Camp Esther Applegate

Growing up, Girls Camp each summer was one of the best experiences ever.  I have many fond memories of spending the week up in Lake of the Woods at Camp Esther Applegate.  We were lucky to have rustic cabins to stay in instead of tents, and staying up in the beautiful tall pine trees with so many girls with the same beliefs and standards as me was always a great escape.

Last weekend, my mom and dad rented one of the cabins up there for the night, and we met them and Jake and Stacey’s family there.  Because it is winter, there is snow pack along the road in, so we had to hike about half a mile to get to the cabins.  The men carried packs with our clothes, and we pulled sleds with our bedding and food.  My mom and Dad, Jake, Stacey, and their kids got there before us, and they had quite the trek in as Kallie wasn’t too thrilled with the snow, and they had most of the stuff.  When we got there an hour or so later, we had a nice walk in, even though it was dark by then.  Jake and my dad met us out at the road, so they could help pull stuff in, and Jake pulled Landon and Davis on a sled.

 

When we got to the cabin and finally got the fire going, things were great.  Here we are all eating taco soup for dinner (the lens got foggy from the cold).  Landon and Davis wanted to try out the sled after dinner, so my mom took them out for a few short sled runs before we got ready for bed.

The night sleep was a bit rough.  We are all sleeping in the same one-room cabin with six adults, three small kids, and two babies, so you can imagine how it could be.  In addition, it was about 1,000 degrees in there when we went to sleep because the fire had finally got going and warmed up the cabin.  We all thought the rest of us were asleep, so we were lying in our beds with our windows cracked open just a tiny bit so no one else would notice, and we had our faces pressed up against it for some fresh air.  We all thought it was pretty funny in the morning that we were all awake and didn’t realize that everyone else was suffocating from the heat too!  Of course, by 4 a.m., it was pretty close to freezing cold again in the cabin, but my dad got up and built another fire, so that warmed us up just right.

Even though we had a long night, some warm instant oatmeal, muffins, and hot chocolate for breakfast got us all going again, and we bundled up and headed out to the snow.  The kids all had a blast going down our little sled run, and we did too!  I don’t even remember the last time that I went sledding, but it was tons of fun. 

The spectators enjoying the show (and some lollipops)

I like how Davis has his tongue sticking out in this one on the right. 

Davis hitching a ride up the hill from Grandpa.

I love Kallie’s little pose in this middle shot – she is so cute!

Landon and Davis wanted to be buried in the snow, and Stacey pulling Kallie and Landon on the sled.

These two cousins are quite the buddies – and could pass for twins they look so much alike!

Jake taking a spill and then rolling over into a pose for the camera.

Our He-Men all loaded up and ready to trek out, and the sleds all lined up with our stuff for the trek out.

Although the night was a bit rough, the trip overall was a success, mainly because it was fun to see the kids having so much fun in the snow.  We’ll have to see if we’re brave enough to try it again next year!

Happy 3rd Birthday Davis!

Yesterday was Davis’s 3rd Birthday.  I can’t believe that it was 3 years ago that he was just a little baby!  (Okay, let’s be honest, he was never actually a “little” baby at 11 lbs, but still a baby).  He is a funny boy and we love to have him in our family.  He likes to be silly and make everyone laugh, either with funny faces or silly words.  He is definitely the entertainer of our family.  He is a good big brother and little brother, always taking good care of James, and also playing with Landon and being a good sport when Landon bosses him around.  He does okay playing by himself while Landon is at school, but he is always very excited for him to get home, and starts asking me when he’ll be home sometimes an hour or more before he will be.   He loves to run and jump, and he is fairly tough, usually getting right back up after he gets a bump or a bruise.   He knows all his letters, and he likes to ask what different letters say.  He can count to 12, then throws in some “teen” numbers in no particular order until he gets to 20.

Davis also still loves Lightning McQueen and all of the cars, so we had a little Lightning McQueen party for him on Sunday with some family friends.  We had tacos for dinner, and we played Cars bingo and Cars guess who. 

 

Davis with his Cars cake.

Playing Cars Bingo

Blowing out the candles

Davis’s excitement over another Cars truck, and cute James watching the present-opening

 

Yesterday, for his actual birthday, he wanted pizza for dinner.  We had pizza and some strawberries and cucumbers with ranch since those are all his favorites.  Kelly stopped by, and we opened his presents from us, his grandparents, and aunts and uncles.  It was a fun birthday!

Davis with all of his presents, and opening his fun file-folder games from Grandma Morris

Opening his Tag reader from us, and his present from Grandma and Grandpa Malan.

Looking at his color-changing cars from Grandma and Grandpa Malan.

Some February Pictures

James is getting pretty good at moving around.  He still does the army crawl most of the time, but he has been crawling more and more also.  Either way, we are having to keep the bathroom door closed now because he can get down the hallway before I know it!

 

Every Tuesday is our library day.  Landon and Davis love to get new books, and I love it too because it keeps them entertained at least for that day looking at and reading their new books.   Here Landon is reading a Henry and Mudge book, and Davis is showing off his slippers.  He was being silly running up and down the hall, then falling down on the floor.

Finally, this is a picture of Davis, asleep on his bedroom floor with his doggie as a pillow.  He was complaining about going to bed the other night, and this is how I found him when I finally went to bed.

More January

Here are a few more things we did in January:

Play Dough:

Landon and Davis both love to play with play dough.  Friday is our play dough day, so we try to get it out at least once a week. They usually like to play with their cars in the play dough, burying them or having them drive with play dough piled on them, but the other week I thought I’d try something different.  I heard of an idea to put potato head pieces in play dough, and the boys loved it.  Here are a few pictures of them trying it out:

Bath time:

Our bath time is getting a little crowded with three boys in there!  They usually have fun playing with their bath toys though.  The other night, they thought it was funny to put different bath toys on their heads.

Grandma and Grandpa Morris:

My dad had a presentation to do in Portland the last weekend in January, so my parents came up Friday night and stayed for the day Saturday.  We had fun spending the day with them, going to the new park, and just relaxing.  The boys thought it was fun to climb in bed with them in the morning.  And then here are a couple of pictures of James with Grandpa.