Gone Camping!

From Jamie: It was time again for a Dad/daughter campout. The Indian Princesses has a campout in the spring and in the fall. We went to our first one last fall and didn't know exactly what to expect. Our first thing to figure out for the week was what to bring. We decided on a cheesy meat dip and chips and Beth and Katie made s'mores brownies for us to take and share. Beth can't wait until both Katie and Caroline can go.

We arrived about 5:30 on Friday night. Katie went and found some girls to room with in a cabin. This year they changed it up in some of the cabins and had all the girls stay in one and the dads in another. I stayed with the girls as the one adult but some of the girls ended up sneaking into the other cabin with the dads. It was then time to eat and what a feast it was. Everyone in our tribe brought something to share. We had steak, hamburgers, hotdogs, brats, chicken sausages, regular sausages, KFC grilled chicken, numerous dips, lots of fruit, some salads, lots of cookies. There was even a smoker with pheasant and trout. Needless to say everyone was stuffed and the racoons ate well that night, too. After dinner, we went to the campfire for songs and stories.

The girls then got into the face painting. I think Katie's was the favorite of all the girls.If you can't tell, they painted eyes on Katie's closed eye lids- it's really kind of creepy!
After a late night and some early- morning wakers, the activities started after breakfast.

First, we went to the climbing tower. You can see how high it was and how high Katie got. She is one of the youngest in the group but got along great at all the activities and with the older girls.

Look how high she went!

Then it was off to the pony rides and the mini mine shaft ( a tunnell that you ride down on a sled).

There weren't pictures from the afternoon as we did the Amazing Race contest. We had to do a bunch of activities for points within a two hour time limit all over camp. One of the activities that I participated in was on the climbing roes. If you look at the picture of Katie on the climbing wall, you can see a log with a saddle. I had to climb up the ladder end up on the saddle when it got pulled over and grab the ladder that you can see at the top of the picture. It was hard to climb up that high ladder. We also did a balancing contest, a construction contest, a maze, a word search, a hike, Katie had to hang on a big pole with only her body. It was fun but everyone was tired after. We had a little break before the pig roast. Katie also played a fun game called Ga-Ga ball with her friends. We were planning on leaving Saturday night again before the bonfire. When the thunderstorm and tornado warnings started we left quickly after saying goodbye to everyone. Katie had a four-hour nap today and Beth had to wake her up even then. It was a fun weekend for Dad's and daughters. I think there were 250 campers and even 3 grandfathers.



From Beth: Meanwhile, back at home, I tried to make it a fun weekend for Caroline. She keeps asking when she will be old enough for Indian Princesses. I just know that she pictures the girls running around in princess dresses!

Caroline and I began our weekend with a trip to the library and Taco Bell for dinner (a feast of our own!) She woke up bright and early on Saturday (6:30 ish), and I really missed having Jamie get her. I loved this picture of her eating breakfast- I think she could be the next Mikey in cereal commercials (although she was eating Kix, not Life).

Our first stop of the day was a haircut, which was Caroline's only request for the weekend. She did need a trim, but she was just in it for the balloon and sucker. After that we hit the gym and the grocery for some picnic supplies. All of that and we were back home at 11 a.m. You sure can get a lot done when you start the day early!

After nap (a short nap, I might add) we played in opur inflatable pool. The water was kind of chilly, but Caroline was happy to dump buckets of water into each other.

After we dried off from the pool, we played puzzles and then got ready for our picnic dinner. We went to a nearby park and played for about an hour and then took a walk and found a spot for a picnic. Caroline was busy watching everything and anxious to get back to the playground.

During all of this activity, I spent many as many hours as possible organizing things in our new office furniture. It's getting there, but still more to do. I found all kinds of old documents that we decided to part with, so that was good, but it's a time-consuming task.

And, for those of you looking for a house update, the painters finished on Wednesday, with the newly white banisters taking a little longer than planned, and we had our new carpet installed in the family room/steps on Thursday. So, that is the last of the workmen for a while . . . until I arrange for the shutters!

P.S. This might be the most boring photo that I have ever posted on the blog, but my mom requested to see it!

Long weekend

Before I dive in to our activities of the long Memorial Day weekend, I have two photos to share from last week. We have had many home projects in the works and the office was being painted last weekend/Monday, so we were without a computer at home for most of the week. The first picture is of the girls newly enamored with a chair that was moved out of the office to make room for the painters. It, along with a lot of other random things, are now in the dining room.


