Yellowstone- September 2015

Also, while I was procrastinating unpacking (and because I had a coupon for a free book), I made a photo book for our trip to Yellowstone last year. It was a blast, and I thought I'd share the book. So, if you want to see pictures of us from many month ago, here are some!

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Turn your favorite photos into a photo book at Shutterfly.com.

Yosemite- May 2015

I had all these ideas of stories I was going to write about our trip to Yosemite, which did indeed happen many months ago back in May. We drove up after Christina's wedding, and traveled with Jonathan's parents. We stayed for a couple of days in their trailer, met up with Jonathan's Dad's biological dad, saw some beautiful trees, waterfalls, and got snowed in for a day...in May. I was going to write all these stories, and share them with you. But, I got distracted and busy and life kept going and it just wasn't happening. Then, I got a code for a free Shutterfly photo book, and I made a photo book instead. I figured instead of rewriting everything for a blog post, I'd just share the photo book! It's so much faster this way! So, here it is, Enjoy!

Click here to view this photo book larger

Turn your favorite photos into a photo book at Shutterfly.com.

Father and Sons Camp-out

Peter and Jonathan went on their first Father and Sons camp-out a few weeks back. They had practiced tent camping for our Yellowstone trip the 2 weeks prior by sleeping in the backyard on Friday night, and this camping trip gave them a chance to see how well Peter did camping in a new place. 

It was a little crazy getting the boys out the door for this camping trip because we had to take our car into the shop to check a couple things before they left. Jonathan took the car in Friday morning and learned there was a gas leak- and a couple of other small things, but because of the leak, the car was unsafe to drive- turns out, it could catch on fire! So, we left the car at the shop the whole weekend so they could fix things, and Jonathan and Peter got a ride to the camping trip with another guy from our church. *Sidenote: the mechanic fixed everything- and it ended up being inexpensive fixes, and the car is back to running great.

So, Jonathan got a ride to work with a co-worker and the guy who was driving them camping told him that he would pick up Jonathan and Peter at 5:30. Jonathan called me at 5:20 to say they were just leaving work, and could I get everything packed in their bags, and get a lunch together for Saturday. Gah! So, I frantically tried to get everything (2 sleeping bags, 2 pads, Peter's clothes, Jonathan's clothes and foods) into a big hiking backpack- so Jonathan wouldn't have to try to wrangle all the 'things' along with the 2 year old, and I did this while making dinner for Peter and hoping that the guy from church didn't show up and have to wait around for too long. But, everything turned out fine. The guy didn't come until about 6:15, and by then Jonathan was home and could help get everything together. 

In the truck heading to the camp-out.
I promise he was more excited than he looks.

 Peter was so excited the whole time to go camping, and when Jonathan got home and saw how I'd packed most of the stuff he said I did a great job. So, we were good to go. They got off safely, and the house was silent. While they were gone, I cleaned the house and reveled in the fact that everything stayed clean the entire night. I also watched any show I felt like. It was great. I had a relaxing night, and knew that Peter and Jonathan would come home with lots of fun stories to tell me.

Peter "fishing" with a stick.

 Jonathan says that lots of other kids were there and Peter played with them all Friday night and Saturday. Apparently Peter was really good at getting snacks from all the other people. The guys made cobbler that night. There were cabins at the camp site that most of the guys slept in. We have a tent, but Jonathan said the ground was quite rocky, so they opted for the cabins as well. They slept good and stayed warm.

Peter and his head lamp...so he doesn't get lost.

Jonathan and Peter with his pliers.

Jonathan and Peter, enjoying cobbler and pliers. 

Saturday morning, they shot off homemade paper rockets, made sand castles and went "fishing". Jonathan said that they kept increasing the air pressure going to the rockets until one of them "exploded" instead of taking off. He also says that Peter had a great time with everyone, and loved playing with a baby- 8 months old- who was there. They got back around 10am, and everyone was happy and full. Camping trip was a success. Peter is an excellent camper and loves being outside, and I'm glad he and Jonathan had a great time together!

