Yes: we took Ilana AND Moses camping and we hope to camp as a whole family again...someday.
No: we did not get much sleep; we are not crazy, we just kind of enjoy this sort of thing. :)
So, a couple days before Maundy Thursday Paul and I decided to finally try to camp with Ilana. We thought about it this time last year and chickened out. We kind of regretted it then, so we didn't want that experience again. We were given some great advice about camping with a toddler:
- Don't have an agenda
- Sleep whenever your toddler sleeps
So, our expectations were pretty low. We planned great, Ilana-friendly meals, went shopping, packed up all our stuff, and a lot extra (how much STUFF does one 20-pound toddler need?!) and headed out. We got to our first campsite in Fredericksburg, TX around 12:30 - yes, just after midnight. That night was alright...all things considered. We woke up the next morning to an exhausted toddler and rain...yeah. :) Thankfully Andrew (a former student we know who lives there) offered us pancakes, sausage and coffee for breakfast. We couldn't turn him down. With our full bellies and warm bodies we headed down to Lost Maples.
We ate some lunch, got packed up, let a now-rested Ilana run around
and hiked in about a mile to our first campsite, it was lovely. We didn't know how long we'd be there so we got comfortable as quickly as possible. Dogs had to be on leash the whole time, and we weren't too far away from the trail, so Moses did a fair amount of hanging out by the tree:
He had so much fun...can't you tell? Our cook site was right next to the tree, so don't worry we got to hang out with him quite a bit (yes, that's his water hanging on the tree). We made and had a great dinner of mac and cheese with beef stick - YUM!!! The sun continued to set while we enjoyed brownie pancakes for dessert. As we were settling in for the night, I noticed the "default" positioning of our dependents and got a bit worried, but what was I going to do?
Little did I know, this would be the case ALL NIGHT. At the time it seemed sweet, but when you are 17 weeks pregnant and already beginning to feel cramped for space, a toddler who wants to share a pillow and a dog who wants to sleep on your lap don't help. None of us got a lot of sleep that night (that's the nice way of putting it). So, once it got light enough outside and we had stalled the waking up process as long as we could, we knew we needed some "emotional pick-me-ups" before we could talk about our plan for the day.
Emotional pick-me-up #1: HOT CHOCOLATE (especially sharing it with Ilana):
Paul thoroughly enjoyed the Starbucks Via we had brought in for him.
Emotional pick-me-up #2: BLUEBERRY PANCAKES (yes, even in the backcountry!):
I've got to tell you, these were THE BEST blueberry pancakes I think I've
ever had.
So after thoroughly enjoying our breakfast we decided to not let the lack of sleep defeat us and stay another night. We wanted to try a different sleeping situation to see if it would be any better. Our only "plan" for the day was to go see an interesting rock formation a guide told us about (a 10-minute hike down the trail):
sterilize some water:
enjoy spring:
and while Ilana and I took a nap that afternoon, Paul and Moses hiked out to take back some excess food to the car and get the tarp we had brought "just in case." By the time Ilana woke up from her very short nap, Paul and Moses were back and Paul got busy setting up the tarp he and Moses would sleep under that night.
You can see our tent site, nestled in the trees in the background.
Ilana even tried it out, but decided she wanted to sleep in the tent with me instead.
We made dinner and settled down a lot earlier than the night before. Ilana and I slept fairly well, especially compared to the previous night. However Paul and Moses...didn't get much sleep from what I understand.
So the next morning we had a quick breakfast, got packed up, and hiked the mile back to our car. Moses slept through lunch,
our poor scrubby child Ilana ate well,
and got all cleaned up
just in time for us to head back home. Needless to say, there was a fair amount of sleeping going on in the car on the way home (by everyone except the driver of course!).
It was an experience, that's for sure. The craziest part about it all is that when Paul and I look back on the whole experience we have great memories and who wouldn't with pictures like this?!
-H & P
I can hardly believe that 22 months is almost over. But, it's for real - PAUL GRADUATES IN 19 DAYS, PEOPLE!!! He realized just tonight that he is done with 2 of his 3 classes this semester. He has the first part of his law final tomorrow and the second part early next week...and that's IT - CRAZY!!!
We decided to do a family party to celebrate Ilana's 2nd birthday. She's not a huge fan of big crowds and we have enough going on these days. So, we decided to try to let her do all her favorite things without diverting or discouraging her.
putting on shoes,
doing the buckle on her chair, over and over again,
and reading in her chair (I can't figure out why this picture won't turn sideways for me and sorry it's fuzzy!).
We even gave her a lollipop,
which she graciously shared with her baby doll, she's very conscientious these days.
Then we went to McAlister's for dinner
where she opened some more presents (including these sunglasses that she immediately put on...upside down).