In addition to getting ready for the paiting, we had a busy Saturday night as we watched our friends' kids for the evening. Jamie took Katie and Caitlyn to an Indian Princesses event at Bounce U, while I had the two little ones. It was fun, but made us glad we don't have four kids!

So the work at home conitnued all week. The builders finished the guest room wall on Tuesday and it was painted on Wednesday, which was a good thing since Grandma and Poppy arrived on Thursday!
Thursday night we all went to Katie's soccer practice and Caroline got to practice with the team as well.

She enjoyed sitting in the net, kicking the ball and strutting around!

After a hot practice, we all went out for ice cream!

Friday, the girls went to school, while we kept the painters company and worked on getting our new office furniture set up. Thank goodness we had Poppy there to troubleshoot!

Saturday, Dad and Jamie played golf, while the rest of us awaited the delivery of our new couch. You can see that we put Katie and Caroline to work! (our new mantle/fireplace is visible in the background)

Once the furniture guys moved the big chair to the playroom, the girls instantly turned it into a toy. Here, it is a car that the girls packed up for a drive.

Jamie found the new couch to be to his liking!

Sunday morning, we had a belated Mother's Day brunch for Grandma. We thought it would be nice to eat outside, but it was hot and sticky by 10 a.m. We couldn't wait to be done!

While Poppy was busy fixing our lamp post (background), I had the girls wash their wagon and then we had a "parade" around the cul de sac.

Later the girls swam in the neighbor's inflatable pool and Caroline showed off her hula hoop skills. Grandma also demonstrated her skills, which Poppy caught on video. Some people wanted me to post that video here (it was pretty funny!) but I refrained.

Monday morning we went to the playground/water park.

It was a little chilly, but the girls and I went in the water a little bit. They especially enjoyed spraying me.

After the park, we had lunch on the patio and the girls enjoyed the first watermelon of the season.

Here is Caroline telling us that she was going to sleep on the steps.

After dinner the girls played t-ball with the neighbor and Katie "kept score" while Lily kept her company.

It was a fun weekend. Thanks to Grandma and Poppy for all of their help with our projects!

And, a belated Happy Birthday to Jamma and Uncle Buddy who celebrated last week.

How fun to be a Mommy!

As we prepared to celebrate Mother's Day, we faced a dreaded parenting dillema . . . the kid who won't sleep. Unfortunatley, Caroline seems to have lost the knack for sleeping. She is so enamored with goofing around that she just won't fall asleep. All is quiet and then we peak in and find her changed into clothes (first image), sitting in her chair reading a book with all the lights on, with 5 pairs of shoes in her bed, you name it she's found a way to make it entertaining. And, after staying up until 9 p.m. (instead of 7:30) she is now waking closer to 6 a.m. (instead of 7:30). And, oftentimes she is waking Katie up, too. So, we have had some grumpy girls this week.

Caroline had a couple of rough days at school (or as the teachers like to say "challenging") and one night threw a fit the whole way home. She told us that she wanted to get lost and pouted and yelled. I told her that she wouldn't have anyone to take care of her and that we would miss her and she replied "Fine! I will just blow away!" Grandma and Poppy thought this was amusing and said they knew excatly where this streak came from (me, apparently).


In between the sleep issues, I did have a nice Mother's Day . Caroline baked me a muffin at school, so the weekend started with my first Mom's breakfast. You can see Caroline was very proud of herself and her muffin.

Saturday night we went down to Cincinnati to do a little shopping and enjoyed a nice dinner out. We were worried about how our overtired girls would be, but they were pretty well behaved and we all enjoyed ourselves.

Sunday, Jamie and the girls made breakfast for me (blueberry pancakes) and it was delicious.

After a nice unscheduled morning, we went to buy plants for our vegetable garden and the girls and I spent some time in the dirt. It is hard to involve both girls and get things just the way you want them . . .

Caroline got some new gardening tools, so she was very pleased about that, and carried her garden bag around.

We're not sure what will actually grow, but we're happy to have the planting done and look forward to some fresh veggies later this summer. The girls enjoyed it and even Lily loves to sniff around the garden. Now, she just needs to do her job and keep the bunnies out.

