Summer Conquered

Well, according to our list, we had a pretty successful summer! We missed a few things...we picked strawberries but didn't end up making jam. Cohen isn't walking yet, although summer isn't officially over. And we didn't make homemade ice cream because my mom was using the ice cream maker for her goat milk, at least that's the excuse I'm using.

Our summer was everything we hoped for. We got outside a lot. The things that we dreamed about doing with Cohen "someday" we got to do. Cohen got the teeniest, tiniest farmer's tan and it is adorable. I think we needed this summer. It was our time to just play and (mostly) not worry about germs, doctor's visits, and staying in the house away from people. We had a lot of fun making new memories and doing things as a family that we weren't sure we would ever be able to do.

Labor Day Weekend

We decided to go big for our last weekend of summer. I have always worked full time during the summers so before I always felt like they were never long enough. Since I am home most of the time now, I feel like we really got a lot out of this summer. I always love the sunshine, but I also like the changes that fall brings and a time to just slow down a little.

So, we headed down to Seattle for the weekend. We were originally just going to stay one night, but then I decided to see if Danny wanted to stay 2 nights since I know he doesn't get enough time with his friends since we live so far apart. The main reason for going to Seattle was because of Danny's fantasy football draft. Yep, it's that time of the year. I like fall but I hate football season. I like the food but I hate watching football games. (Have you ever tried to get a man's attention when they are watching football? Do you also know that most Seattle teams are....kinda bad?) Anyway, every year Danny and his friends get together and pick their teams.

Our friends Andy and Tamara just got a beautiful new house and they offered to let us stay with them, which was wonderful. Cohen managed to leave a few handprints on a mirror and some mouth marks on the window, other than that he did fairly well. Thanks for being brave enough to have us in your new house, Erstads!

We drove down on Saturday and stopped at the zoo since it was one of the last things on our summer list. Cohen loved it for the first little bit. He smiled really big anytime he got to see one of the animals. Some of the animals were too far away so he wasn't terribly interested, but he had a good time. His favorites were the porcupines and the sloth bear.

 {Giraffes}

 {Hippo}

 {More giraffes}

{Daddy and Cohen looking at the bears}

{Saying "hi" to the elephant}

From the zoo, we headed to Andy and Tamara's and invited a few friends over for dinner. Little Elliott, who was also born a little early, has totally chunked out and is adorable! Cohen doesn't quite know what to make of babies, he managed to give Elliott a few love pats. Elliott tolerated the first one and then decided he had enough. Sorry Elliott, someday Cohen will know how to be nice to babies, or you will learn how to fight back.

Sunday we made a quick trip to Ikea. We never really finished decorating our house after we moved in, so I wanted to pick up a few picture frames and of course it's always a fun trip. After that, we went to visit Grandma and Grandpa Kimmel for lunch. We got a little surprise in that Danny's sister and his niece and nephew were there, so that was fun. Cohen's little cousin is only 8 months old but the boys were about the same size.

{Ikea!}

 {Cohen with his aunt and cousins}

Then, it was the long awaited draft time. We broke out of the house for a little while for a much needed wanted trip to Joanns. Our local store has a very limited flannel selection so I needed to see what I was missing out on. I have been missing out on a LOT! I got some super cute stuff that I can't wait to turn into diapers.

We had a busy, fun weekend and I'm glad we made the trip. Football season officially starts this week, please pray for my sanity. 

Summer 2012 - Air Show

And so it goes...just after posting this about cold/flu/RSV season, I've been a little under the weather. I spent most of the week trying to rest and trying to stay away from Cohen. He spent some time at various family members' houses in an effort to avoid germs (thank you!)

We did rally for to go to my parent's house for the Abbotsford Airshow over the weekend. Every year they do an airshow right across the Canadian border and they always fly right over the house. This year they didn't get quite as close, but it was still pretty cool. Cohen also got to meet his Great Auntie Phyllis and Great Uncle Dennis for the first time which was pretty fun.

 

{I ate 3 pieces of pie since berries are full of antioxidants, you know, to get rid of the cold}

Blech. Is it just me or is getting sick harder as you get older? We are so thankful that I found the germs and not Cohen (or Danny).

Summer 2012 - Camping Take 3

A few weekends ago, we had our third successful camping trip! We decided to take it up a notch after practice camping and successful tent camping with other people. This time we went camping with our friends who also have kids. It was so much fun and the kids all did so well. Prepare to be impressed: We camped with three kids 3 and under! Okay maybe it's not that impressive, but we were pretty proud of ourselves.