Yellowstone Camping Prep

A while back, we decided we wanted to take a trip to see Yellowstone before we move from Utah. We don't actually know if we will move or when we might move, but we know it's a possibility and I knew I would be super bummed if we didn't take advantage of a cool National Park while we were living in driving distance to it. So, to get ready for the trip, we started with buying the things. Jonathan has a lot of camping stuff for him, and I have a pretty good sleeping bag. We did have to buy a sleeping pad for me, and a tent. We bought one of the thicker pads for me- it cost more, but then hopefully I wouldn't regret the camping trip being 5 and a half months pregnant and not sleeping well at night. We also bought a 6-man tent- it was on clearance at the camping store we went to, and was cheaper than the 4 man tent, and Jonathan can almost stand up in it! It's big and lovely. 

Once we had purchased the few supplies we were lacking, we decided that Peter needed some camping prep. The first time we set up the tent, he was so crazy excited, which was fun, but when I thought about him acting like this when we were trying to go to sleep after a long day, it was less fun. So, he and Jonathan slept in the tent in the backyard a couple of times so the tent wouldn't be so new and Peter would know how things would go and get accustomed to everything. 

Peter eating an apple and learning about wood-cutting safety.

Good helper pulling the wood to the fire area

On Friday, Jonathan and Peter would go outside, set up the tent, make their beds, and make a fire. Jonathan made tin-foil dinners with leftover curry one night- that was delicious. I would go outside to check on them, and eat dinner with them, but when bedtime came, I'd go in and sleep and the boys stayed in the tent. Jonathan said the first night, it took Peter about an hour to go to sleep. Then next week, he went to sleep in about 30-40 minutes. By the third week, Peter went to sleep in about 15 minutes. Win!

Peter playing in the tent

Dinner time outside the tent

Backyard camping!

We had safety talks about fires and how Peter should not touch it ever, and that he was only allowed to put things into the fire if mom or dad said it was okay. He did really good with staying back from the fire, and also reminding us that the fire was hot! 

Chicken curry tin-foil dinner!

Camping necessity- roasting marshmallows

Boy loves his marshmallows

Making breakfast after a good night's sleep.

It was great to watch Jonathan teach Peter things that he loves to do so much. Jonathan loves camping and he was really good at teaching Peter how to help in ways that were perfect for a little boy. Jonathan is so patient with Peter and does a great job at involving him with the things he is doing. It was also great to get a break from Peter and have a couple of nights to myself. I joked that Jonathan was in charge of one of the boys and that I would watch the other one. Although, I'd rather switch and let Jonathan be the pregnant one and I'd take Peter. Haha. 

Camping prep ended up being a great idea. When we went to Yellowstone, Peter slept great every night, and didn't get too excited when we put the tent up, so he would still sleep fine. We had a great time and saw lots of neat things, but that is a post for another day.

Camping in California (August)

Our last California adventure for the summer was to go camping. This was all Jonathan and his Dad's idea. I didn't really want to go at first. During the previous month, we'd slept in so many different places and Peter constantly had to adjust, and I just didn't want to have to  sleep in a new place until we got back to our home in Utah. But, the boys really wanted to go, and I was out numbered, so off we went. It turns out to be lots of fun, so all was well by the end.

Jonathan's parents have an RV, and they had a couple of free nights at a certain RV park nearby, so that was the plan. We packed up everything we owned, as we were going to go straight to Utah from the RV camping days. We drove with Peter and everyone else drove up in the truck, pulling the RV. The trip was alright, until we got closer to the park. Peter was done driving and it was pouring rain! We got to the park before Jonathan's family, so we let Peter out of the car seat and sat watching the rain until the truck and RV arrived. We drove around the park until we found a good place. The rain had slowed to a very light drizzle, but it was a little cool, so I put some warm clothes on Peter while everyone else helped get things set up.

Peter, running and exploring 

That sweater...cutest boy ever!