This week will be a new adventure. We're having a wall built to enclose our guest bedroom/loft and can't wait for the construction process to begin. Also, I have had a change on the work front. In an effort to reduce expenses, my company has offered the opportunity to work reduced hours, so I will begin a 32-hour schedule this week. I am grateful to be employeed, but have a little more time to spend with the girls and to get things done.

Happy Mother's Day to all!

Big Girl Bed for Caroline!

These first few photos were in honor of what ended up being orange day at our house. Caroline was having a fit about wanting to wear something, so Jamie told her it was orange day and changed his tie to comply. You can see that Caroline was pretty happy about it!

Thursday night was Caroline's last night in her crib. I found her sleeping in her usual lady-like position with all sorts of little stuffed animal guys to keep her company.

I took Friday off from work to convert her room. It was a busy day! I was looking forward to making her bed with the new quilt, sheets, etc., but much of the day was spent doing more "manly tasks" like disassembling the crib, unscrewing the changing pad from the dresser . . . and my favorite "snapping" the screws down to size for her new dresser pulls. Perhaps I didn't have the right pliers, but "snapping" implies an ease that I did not encounter. If I were to rewrite the directions I might say "place screw in pliers at desired length and stomp on the handle of the pliers with your foot while holding them perpendicular to the ground. Miss and step on hand repeatedly. Swear. Repeat.

Anyway, in the end, I was happy with how her room turned out. We picked a bedding set that ties in with the green chambrey and gingham that has been part of the girls' rooms since we planned Katie's nursery. Caroline wanted pink, so we did pink sheets and accents, to go along with her new "Betsy's Doll" quilt. The "dolls" on the quilt each have a pocket, which is so Caroline. We hid little items in them for her- a note from Katie, a lollipop and some trinkets.

Jamie picked the girls up from school on Friday and brought the excited pair home to see the room. They could hardly wait. Caroline walked in and immediately ran to her new doll on her bed, who she started calling "My Honey" and later named her "Molly Allison."

I was so proud of Katie because she was very excited for Caroline and did not act jealous, except to say that she liked Caroline's room better than her own now. Earlier in the week I showed her that we had made an equally big deal out of her big girl bed.

Caroline had great enthusiasm for everything and would discover old things in her drawer (i.e. her beach cover-up) and exclaim "Oh, wow!"

She loved her new pillow and doll the most.

After the girls finished exploring the room, we had a big girl celebration for Caroline with fancy drinks, balloons and cupcakes for dessert.

So after a day of hard labor I assigned Jamie the task of getting the bed rail set up, but hadn't realized that it was no longer functioning. So at 7:15 (15 minutes before Caroline's normal bedtime) Jamie had to go out in the pouring rain in search of a bed rail. He found one and then we had to assemble it. UGH! Finally, Caroline got to sleep in her big girl bed just shy of 9 p.m. On the bright side, she was exhausted and fell right to sleep! The bed rail incident will go down in our family history along with the can of spilled paint on Katie's carpet when we were moving her in!

Caroline was such a great sleeper in her crib, and never climbed out of it once, so it was sad to say goodbye to that fabulous stage of containment! She and Katie were up at 6:42 on Saturday morning. On to the next phase . . .

Saturday brought another noon-time soccer game with Katie's Green Gators facing off against the highly competitive Bumbebees (who won something like 11-1 last week . . . although we don't really keep score at the Y).

Katie started in goal and managed to work in a few dance moves in her down time.

She's really improved a lot and I can see that she understands the point of the game now and even took the ball all the way down the field herself.

After the game we visited with her friend Caitlyn and ran into some other friends whose kids played for other teams, as evidenced by the rainbow of t-shirts doing somersaults.

That night we went to Caitlyn's family's house to watch the Kentucky Derby. As they often do the girls got into the dress-up box and 3 of the 4 came down dressed as princesses. Later in the evening, we were looking for Caroline and she was coming down the stairs in this Care Bear costume which she had changed into on her own. She was a riot in it, and as the night got chillier she was the only one who wanted to remain outside!

Sunday was Katie's last day of Sunday School for the year, so we're looking forward to a little more fleibility on Sunday mornings. After we collected everyone we enjoyed a pancake breakfast at church. We were too sticky to get any good pictures!

Here are some videos of Caroline enjoying her new room: