

I am a fan of camping with running water and flushable toilets...It makes me much happier and I complain a lot less. I am a fan of this campground. I would do it again.

Happy Birthday To Me

Another year raced by and somehow I find myself on another birthday...sigh! At this age birthdays really are no big deal. They are not fun anymore. It's just annoying their number tacked onto to my age. I must say though that Andy and Max work hard to make it a very special day. The best part about today was seeing Max overly excited to celebrate his mommy's birthday. It was beyond adorable. 

Max greets me at the door with big hugs and a birthday card where he was eager for me to open it.

Then Andy put the trick candles in my cupcake which really confused Max.

Another year has gone by and it was a great day thanks to my two favorite guys!

Weekend Update

Following Max's swim success on Friday night we got up early on Saturday to head to the Zoo for their winter in July event. Now, I had very little expectations for this event because I am very aware that you cannot have snow here when it's 100 degrees outside. Plus, it seemed like an event with a cluster of people there...Max hates big crowds. Therefore he was not impressed with the piles of snow (aka ice) that children were climbing on and attempting to play in. He was so not interested in the chaos that I didn't even bother taking a photo. I knew this would be his reaction, so I didn't push this.

I did read though that there would be a fire truck for kids to see and play on. I told Max about this before we even left the house, so this kid had a one track mind to see the fire truck. After the epic fail of the piles of ice playing we headed over to the elephant so Max could see the fire truck. This was perfect! There was very little people there and Max could climb in and explore the fire truck. He was one very happy little boy.

On Saturday afternoon Max's friends, Briggs and Stella, came over for swimming and dinner. The kids had so much fun playing in the pool and going down the water slide. I had a lot of fun just watching them and therefore no pictures. Following dinner the kids got crazy together in the living room. I managed to snap a couple of pictures.

Besides that we HAD to get play-doh time in. Max now loves play-doh. He likes how he can make cupcakes, waffles, eggs and basically any kind of food. I love play-doh too because it gives Max a good solid hour of quiet time.

Level 3

Friday night Max graduated to level three in swim lessons. He's able to float on his back all by himself for ten seconds; dive to the bottom to get a ring; and jump in, turn around and grab the wall. I am very proud of him cuz he works hard every week with Nathan. Plus we swim with him almost every night and he works on his swim lessons. At the end of the class they rang the bell (which Max did not like) and yelled hip hip hooray to Max for graduating to level three. He then politely declined his photo to be taken, but he did accept his ribbon and sucker. 

Weekend Update

With a lot going on at our house lately and just being all around busy, we decided to hang out all weekend and not have any plans. It was nice, but I cannot just sit around and do nothing so I re-introduced play-doh to Max. He's older now and I thought he might like it this time. I was right, he loved playing with play-doh. We made each other cupcakes, ice cream, cookies, etc.

We also got some animals at the store for Max to paint. He really just wanted to paint the horse just like the horse at the "cabin" last weekend.

Since it's so hot outside and Max can't go out to burn his energy we decided to go see a movie. Max has been talking about the "doggie" movie ever since we saw the trailer for it a while ago. We showed him the trailer for the Secret Life of Pets and for Dory...he chose the "doggie" movie. Unfortunately, it was the wrong choice. About 20/25 minutes into the movie he hated it and wanted to leave. He didn't like how the big dog "Duke" was mean to the little dog and once the underground animals appeared on the screen it scared him...especially the snake. He wanted to leave...so we left. I should have asked for a refund, but I didn't think of it. Max felt bad that we left, but I explained to him that he's not going to like every movie we see and that's ok. I told him next time we can go see Dory because the fishy movie won't be scary.

With it being so hot here we finally got around to blowing up one of uncle Ryan's birthday gifts...a water slide. Max LOVES this slide. He couldn't get enough of this slide. He wants his friends to come over and play on the water slide with him.

Cabining

We spent four nights in northern Arizona with our friends in a cabin for the fourth of July. Everyone had a blast...especially Max. He had so much fun playing with his friends, Briggs and Stella. He even told me how Briggs and Stella are his friends...so adorable.

We left the heat and headed out of town on Thursday after we picked up sub sandwiches and Max got his very own sandwich for the first time. He was so excited that he didn't have to share with daddy.

The kids played nonstop all weekend.

Good thing Pinterest Amber was there because she brought all kinds of activities for the kids to partake in. Max loves activities so he had a good time with this.

The "cabin" had a barn with horses and lamas. The owner said we could feed them carrots whenever we wanted. The kids just loved this and enjoyed petting the horses all the time. We took many short walks over to the horses to check on them to give them pets.

We took the kids fishing and everyone caught a fish. Max did not like seeing his fish when Andy showed it to him. In fact he screamed and didn't want to have anything to do with his fish.

Max experienced his first parade where he caught plenty of candy for his bag. His favorite part of the parade was the fire trucks at the end...go figure!

We headed back to the house for some more 4th activities and we finished the weekend with the local fireworks. It was great that we could see the fireworks very clearly from the back yard. The kids all had their glow sticks for some added fun. Even Andy wore his glow stick glasses.

We had such a fun weekend making memories with our friends. I found this photo of the kids from two years ago on Fourth of July and compared it to this year. All I can say is time flies and the kids grow up too fast.