Camping

I really should be working on one of my many projects/assignments that need to be done this busy, busy week, but I wanted to share about our camping trip! We had a lot of fun and we kept saying, "We should have done this a long time ago!"

Caroline has been asking to go camping for a while now and we've been waiting for good weather since we don't have cool mountains to escape to in the area. So we went to Lake Arkabutla which was just about a 30 minute drive and it was so nice not to have to get car-sick on winding mountain roads to get there!


The lake has some sandy "beaches" that were pretty and fun to play in. The sand is not like playground sand - it is so soft!


Can't go camping without roasting marshmallos! The campsites were really nice - they cater to RVs, so each site had electricity (which we didn't use) and a water spicket (which we used a lot!) They even had a really nice playground to play at!


We had a great view right from our campsite. Sunset was beautiful.

We skipped stones on the lake - I was very impressed with Dave's stone-skipping skills!

It was great to feel so removed from "city-life" and still be so close. I've only ever camped on mountains, so it was different, but really fun to be so near to a pretty lake. It got cool enough for hot chocolate, but we weren't freezing all night.

I forgot how much work camping is (prep, packing, setting up camp, cooking, cleaning up, post-laundry, etc) But this time it was totally worth it and I'm glad we were able to go before I got too "heavy with child" or had a newborn to bring!

What A Day!

Yesterday all three of us headed to the dr. for our Ultrasound! I was really so anxious to find out the gender. I love to plan clothes, names, etc. ahead of time. So we got in there and the sonographer asked Caroline if she was hoping for a brother or a sister and Caroline promptly said she wanted a sister. A few seconds later the sonographer said, "Well, Caroline are you dead-set on a sister?" and Dave and I got a little excited. She said "It's a Boy!" and Caroline smiled and hugged Dave and she hasn't seemed disappointed at all since. She's told everyone we see that it's a boy and she always has a smile on her face when she says it - so that's good! We're all very excited!
Well about 5 minutes after we got home from the doctor, Caroline and I were walking Archie and Caroline was balancing on a wood beam next to a chain-link fence and fell on it. She scraped a few good stripes on her side from her armpit to the bottom of her ribs and put a good hole in one spot too. There was lots of bleeding and tears and I took her right to Urgent Care. The poor kid just kept crying and saying "It hurts so bad." over and over. We gave her Tylenol and she kept saying that the medicine wasn't working. I told her it takes some time for the medicine to find her owie. I was sure she would need a Tetanus shot because the fence was old and rusty, but everyone I asked (and I asked 3 people!) said no. So they cleaned her up good, bandaged her side and gave her a sucker. On our way home she said, "Mommy, the medicine found my owie!" So she's doing fine, but it sure made for one memorable morning!

Then and Now

I think this is just too cute.
This is Caroline and her cousin Brandon at the Tucson Children's Museum when they are about 2-years old (is that right, Brooke? I know it was in the Spring, so maybe Brandon is closer to 2 and Caroline is more like 18 mos?)


And here they are at the same place 2 1/2 years later!

Highlights - Thatcher & more

We started our trip in Dave's hometown of Thatcher, AZ.

Caroline has 10 cousins there (all moved there this past summer!)


Cousin Patti came down too!



Emily's Cousin Volleyball Camp.


Then we headed up to Gilbert for a couple of days:

We got to go to the kid's swim meet - which made me nostalgic.


Go Teams Welker!

Swimming at the Welker's pool - so fun!

Dave with Caroline and Lucy (who I think look more and more alike the older they get)

After the Welker's, we stayed at Dave's brother, Greg's, house.

Having fun with Maya, Cooper, and Max.

Love this one!

Driving back to Thatcher. We took these pictures in the mountains that made me throw up :(

Crawdad fishing!

Riding Grandpa's train.

The "real" reason we went to AZ when we did was for Dave's 10-yr. high school reunion. It was great to see some old friends. It's nice that I like Dave's friends and their wives too! We always have a good time visiting. Here are the guys at the reunion:

The time we spent in Thatcher felt like one long, dirty playdate for Caroline! I hardly saw her while we were there because she was always running off with another cousin. And between the trampoline and the dirt field between the family houses, she was constantly filthy! But happy!

Before going to Tucson, we made a stop to visit the James family.

Caroline and Holly loved playing ping pong. (note: playing ping pong with a 4-year-old is much easier on the Wii than in real-life. We did both at their house!)

Swimming at the Cove. It was strange to be there when it's not packed with the usual 4th of July crowd!

Caroline's cousins were SO nice to her and she ate up all the attention they gave her.

It was fun to see all these families one at a time at their own houses - every house we stayed at had a different dog to play with too! Caroline loved having sleepovers every night and playing with someone else's toys every day. It was a lot of driving, but totally worth it. Thanks to all those that let us stay over.

We miss our AZ friends and family already!

Highlights - Tucson

The thought of describing in detail our two and a half week adventure to AZ seems daunting. Also, I don't know that anyone would read that novel! So here are just a few of the hilights. (this is Part 1:Tucson)

Sleepover with Brandon.


Grandma made Caroline and her doll matching jammies and she loves them!

Tucson Children's Museum with Brandon and Grandma.

Brandon touching a sea star!

Fun and good eats at Jenna and Adam's house.

Caroline loves her newest cousin, Eli.

Jammin' out with Ella and Ava.

Some very cute nieces with their super-handsome Uncle Dave.

Me and adorable Eli.

Jumping on the beds at the motel on the way home!

So we drove over 3,000 miles. Caroline was a total champ and handled the time in the car better than Dave and I did, but she had some help!

There's no way I could capture every fun moment we had. The park, the zoo, eating out, and just visiting weren't posted here, but made for some great memories. We love love love our family!

Coming soon... Part 2: Thatcher, Gilbert, and Sierra Vista!