2014 Family Campout

The 48th Halloween Campout is in the books.  Obviously I haven't been to all of them, I'm only 27 and I have missed some of them for different reasons but I have many many memories from years of campouts.

Most of the time the Halloween Campout is the only time all year I get to see some of my family members.  Grandparents, Aunts and Uncles, Cousins and their kids, family galore.  Campfires, food, hot chocolate, and a lack of electronics, what's not to love? 

This year we got a little bit of a late start, it had been raining, and it was supposed to rain all day Friday. Combine that with a last minute doctors appointment and we decided to go on Saturday morning.  I look forward to the campout all year and now that I have my own family it's even better.  Dravyn loves every second of it until she gets tired, but to be fair she doesn't like anything when she is tired.  She spent the whole weekend running around and trying to help people with whatever they were doing or just running in circles saying "Look Mommy I've got super speed!" until she crashed and burned.

I am hoping that 52 years from now we will be celebrating 100 years of family campouts and we will still be sitting up half the night laughing and sharing stories around the fire. A big plus will be that by then I will be 79 so even some of the old stories will be new to me. Always look on the sunny side.

The Begining of Fall.

Forget summer, it's too hot, it's to busy, and it's just not as cozy as fall and winter.  Our fall started early, with a pumpkin patch, hay rides, and corn maze at the cider mill. We have carved a pumpkin, with another being painted this morning and on the way to carving, and planning for the family camp out has begun.  I love this time of year, love love love fall and winter.

Despite it being 85 degrees the day we went we still had a lot of fun, and Dravyn was really excited that her grandma and grandpa went with us this year, I think her favorite part was the hay ride, we went around twice and she just loved it.

Valentines Day 2014

This year was the first year that Dravyn "got" Valentines Day.  She kept telling me for almost two weeks before hand that "Valentines means card and balloon".  Her father snuck out the night before to make all her Valentines dreams come true.

First up was grandma's gifts.  Fun Doc McStuffins activities, candy, and a bracelet.

Then Daddy got to wow her.  Just look at the face when she got the card.

The balloon, oh the balloon. She loves that thing.  3 days later and she is still dragging it around the house all day.  After Kevin went to work she wanted to make cards for everyone so she picked 5 pieces of my card stock, one for each of us including herself.  She didn't want me to fold for her or cut for her so the coloring commenced. 

She gave all of them to her grandma and grandpa except for the one she kept for herself.  Kevin and I exchanged cards, ate dinner, and watched Gone in 60 Seconds.  It was exactly what I wanted though if our tradition continues I think I will need to get the movie on blu-ray.

I am so glad that Dravyn has such a great dad.  I am glad that she has someone to show her that "I love you" is not just something you say on Valentines Day.  I am glad that she is starting to understand holidays and that she is so great at sharing.  It is so exciting watching her grow and understand more, I just love the person she is becoming.

My very beautiful 2 year old.

The 9th was Dravyn's birthday but we celebrated the 6th.  She had some people come to celebrate with her, including my cousin who's birthday really is the 6th.  It was a great day with pizza cake and a big surprise for the birthday girl.

 

She got a little people barn and has been carrying it around the house playing with it everywhere and after the initial scare over it making noise, now she is loving the sounds it makes and the animals.

 

Her big gift was from her grandparents, my grandparents, and her father and me.  She loves it and has been wanting to go play at her "park" all week.

 

 

Her actual birthday was really laid back, we played outside in the morning, and went about our usual schedule.  She did con her grandparents into taking her to McDonalds to get fries and a cookie, and to go to Wal-Mart where she got a new outfit and some hair clips.  The night finished with a jello fish bowl just for her and some two year pictures.

 

 

She has gotten so big over the last couple of years and I can't wait to see how much more she will be able to do next year.

 

 

4th of July

Dravyn's second 4th of July went really well.  She loves stomping on snappers, and helping her daddy light smoke bombs.  She also rode a tricycle for the first time, she didn't really "get" it, only pushing it correctly about half a rotation but she had fun!  It was a great day even though we spent most of the day building her birthday surprise in the backyard.

 

 

 

Stomp Stomp Stomp

What I got when I asked for a smile.

A super happy girl!

 

I hope you had a happy Independence Day.

The one with boom and falls.

So... I am pretty much frustrated with everything lately.  I think it has something to do with not having a good nights sleep in the last month. Well, that and other things, but for now we will leave it at that.

Dravyn has learned that fireworks go "Boom!" and then fall, and she loves them so much.  Therefore I have decided to fill the rest of this blog post with "fire booms".