 The Gagliardi family was in town from Idaho, having just moved there from Wisconsin. They came back to visit their old stomping grounds and we were thrilled to see them. I have known Tiffany and Brian for one year longer than I've known Danny. We all worked at the same camp and we both met our husbands there! I don't actually call Tiffany "Tiffany", I call her Kuma, which is short for Kuma la Vista. At the camp we worked at, we all had camp names. Mine was Haleakala, Tiffany's: Kuma, Brian: Das Hampsta, Danny: Topple. I have only known Kuma as Kuma and I just can't make the switch to calling her by her real name, I don't deal well with change.

{2005}

Anyway, the Gag's were in town for week and stayed at my parents house for part of their time here so we got to spend some good time with them which was so nice. They have been way too far away for too long.

Friday around lunchtime we packed up and headed out. I had made the reservations at the only place I could find in Washington on our side of the mountains. I kept telling everyone we were going to Clear Lake Campground. Danny was excited to fish although someone told him that they had never heard of a campground at Clear Lake. Every time we looked up directions we would get different ones, some in Eastern WA and some closer to us. I wrote down the 3 lines of directions from the camp website and off we went. It was somewhere near where the campsite was supposed to be that Danny and I had different ideas of where we should be going. He had looked up Clear Lake and was going towards it while I was trying to get him to follow the directions I had written out. Eventually, after making several u-turns and Danny losing his driving privileges, we figured out that it was in fact Clear Creek and not Clear Lake. Details....

The campsite was actually quite nice and no mud in sight like our last camping experience. We set up our tents while the boys played in the dirt. We made foil dinners to eat just like we used to at camp and they were delicious.

{Camping boys}

 {Foil dinners, yum yum}

 Saturday morning we woke up to find little Daniel with about 15 mosquito bites on his head alone. Poor little fella. We cooked some blueberry pancakes and eggs for breakfast over the campfire and then headed off to find a park. While we were there a man walked through with his pet wolf. It seemed fairly friendly but I didn't let Cohen too close to it as he hasn't learned to be very gentle yet (just ask Russell out kitty). It's not everyday you see a wolf at the park!

 {Playing at the park}

 

 {Wolf at the park...on a leash?}

 From the park we went to the grocery store where I questioned the workers about how to climb the mountain we could see at the park. The mountain itself was too snowy to hike but we did find a map that they took off the wall and gave to us. After a quick trip to the local ranger station, we found a nice little walk we could do with the kids. It was flat with views of the river but not close enough for anyone to decide to go swimming.

{The sleepiest little hiker}

{How sweet are they!?}

This was probably one of my favorite parts of the camping trip. It was so nice out and the river was so pretty. I carried Cohen in the Ergo on the first half of the hike and he was so good. The whole way there were these little white butterflies (moths?) that I kept seeing and I just kept thinking of Carter. It felt like I had both of my boys with me and it was just so nice and peaceful. The outdoors is so good for my soul.

For dinner Saturday night we put some potatoes in the fire to bake and made hotdogs and the menfolk poured chili over it all. After the kids went to bed we got to sit around the fire and do some catching up.

Aside from a broken camp chair, a few runaways and some sippy cup/bottle borrowing, the trip was fairly uneventful. The kids were all so, so good. No one fell in the fire or the river or down the toilet. Cohen did have one minor incident with the gravel and now has a few scratches on his head, but that was it. Success! We had a lot of fun and can't wait to do it again.

p.s. The men insisted that we stuff our propane-less camp stove into the car at the very last minute. We didn't use it one single time, except to prop up the camera to take this picture. SO glad we brought it.

Something Strange

There are some strange things going on around the Kimmel household.

We are learning to milk goats and learning to drink goat milk.

We are saving our food scraps to feed our new piggies Hammy Bacon Breath and Pork Chop.

We are living without a microwave. It broke a few weeks ago and heard it would be expensive to fix (its attached to our stove) so thanks to the encouragement of a few friends, who are also microwaveless, we've just been doing without. So far so good!

 

We have also jumped on the juicing bandwagon. Well, jumping may be a bit too strong of a word, maybe more like stumbled onto it. I've watched a few documentaries on juicing/healthy eating and one of my goals for us for the year was to eat more fruits and vegetables. So far that has been lacking significantly. After camping, we made a pit stop to drop off Richie and Rachael and they whipped some juice up for us. We borrowed my mom's juicer to see how it went before we really take the plunge. I did make some pretty gross juice last night, but other than that they haven't been too bad. We don't want to overdo it so we are just starting out easy with fruits and vegetables that we recognize.

