treehouse living

This past weekend we packed our car to the gills with food, blankets, and books and took off for a treehouse in the woods!  We met our friends, Lacy and Dan, and their sweet baby at the campsite, which was heaven on earth for our kiddos.  There was of course the treehouse we stayed in, a big pool, a little lake with paddle boats, and tons of nature to dig around in.  And I was in heaven because there was air conditioning, hard cider, great conversation with friends, and a good book to read.

It was hot and humid, but it didn't matter.  There were cold drinks and a cool place to sleep at night.  All the time in and on the water really wore the kiddos out, and so there was a lot of rest time in Dan and Lacy's hammock, and Rowan even put herself down for a nap when she got sleepy.

The treehouse was actually built on a steep hill, so it wasn't in a tree.  We could walk straight onto the deck from a dirt path, but when we walked around the deck to the back, there was a long drop down to the ground.  We really were among the trees out on our little deck!  And our friend's treehouse was right in conversation distance from our deck.

We had a few cooking mishaps including blackened pizza crust one night, and forgetting about the oil bubbling on the fire.  So an oil fire gets really exciting in the woods!  Once the fire died down, Brian took the dutch oven off the fire, opened the lid, and a yellow cloud of smoke floated up from a now empty pot.  A quick trip into town for cooking oil and we were back in donut-making business.  Which are necessary for a successful camping trip, if you weren't aware.  

The little cried when we had to leave, and announced wishes to live in a treehouse all the time.  I may have fallen in love with the idea, too.

onondaga caves

I looked up from stitching for about 24 hours while my good friend, Kelly, and her son, Alex, came for a visit! Alex is the same age as Rowan, and although we don't get to see them as often as we'd like, we manage to get together with the kiddos at least once a year.  And our husbands take all the kids on a camping trip in the summer, while the mamas get an entire weekend to ourselves.  Which is a highlight of the summer for me!  I'm sure it is for Kelly, too.  But this visit will be a highlight of this summer, for certain, even though it was a quick one.

Missouri has a massive amount of caves, and there are quite a few around us.  We hadn't checked out the Onondaga Caves yet, so we thought that would be a fun little day trip with the littles.  It really was pretty great.  The caves were massively majestic, and the hour and a half walking tour was just the right amount of time for the kids.  I was really pleasantly surprised at how they listened to the tour guide, and asked questions.  And despite the tour guide sharply barking at me, "Don't touch the stalactite!" I really enjoyed the caves, too!  For the record, I was NOT touching the stalactite.  And although Rowan touched a couple before I could stop her, she never had the tour guide yell at her.  Not fair.

Kelly took all these pictures, and let me steal her sd card after our little cave trip.

Thank you so much, Kelly, for the great pictures, and the great visit!  Time with friends is just so good for the soul.

tiny dancer

This girl of mine, she's ALL girl.  Except when she's picking up caterpillars and begging to go on camping trips (of course those things are for girls, too; just adhering to old gender stereotypes here like all good mothers should...).  Brian's parents got her a little pink vanity for her birthday, and she really got into getting ready for her dance recital with it!  Her costume was a 4 year old girl's dream, purple velvet with swaths of swirly pink and purple tulle.  And getting up on stage and performing?  Let's just say she wasn't one of the shy ones.  

 That's her on the far left.  One of the littler ones in her class, but not at all hindered by that!

 She really disliked having her bangs disappear back into a high ballerina bun, and pronounced, "I look like a boy."  Ha!  Far from it, little girl, far from it.

I know she might enjoy dance for years to come, or decide to ditch it in a year for judo or karate or whatever.  So I'll enjoy this slice of girly life while I can.  And it all takes me back to when I was a tiny dancer with my friends!

That would be me, on the far right.  The one that looks like Fletcher in braids.  So blessed to say that these two friends that I first became close to in school and dance are still my best friends today.  It's fun to watch your daughter tread familiar ground that you enjoyed so much as a child!  Here's hoping she has sweet memories of these days, too.

pumpkin carving

We spent this past weekend nursing colds.  Poor Rowan had a fever on Saturday, and slept the day away.  It really bugs me that parents send their kiddos to school when they are contagious.  I know that some parents don't have other alternatives, and I feel for them.  But I keep my littles at home when I know they can pass their bug along.  Sorry, rant over.  It's just hard to see your little struggle with being ill when there are so many fun Fall activities to be doing!

