August Camping Trip- The Final Days of Summer

On Friday at the doctor's office we were told to go ahead with table food for Camryn. She is loving it!
Our last camping trip of the year. Our last vacation of the summer. Our last week before we both go back to school. I am so glad we had the perfect weather and i am glad our girls are such good campers, not good sleepers during camping, but great campers. Night time basically sucked. Well, it was wonderfully cool and dry, but there was not one night where both girls slept through the night. Either Jaely was up until 11 or Cami woke up at 1:00 screaming. We didn't want her screaming to wake up Jaely or anyone else, so TJ and Cami slept a lot in the car, where it was a little more sound proof. One night, i heard a big thud and woke up saying "what was that" to look and find Jaely as a heaping lump on the floor between the two benches in the camper. She had fallen out of bed. She was okay. She cried a little but didn't even remember it in the morning. Nap times were even worse. . . Cami did fine, but the older one, not so much. Oh dear. And when Jae doesn't nap, she doesn't have patience for herself or for others. She whines. She cries, a lot. She trips and falls and stutters and mumbles. She gets goofy, but can turn grumpy in a blink of an eye. When she doesn't nap, she eats early and goes to bed early. She doesn't get to enjoy campfires or s'mores but can hear us doing just that. When she is "resting" she can get very naughty and wants your full attention. She will hang on the bars above her bed in the camper. She will flick your eyes and kick the book you are trying to read. She will get right in your face and giggle while the steam is streaming from your ears. She will sing and slap her bare belly to keep herself awake. She will stand up in her bed and spread out her blanket a number of times as she plays with the zip-tied zippers on her screens. She will wedge her feet in between the platform and canvas siding until her feet are hanging out into the outside of the camper and when asked to keep herself inside, she will proceed to stick her blanket outside by wedging it in between there.

Sleep times were horrible, but the waking hours were filled with sunshine, giggles, bubbles, ball launching, chex mix, watermelon, walks, beach time, bike rides, good food, breezes, chipmunks, and grandpa. We had a blast!

We brought two cars with us to our campsite. We had to bring a lot and i needed an escape vehicle in case Cami was cut out for camping. I am so thankful we brought everything for Cami. She could go from my lap, to her stroller, to her play tent, to her exersaucer to the big bed in the camper, to her pack and play. It was great to have so many spots for her to play and crawl and not be held all the time. When we got to the campsite Cami played really well in her pack and play.

We followed the first rule of camping which is to pack a little cooler with drinks in it so you can open them up before even setting up camp. Yum. . . glistening in the sunshine. We had spectacular weather. Warm during the day with no bugs and cool in the evening. Perfect.My dad got Jaely this cool ball launcher. She jumps on it (or in her case, steps on it) and launches the ball. It definitely got out some of her energy. I loved watching her walk over to his camper and playing with it all on her own.

It was getting chilly, so jaely grabbed her sweatshirt and then headed over to grandpa's.Dad also got Jaely a four pack of tutus. She thought they looked great to wear while she was campingYum! Corn on the cob. Jaely didn't eat all of hers. . . i couldn't believe it.


Looking up from our camp chairs

One of Jaely's favorite parts about camping. . . the sugary cereal she is allowed to eat. Lucky Charms is always her first pick of the week. Then it was Trix and then Cocoa Puffs.
Bike ride time!




"I so love bike rides."




This is one of my favorite pictures. The girls looking out the window together. So cute!This trip Jaely made it all the way around the loop on her bike. She is getting better at steering and is really good at pulling off to the sides when cars are coming. When the girls and i would take walks around the loop, often times early in the morning, jaely would run ahead and as soon as i said "car" she would go off the road and wave at the people. We took lots of walks. It was beautiful with all the trees and Cami made such happy sounds.

Getting ready to go to the beach with her papa and grandpa Steve. Grandpa Steve walked from his tent all the way to our campsite to visit his us.



Coming back. The Lake was cooooold! and Jaely had to go potty.

Steve hung out for a bit before heading back to his tent. I love how they are both sitting alike. . . like father, like son!
Every day, at least twice a day, Cami would play in her tent with her toys. In the morning she would go in there around 9:30 and play herself to sleep for a morning nap. In the afternoon, i would go in there with her and play. It was a perfect spot. I am sure it felt good for her to stretch out and crawl and have some space.