It all sounds a little strange, maybe we are becoming hippies or something. I did have a tie dye shirt on while milking the goat...

Will you say a little prayer for us today? There may be a few other (non-exciting) changes coming for our family. 

Summer 2012 - Ocean City State Park

Over the weekend we went tent camping for the first time with Cohen. We borrowed my parents car and barely fit everything in, babies do not travel light. We picked up the Hegartys in Seattle and made our way to the coast. It was around a 6-7 hour drive and Cohen did well, considering. He did get too hot at one point so we made a dinner stop to let everyone get out and stretch their legs and cool off. We arrived at our campsite in the evening to find a mud pit. We reserved the campsite last minute as we had only decided to go camping the weekend before. This campsite was one of the only ones left, now we know why. If you go to Ocean City State Park, avoid site #15.

I had worked 9 hours on Thursday and waited until the end to pack my own bag so by then I was just trying to entertain a baby and pack the car at the same time. Shoes didn't make the cut. But definitely always bring shoes camping. I thought I could get away with only flip flops since it was going to be nice out and we were quickly running out of room in the car. I was wrong, bring shoes.

We found a dry spot to put up the tent and the boys went to work. Our little tent is no longer big enough for all 3 of us so we borrowed my brother's 8 man tent and all stayed in the same one.

Saturday we went to the beach and spent most of the time making Cohen didn't consume mass amounts of sand and trying to keep it out of his eyes. It was also very windy, but it was the beach so we were happy. We are still working on getting the sand out of our hair and ears.

{How seriously cute are they!?}

We ate lots of s'mores, got lots of campfire sitting time, and card playing in. We had a lot of fun and we are excited to go camping again with some other friends in a few weekends. They have 2 little boys so it should be crazy fun!

We are making nice progress on our Summer 2012 List!

Grand Coulee Dam

I left out part of our Eastern Washington trip because I was going to make it it's own special post and then I totally forgot!

Some of our good friends moved away to Wisconsin a few years ago and I have only seen them once in that time. They recently moved back to Idaho, which isn't Washington, but it's closer! They moved right after the birth of their first son and had another little guy while they were gone so I was pretty excited to see them. They also hadn't met Cohen yet so we were glad to finally get to see each other's families.

The Gagliardi's hadn't been in Idaho long, but when I found out we were going to be closer than we'd been in years, we decided to meet up. Grand Coulee Dam was literally the only thing between us and them. It was a 2 hour drive for each of us but so worth it.

We met up at the Dam and quickly decided that it was cool to see but that our kids probably wouldn't be interested in taking the tour. We settled for a picnic lunch at a nearby park. The kids played and had a fun time while we caught up in between chasing kids, picking rocks out of mouths, and pushing swings. The sprinklers came on partway through our visit and Jonathan and Danny (their Danny) loved playing in them, clothes and all. I took very few pictures as you can tell.

I like to joke with Bryan and Tiffany that they named their kids after us. Jonathan is the girl version of Jana and Danny, well that's self explanatory.

It was so good to see them again even though our time was too short. The kids were worn out and we headed back our separate ways. We are really excited to get to go camping with them when they come to Washington in a few weeks!

Tips for Camping With a Baby

If you've never taken your baby/toddler camping, do it! It's really fun. I was a little nervous to take Cohen out on his first tent camping trip. We had a practice round when we camped with my parents at their "campsite" but that was close to home and we were in a camper, so this was a little different. I have had a few people ask me for tips and since we've gone once now, we're experts :)

1. Pack a car bag:
Our trip was a 6 hour drive, which is a long time in a carseat. I packed Cohen a bag that I kept in the front seat with me so that it was easily accessible. The car bag had: diaper and wipes, hand wipes, snacks, sippy cup, toys I knew he liked, a disposable place mat and bib (in case we stopped at any restaurants along the way), a bottle with the water in it and formula nearby, squeeze food pouches (SUCH a lifesaver), and a change of clothes just because you never know.