Luckily we were able to fit in a fun Fall activity at our friend's the weekend before at their pumpkin carving party!  Dan and Lacy bravely invited a few families with lots of kiddos over to wield knives over pumpkins.  Fletcher was really into it, and he and Brian got one carved up, with his direction of "triangle eyes, rhombus nose, and Spongebob's teeth." The boy is specific, I'll give him that!  Rowan just wanted to draw her face on with a sharpie and call it a day.  We spent the rest of the party eating delicious chili and sipping hot cider around a fire.  It was the perfect pumpkin carving party!

As you can see, there were some very creative pumpkins in there!  Thanks so much to Dan and Lacy for a perfect night!

into the woods

Over the weekend we went camping with our friends.  Brian and I both grew up camping, and while he's, um, a little more passionate about it, we both want our kiddos to experience the joys of communing with nature.  And this camping trip was filled with joys and just a few lows.

My favorite part about camping is sitting by the fire.  Sitting by the fire drinking coffee, eating, roasting marshmallows, or just chatting.  Best part.  And we got lots of that in with the littles and our friends, Dan and Lacy.  The littles just adored them, and I think Fletcher may be just a little sweet on Ms Lacy.

The sleeping in tents went well, and the littles really like the novelty of sleeping outside.  There were a few wake-ups from Rowan, but it really wasn't too bad.  We stayed at St. Francois state park (in Missouri), and it really was a beautiful park.  We decided that a long hike was in order to fully enjoy its beauty.  And that is when the camping trip hit a snag.

At first all was well.  Rowan found pretty rocks in the stream beds on the hike, Fletcher enjoyed finding bugs and lizards, and it was just a gorgeous day.

But then it started feeling a bit long.  And we asked hikers coming the other way if we were close to the end.  They laughed and told us: NO.  It was a 3 mile hike, and we knew we'd by carrying littles through some/most of it, but we were really planning on it taking about 2 hours, tops.  As we stretched toward the 2 1/2 hour mark, the littles got a little cranky.  Snacks and drinks helped soothe the cranks.

 But then it happened.  The trail just dead ended at a creek.  The guys ran forward a bit, trying to get an idea of where the trail headed, and we all rambled through the woods looking for a path that seemed to run out.  At one point I just stopped, pretty certain that we were just going to get ourselves into trouble if we kept on going on a pathless path.  And then we were introduced to a new Missouri delight, the seed tick.  Fletcher and Lacy were COVERED.  I mean dozens upon dozens of teeny tiny little ticks all over their ankles.  Seed ticks are basically baby ticks, by the way.  A nuisance with really awful itchy bites, but not dangerous or disease carrying.  But really, just GROSS.  Luckily I had tucked my jeans into my socks, so I wasn't swarmed.  But at that point we all just really, really wanted to get the fuck out of there.  Excuse my f-bomb, but I really just need to convey how desperate we all were to find our way out.  At that point, Rowan started screaming, "I WANT TO GO HOME AND TAKE A BATH!!!"  And we all agreed with her.  Yes, a bath WOULD be nice.

We tromped back to the place where the path had ended at the creek, and there it was.  Not in plain sight, mind you, but the trail picked up on the opposite side of the creek.  We hurried on out of there and back to the campsite, where we picked off MORE ticks, and tried to drown our sorrows in beer and marshmallows.  The 2 hour hike had turned into a 4 1/2 hour hike.  Which is fine for adults.  But for a 3 and 5 year old, not so much.

The next morning was very chilly, and the littles were a little cold and grumpy.  Hot cocoa and campfire-made donuts helped the situation.

 Although Rowan didn't end up with the tick infestation that Fletcher and Lacy had (and later found Brian to have) she did get stung by a yellow jacket.  Poor little thing.  But she was a trooper, and didn't cry long.

Despite the hike gone awry, it was a really fun camping trip.  We all loved it, and the littles keep talking about doing it again!  So thanks to Dan and Lacy for inviting us and for making it all fun, even when we were lost in the woods.

Now let's plan the next one!  But with shorter hikes.