Another holding spot for Camryn. Jaely got a little jealous when she used it!

Jaely wasn't sure what to think about this hand coming out of the camper.Jaely asked for Grandpa to do many things for her. One time she asked him to read her a book. She has been so into these bug books. She also asked grandpa "you do my diaper?" before bedtime, only grandpa heard her ask "you do my zipper?" so he promptly said yes. Boy was he in for a surprise when he figured out what she had asked. Jaely giggled as he was putting it on backwards, but she straightened him out. She wanted grandpa to open her applesauce (even if he was all the way at his campsite), wanted him to tuck her in, wanted him to go to the beach and wanted him to sit by her.Morning time!


The bad thing about footed pajamas? You have to almost strip completely down to use the potty and then Jaely walked as she dragged her pajamas through the sand.

Quietly playing with her V-Reader in the morning.


Off to the playground. The campground has a fantastic playground. It is in the shade and is so clean. There is a lot for Jaely to do there and Camryn likes to swing.







Best Papa, best husband and best friend ever!






Cami liked sitting on the neck of the turtle.




I love to swing!And we all tried the monkey bars!
Dad didn't need to even hang.













Cami fell asleep on the way back from the park. We didn't want her to sleep, but there was no way she was waking up. I love how snuggly she is, like a koala bear.


Jaely realized she could launch the ball farther if her grandpa picks her up and puts her on it. "Do it again!"

Jaely and grandpa bringing dinner over.
Jaely ate the watermelon almost as fast as grandpa could cut it up.
Jaely was pretending to roast a marshmallow, so grandpa gave her a real one. She was sad that she had missed the campfire the night before and said she would take a nap today, so she could enjoy the fire tonight. She has such an imagination. She set up all the chairs around the pit and chatted like there was a fire in it.







Then she found a giant stick and started "writing" our names in the sand. She was writing left to right. . . that made me cringe, but she really was trying to do some letters.




She brought the watermelon back with her. She cherished it!

Beach time! It was rather short because Jaely decided she had to use the bathroom after many prompting for her to go before we left and on the walk there. The rule is if she needs to go then she leaves the beach. We left, but it was a wonderful time and it was time for lunch anyways. The water was so cold. No one was braving it.


But there was enough time to bury Jaely and her papa.



and for grandpa to enjoy some cuddle time with Cami.







At lunch time, Jaely wanted Grandpa to open her applesauce, so she walked all the way over there and all the way back. On her way back she put the applesauce down on the ground three different times to inspect a hang nail. Hilarious.




For an after dinner treat, Grandpa had ice cream. Jaely chose strawberry cheesecake.




TJ chose Chubby Hubby. Jaely really wanted to try it and her ice cream was gone. TJ let her taste his and then she was like a begging puppy. She wanted more so bad.



Cami enjoyed the spoon just as much as we enjoyed the ice cream.



Campfire time!Grandpa and his granddaughters.Cami was such a happy girl on her grandpa's lap. They got a lot of play time together.

Jaely helped papa take the tent down.












Jaelynne got jealous and started to kiss her grandpa's elbow because Camryn was kissing grandpa.


Jaely did not like her delicious treat. She just wanted the chocolate out of the middle.






Roasting her first marshmallow made Jaely a little more scared of the fire, which is a good thing. She discovered just how hot the fire is.

We buried an acorn that Jaely found. She asked if the tree would be there when she woke up tomorrow. So cute.



Here is her stash of stuff she found. She was keeping everything on the back of her chair.
We are tired. We traveled a lot and kept busy with summer school, grad classes and teacher trainings. I feel like we were barely home. Our hanging baskets are dead and weeds have taken over the gardens. We are so tired of packing and unpacking. It felt good to put our bags away for a bit (except for Jaely's. She is traveling to Nammy's later this week.) I am not sure what we are going to do about next summer. We both feel that we want to be home more, but when we talk about what trip we could get rid of, none come to mind. We loved them all and all for different reasons. We will just have to see.

So long summer. It was nice knowin' ya.