Bathing Isla

Baths bring together two things that Isla hates, sitting on her bottom and being wet. 

In protest of sitting she does this strange thing with her legs and feet.  

And in protest of being in water she screams.  

Bath time is awesome.  

Camping in Pictures: St. Augustine

For the long weekend we got away to Anastasia Island to camp.  Not only is a beautiful park with gorgeous beaches and sand dunes its a short drive to one of our favorite cities in Florida, St. Augustine!  

Girls hike! 

The boys learned to use long boards. 

Even Jed gave it a go. 

We celebrated Jon's birthday and of course being the coolest aunt ever, I got him a car! 

Isla's hates baths even in the camper. 

Silly faces. 

"Dr. Seth" 

Mini Van Saga

My van wouldn't start, again this morning so...

Isla Camping

Freckles

Ford, my child who freaks out when anything from paint, to lotion, to water, is on his skin, just noticed a freckle on his foot.  

He's now treating his foot like it's diseased and is obsessively trying to wipe it off.  

All that attention to his body has led to the discovery of many other freckles, causing more panic and scrubbing.  

He's not accepting any rational explanations, just begging me to get them off. 

This should be a fun day. 

Christmas at Amelia Island

The last few weeks have been busy, we celebrated Christmas on Christmas eve, went camping on Christmas day, came home to celebrate New Years with both sides of our family and my mom spent 9 wonderful days with us.  

So now I'm playing catch up!  I'll start with our trip to our favorite place to camp, Fort Clinch state park on Amelia Island!  This was our fourth trip to this park and we just love it there!  

We arrived in the afternoon on Christmas day.  For some reason I always forget to pack lunches when we leave on Christmas day, I think it's because it doesn't feel like Christmas so I forget that everything will be closed.  In years past we've had to scrounge for snacks to make due until we head out for our traditional Chinese dinner but this year for the first time, the McDonalds in town opened at 1pm.  Times are a changin.  

This was Isla's first camping trip and our first time camping with a little girl!  As a baby she didn't seem to mind it, in fact she really enjoyed riding in the backpack while we explored the park together.  However I wonder what she'll think as she gets older...  

Evan and Seth enjoyed a little more freedom this trip, with us allowing them to ride their bikes around the loop and to the bathroom by themselves.   Jed and I learned that if Seth disappears always look up before panicking!  He loves to climb trees!  Kane learned to ride his new big boy bike while Ford spent a lot of time either doing his own thing or hanging out with our dogs.  

Memorable moments: 

-The boys unloaded all the wood we brought with us, they're become more and more helpful each year. Pretty soon Jed and I will sit in our chairs drinking adult beverages while we watch them set up camp!  

-At Christmas dinner Kane got crazy, jumped up in his seat to his feet and then fell backwards onto the ground (I'm still unsure how he did it).  The owner appeared out nowhere to pick Kane up and offer him a booster seat.  

-Ok, so the owner didn't appear out of nowhere, she had been sitting in the back watching our kids waiting for an excuse to give them another round of snuggles and pats. She was smitten.  

-Ford ate all the steamed broccoli that came with our General Tso's meal.  He's never willing eaten broccoli in his life. Christmas Miracle. 

-We went after Christmas sale shopping and bought the dogs giant rawhide bones but they wouldn't eat them.  More than 3 weeks later and they're still untouched.

-Kane got a cut on his finger while we were touring the fort and in between sobs he yelled out, "I've lost all my blood!" 

-Walking back from the fort on the beach (instead of the wooded trail we took there) turned out to be a horrible decision.  Both, Kane and Ford broke down into tears along the way.  I don't remember what Kane's problem was but half way back Ford lost his mind over the sand that was in his shoes and on his hands.  I ended up holding both their hands and although they were on their feet I was pretty much dragging them, while they wailed, to the camper.  And while Ford was committed to his meltdown, Kane stopped crying and in the sweetest, most sun shiny voice said, "Ford look we're back! Mom, I sure love ya."  He didn't escape nap time. 

Pre-meltdown. They look so innocent don't they?! 

-We bought Isla a bonnet and I don't know why they ever went out of style, there is nothing cuter than a little girl in a bonnet!!  

- Although the weather wasn't terrible we had some cold nights and most of the time it was windy.  One evening it was perfect though.  We went to the beach and watched the sun go down.  Have I mentioned that I love this place?!