2. Clothes: This will depend on where you live/where you are going, but around here you have to prepare for any kind of weather. Even if the forecast says sun, there could be rain/wind/hail you just don't know. This is probably obvious, but bring clothes you don't care about getting dirty. For a weekend of camping I packed:  
                          Warm weather clothes (shorts, tank tops, t-shirts)
                          Cold weather clothes (sweats, footie pajamas, sleep sack for at night, socks,
                          sweatshirts,stocking hat)
                          Situation dependent (swimsuit, sun hat, sandals, shoes, sunscreen, UV shirt etc)

*While it was warm during the day, Cohen wore almost everything I had brought him at night. Since he is too little and moves around too much for a sleeping bag I just piled clothes on him and tried to put a blanket on him. I packed 2 of everything because I knew he would get dirty and I ended up putting double layers on him at night so it worked out well.

3. Camping:
                          *Rags/washclothes/towels/wipes - babies are messy and even messier when they are
                            camping. We brought old rags that we could use to clean up toys, hands, etc and
                            just toss if needed. We also brought a thing of Lysol wipes and Wet Ones for cleaning
                            Cohen and his things

                          * Blankets - beach blanket, a blanket just for the crib, and one for outside (fire
                             sitting). I also used one of our larger blankets to put over the side of Cohen's crib so
                             he couldn't see us as well, he still could if he stood up, but if he woke up and looked
                             out he wouldn't see us and instantly start crying.
                          * Pack n play - I almost considered not bringing this but I'm so glad I did. Cohen                                   needs comfort of his 4 walls and I need the sleep without him crawling on my                                                face. Also, if your baby has a favorite blanket or sleep toy, bring them. It helps with
                             sleeping in a strange place. 
                          * Carrier - If you have a carrier, bring it. We brought our Ergo and it was wonderful
                             for carrying Cohen down to the beach where his stroller couldn't go. It also worked
                             well to keep him out of the sand and mud when we didn't want him there
                          * Walker - this isn't absolutely necessary, but it sure was nice. Cohen is a mover and
                             doesn't appreciate being strapped in his carseat/stroller. This let him have a little
                             freedom without being on the ground eating bug. Our walker wasn't actually a
                            walker because it didn't have wheels which was an extra bonus.
                           * Bottled water - we brought bottled water to have for making bottles and for sippy
                              cups
                           * A very large car to hold all of the above and understanding friends who tolerate
                              camping with a baby (thanks Richie and Rachael!)

Also, just be flexible. With a baby, things aren't going to go perfectly, just try to go with it and have fun!

And just as a side note, it's probably best not to work the day before leaving for camping and wait until very last to pack your own bag when the car is running out of room. You might decide you don't really need to pack shoes and you will definitely regret it.

Whew, I think that's it. More pictures coming soon. Would anyone add anything else?

Spectacle Lake

Friday morning we set off for Eastern WA bright and early. Cohen was a champ on the 5ish hour drive and we only had to stop a few times. The drive was beautiful and I even stayed awake for most of it, which is rare for me. I did nod off once only to have Danny wake me up and ask me where we were, to which I responded that I had been sleeping and had no clue.

We arrived to the lake and checked into our rooms. We had been to Spectacle Lake on vacation once when I was younger. As we pulled in it still looked pretty much exactly the same. We unloaded our stuff and pulled open to curtain and there was the lake. Such a perfect view right out our window.

Saturday morning we woke up to rain. Since we couldn't play on the lake we decided to go for a little hike.

On Sunday we woke up quite excited. A few years ago our good friends up and moved far, far away all the way to Wisconsin. They recently moved back to Idaho and so we made plans to meet up at the Grand Coulee Dam. More coming on that later. 

The men fully enjoyed the local fishing. Every morning and evening they would head off in the boat and stay out for a few hours. They caught a slew of fish and fried some up for a few meals and had plenty left for the freezer. Meanwhile, the women folk stayed inside planning the renovations to the Spectacle Lake resort while working on a puzzle.

 

 {First taste of fish}

 {Doing dishes, sweeping, and watching the baby...}

{While Gramma does crossword puzzles...}

 {And Danny drinks his morning coffee}

We had planned on staying until Wednesday, but by Tuesday we were growing weary of the rain and sad about the lack of sun we had been promised. It was getting hard to keep Cohen entertained in doors out of his regular habitat and he was growing restless. We decided to pack up and head home. Cohen was a champ on the ride home, he slept for most of it. Whenever he would start to fuss I would just hand another toy or piece of food over to him and he was happy again. 

We had a lot of fun, but I think Cohen was happy to be home. He crawled all around the house and would get a huge smile on his face whenever he found one of his toys.