We followed dinner with dessert at Dairy Queen (no homemade cake this year), where she got her very own strawberry sundae with candles. (For some reason the video I uploaded of us singing to her and her blowing out her candles didn't upload correctly. I'll try again later - sorry!) I think it was a pretty sweet day for her!
These days Ilana loves keys, zippers, the Wiggles (a kids music group), taking off her shoes and trying to put on any other pair she can find (even if it's the ones she just took off). She's trying to say a lot of words. The newest words or phrases to add to her collection are: thank you (which sounds more like "zwah too"), monkey (which sounds exactly like "daddy," but that's ok), baby (pronounced really well), and her favorite word, please (pronounced: TSSSSSS! accompanied by a fair amount of spitting).
She's still a very gentle, cautious child, although when she's comfortable with something her feisty-ness starts to show. Like on this day, after awhile she decided to try to make her own potpourri with the bluebonnets and was vigorously ripping apart the flowers:
We know she is going to be a great big sister. She's in a phase right now where I have to "feed" her baby doll or stuffed animal before I feed her. She's already very conscientious.
Although we have a pretty good daily routine down, she can be very flexible with it. She's pretty easy-going. When we were getting our ultrasound the other day she was just sitting on Paul's lap drinking her juice most of the time. The woman even asked if she was "always this calm." She tends to be pretty laid back, unless she's hurt, hungry, tired, cranky or somebody's taken away her toy. But, what toddler isn't upset in those circumstances?
We've been through a lot these past 2 years and these next few months are not going to be much easier, but we are so thankful to have Ilana in our lives. We are blessed because she is ours and we look forward to continuing to watch her grow and learn. She gives us a great perspective on life and continually reminds us of what's really important.
sweet feet...
and even a 3-D pic!!
It was a great morning! Everything is looking fantastic and healthy. This little boy is already much more active than I remember Ilana being inside. How fun! ...sort of. :)
On our way in, we realized what a blessing this truly was. Diana and Dick have their names engraved at the ballpark! They're 4th from the bottom and I think that's their son right below them.
We found our way to our seats...they were pretty much amazing - the best in the ballpark if you ask me!
Seriously, this is during the game, using no zoom on our camera - we were right behind home plate!
As you can see from the ticket, we were playing A&M - arch rivals!! The Aggies had a pretty good showing...
but in the end it was no help. We KILLED them 13 to 1!!
It was a pretty magical night, complete with a beautiful ballpark, cheesy nachos, onion rings, sweet tea, silly kids races, baseball songs, local restaurant giveaways, thrown t-shirts, local celebrity sitings (the women's basketball coach was there with a few players as well), the 7th inning stretch, and even local "inside joke" cheers. We kept our eyes out, but apparently Bruiser (the Baylor mascot) doesn't come to the games. He should!
The next day the series ended and Baylor won again 2 to 1. It was the first time our seniors had won the A&M series - I was so proud of our guys. We couldn't make Sunday's game, but I don't think it would have topped Saturday night's for us.
and hiked in about a mile to our first campsite, it was lovely. We didn't know how long we'd be there so we got comfortable as quickly as possible. Dogs had to be on leash the whole time, and we weren't too far away from the trail, so Moses did a fair amount of hanging out by the tree:
He had so much fun...can't you tell? Our cook site was right next to the tree, so don't worry we got to hang out with him quite a bit (yes, that's his water hanging on the tree). We made and had a great dinner of mac and cheese with beef stick - YUM!!! The sun continued to set while we enjoyed brownie pancakes for dessert. As we were settling in for the night, I noticed the "default" positioning of our dependents and got a bit worried, but what was I going to do?
Little did I know, this would be the case ALL NIGHT. At the time it seemed sweet, but when you are 17 weeks pregnant and already beginning to feel cramped for space, a toddler who wants to share a pillow and a dog who wants to sleep on your lap don't help. None of us got a lot of sleep that night (that's the nice way of putting it). So, once it got light enough outside and we had stalled the waking up process as long as we could, we knew we needed some "emotional pick-me-ups" before we could talk about our plan for the day.
Paul thoroughly enjoyed the Starbucks Via we had brought in for him.
I've got to tell you, these were THE BEST blueberry pancakes I think I've ever had.
sterilize some water:
enjoy spring:
and while Ilana and I took a nap that afternoon, Paul and Moses hiked out to take back some excess food to the car and get the tarp we had brought "just in case." By the time Ilana woke up from her very short nap, Paul and Moses were back and Paul got busy setting up the tarp he and Moses would sleep under that night.
You can see our tent site, nestled in the trees in the background.
We made dinner and settled down a lot earlier than the night before. Ilana and I slept fairly well, especially compared to the previous night. However Paul and Moses...didn't get much sleep from what I understand.
our poor scrubby child Ilana ate well,
and got all cleaned up
just in time for us to head back home. Needless to say, there was a fair amount of sleeping going on in the car on the way home (by everyone except the driver of course!).
-H & P
