Camping

Last week we spent camping at Lake Billy Chinook in central Oregon. We had great weather and tons of fun. It's a yearly trip that my parents, some family friends and about 60 other people from a church in Albany take. This is our 4th year going and 2nd year bringing Andrew. The 1st year didn't go as smoothly (he was only 8 months) so we decided to rent a trailer this year instead of tent camping. GREAT idea! It worked out perfect. It was small but fit our needs. A place to have Andrew nap and escape the heat. It was in the mid to upper 80s the entire time we were there (Tues-Sun). We had been prepping Andrew about camping for several weeks and he was very excited. He was so excited to ride in Papa's truck and the boat. For most of the camping week he was pretty much obsessed with "driving" Papa's truck, great Papa's truck and the boat. We even used it as an incentive to get him to go to bed telling him that if he went to bed he could drive Papa's truck when he woke up. There was late nights to bed and shorter naps making for a little cranky Andrew at times, but all and all it was a great trip. Ava did great and enjoyed getting held all the time. Andrew loved meeting all the new kids. His favorites were definitely Alyssa (Elizabeth) and Brianna (Nana). Funny how he came up with these names. These girls were great! Several years older than Andrew, but came over to play with him often which really helped me out. One day when Alyssa was over he said, "want some coffee?" She, being 12, declined, but I thought it was just too cute of Andrew to ask. He then asked her to play cars and she gladly accepted. He always asked to go visit his friends. He wasn't as interested in the kids that were closer to his age...there were several 1 and young 2 year olds. The 1st night we were there we decided to keep him up late to have a campfire and roast marshmellows. He liked the fire and the roasting of marshmellows but wasn't a fan of the smore. Picky eater! We also tried him out on the tube the 1st day we were there. He rode it with Daddy and didn't cry but told Nate the whole time that he didn't like it. He didn't ride it again. We had such a fun time and it was nice to finally get a little sun and make some great memories as a family!

Ava's 1st life jacket. She didn't like it when we put it on her but then was okay once it was on.

My hubby is quite the wakeboarder!

Andrew on the tube with Daddy.

1st campfire and only campfire that Andrew actually witnessed. We learned our lesson the 1st night when we kept him awake about an hour and a half past his bed time. He was a cranky boy so we decided not to do that again :)

6.25.2010 Ava 6 weeks old

All of us together at beach area

Andrew learning to ride his bike. He would peddle as long as Nate would keep pushing him. As soon as he realized that he was riding on his own, he'd stop peddling and tell Daddy to push him.

Our rented trailer

6.22-6.27.2010

P.S. Ava really found her voice during this last week. She is "talking" a lot more and has started laughing. She especially likes it when we sing to her. She also has become very active. She loves to kick around and move her arms and legs.