After we got the RV level and in place, we unpacked some things and took a short walk to explore the area. There were two small pond, a couple of swimming pools, a small store, and a game room. It was a pretty cool place. The park wasn't too crowded, which was nice. We went home and it was spaghetti for dinner! It was a good dinner. Peter loved it and was shoveling it into his mouth as fast as he could. I took about 5 pictures and only one was clear because he wouldn't stop moving.

Spaghetti Face Number 2

After dinner, we put on a movie and everyone went to sleep. If I have one issue with this trip, it would be sleeping. There is one bedroom, a table and benches that turns into a bed and a pull out couch. Jonathan and I got the pull out couch and we made a little bed for Peter on the floor. Unfortunately, Peter was quite congested and a little sick, so sleeping was not his forte. Also, we had a blow-up mattress on top of the pull-out couch. I need to remember in the future, that a blow-up mattress is never a good choice. They always leak so half way through the night, you are sleeping on a partially deflated mattress and there is no way to get comfortable because you just sink into the pit. Now add a husband and small little boy, all sinking into the pit, and the boy is waking up screaming every hour and will only stop screaming if you take him outside and continually walk with him, then what you get is a night where no one is really sleeping and the mom and dad get really cranky. It was not super enjoyable.

Peter sleeping in the mattress pit.

Luckily, morning came, and Peter was more pleasant during the day. We ate breakfast and then went to the pond that had paddle boats and kayaks. We all went for a paddle boat ride. Peter was a fan for the first 5 minutes or so, but then decided that he hated wearing a life jacket. So, he went with Grandma to play at the park. Everyone else took turns on the kayak, paddle boats and the stand up paddle boards. Once they started trying the paddle boards, I knew it was inevitable that someone was going down, it was only a matter of time. The splash went to Jonathan's dad, Jim. It only takes a little wobble and if you flinch at all, you are in the water. He was soaked. Thankfully, his phone was on dry land before he went in. It was fun to watch everyone and play around.

At one point, Peter, Jonathan and I went for a walk around one of the bigger ponds so we could show Peter the ducks and geese. We happened upon a Chinese family who was fishing. There were a couple of middle-aged women (we guessed maybe sisters), and a young boy, and an older white man. The little boy had a dog, and when we started getting close, his mom/aunt/grandma, told him in Chinese to pull the dog back because it might scare little brother. Jonathan responded in Chinese that it was okay and that Peter wasn't scared. Then, one of the women exclaimed, "You speak Chinese! (long pause) Weird." Hahahaha! It was such a different reaction to what we were used to.

We made chili one night for dinner. It was really good, but at one point, Peter ran full speed ahead for the coals and hot pot. Gah, he makes me so nervous. Luckily, I am faster, so I caught him before he touched anything. It was nice to eat outside and see the mountains. I also decided that I like the type of camping that involves things other than just tents. We had a table, and the RV had an awning that covered us, and it was just a good combination of being outdoors, but still having the niceties. I'm fine with roughing it sometimes, but overall, this is better...but I know Jonathan would disagree. He'd camp every weekend if he could.

Grandpa and Peter making dinner

Getting dinner ready

After the night of horrible sleeping, we changed some things to try to sleep better on night two. We figured since Peter was happy every time he was outside the RV at night, maybe he could just sleep outside with Jonathan. So, Jonathan set up a tent for the night.

Getting things together

Jonathan and his little helper

Cozy in their new room

Turns out, sleeping Peter outside was genius. He still woke up, but not nearly as frequently, and he went back to sleep quicker. I slept inside the RV, but gave up the blowup mattress and just slept on the pull-out couch. It was much more comfortable that way. So, we both slept better that night, which was good, because the next morning, we left at 4:30am to start the drive home. Yes, it is awful early, but then Peter sleeps for the first 3-4 hours. So, it's early, but worth it.

Cutest camper ever

Peter with his Aunt Christina

Peter with his Aunt Beccah

The trip ended up being a lot of fun, excluding trying to sleep the first night. We had fun on the boats and walking around and being outside. It was good to spend so much time with family after having not seen family for a year. We are so lucky to be so close that we get to see them so often. Family is for keeps!