Camping and Stuff

Well, I did it yet again. I have taken WAY too many pictures. So here we go.

We finally made it camping this summer. We went with our good friends JaNae and Michael and their cute little girl, Kiera. We went outside Idaho City and found a perfect little campground out in the middle of nowhere (there really are ALOT of mountains in Idaho!!). We had a blast. Eli got filthy dirty, Xander slept most of the time in the Moby wrap, and it felt SO good to get outdoors and smell some pine trees and fresh mountain air.

When it was time for bed, Eli wanted to get in the truck and go home. He wasn't quite sure about sleeping in the tent although he is quite the seasoned camper. Xander did better during the night than Eli did. Little stinker that he is.

Anyway, the weather was perfect, there were minimal bugs -no mosquito bites - everything was just awesome (other than Eli constantly kicking the dirt even after repeated requests to please cease and desist - he is definitely two!)

This is Kiera. She is such a cutie pie and loves Eli to pieces.

Here is Kiera loving Eli to pieces. She finds it to be quite the novelty to feed Eli. I guess it is like feeding the animals at the zoo or something.

More hugs for Eli.

Xander all sacked out in the Moby. Thank heavens for this thing!

Going for a little hike.

The view was so beautiful! This picture doesn't do it justice. The mountains look like they go on forever!

Yeah, camping isn't conducive to naptime. Little man was so spent.

Daddy and Xander

Eli checking out the tent.

Mommy and Xander

A dirty little face only a mother could love...
Poor dirty little beggar child! Please Sir, can I have some food?

When we were packing up, Eli was quite ornery. When we took down the tent he started screaming that he wanted to take a nap in the tent. Then he really wanted to get in the truck. I figured he just wanted to play with the steering wheel and push all the buttons he could get his filthy little hands on. He finally started asking to get in his carseat. We put him in and he totally crashed.
That's all for Xander's first camping trip. It was so much fun. In all honesty, Xander was a piece of cake camping. Eli was the challenging one.


Here are some more fun pictures:

Xander's first self-inflicted hickey.

The other afternoon I had just about been pushed beyond the limits any normal human should ever reach and Eli went upstairs. I was so relieved to have a bit of reprieve to gather my wits and patience that I didn't even bother to see what Eli was getting into. I figured it would be well worth cleaning up whatever mess he was making for a moment's peace. I finally ventured upstairs and he was sitting in his chair reading his Hot Rod magazine. It was so cute.

Playing in the doorway. I love cooling off the outdoors! We wouldn't want the bugs to get too hot.

I got this little pool for Eli and thought it would be pretty cool. It turns out the little umbrella is WAY too heavy for the stand and it just sags and gets in the way. Eli still has fun in it though.

All dressed up for church.

Yes, he may look angelic, but if you look closely you can see little horns in his hair.

I bought Eli some swimming shorts that came with goggles. He has been so excited to try them on. He wasn't quite so keen once they were on, but I got some cute pictures.