My Favotie Pics from Camping

No, imagine that, they aren't of my kids, but of my sisters and their boyfriends, Brent & Eddie. These pics were taken while they were cliff jumping. They crack me up every time I look at them. Mind you the water was freezing, painfully so, but my sisters just thought it would be a great idea to get pictures with their men under the waterfall. Now you had to swim through the water to the waterfall and then had to sit there and pose. Michelle & Brent, after some trials were the only ones to get a decent picture that would seem as though they were in the tropics on some rainforest hike, but that was only after she came back and told Brent they had to go and do it a second time because he wasn't smiling in the first. How dare he, not smile in frigid temperatures that is causing you bodily harm. But being the dutiful boyfriend, he tortured himself and did it again...this is also something Andy would have done while we were dating. Now that he has me nabbed, he would have looked at me like I was crazy and suggested that I stuff the camera in a foreign place...












ok, ok, so I guess I owe them a good pictures of them with their loves, because I can hear them yelling at me now...

A Camping We Will Go

This past weekend we decided to go camping with the kids, my parents, my sisters and their boyfriends. We went to Hickory Run State Park up in the Poconos. We had no idea how the kids would handle this experience, if they would go to sleep at night and not have me drive half way home in the van and back just to get them to sleep, if they would stay away from the campfire and not burst into flames, if they would be quiet enough at night not to bother the other campers and receive dirty looks in the morning, and if they would take showers in the camp bathrooms without sounding like they were being attacked by bears. (the don't like showers, especially showers in unfamiliar places). But they even surpassed expectations by loving it. They were so tired each night that they went to sleep as soon as they were placed in the tent. The bathrooms had a handicapped stall and so there was a bench on it with a detachable nozzle so that I could hose them down without water pouring over their heads with no control. Kendall has been asking all summer to go camping, not even knowing what camping really was, and she finally got her chance to go and is really quite the little camper. They adjusted well, entertained themselves, ate & cooked s'mores, and even went on a 'hike.' We had perfect weather all weekend.

On Saturday we went to Camel Beach, a water park. Kendall loved going down all the slides, have the water pour over her and watch everyone going down the big slides. They both loved the lazy river and Ethan even fell asleep on me as we floated together. Ethan came down with a cold on Saturday which caused him to have some coughing going on, I too was starting to feel rotten and get that campfire feeling in my throat, but we pushed on, took some cough syrup, and the three of us now have scratchy throats and a terrible post nasal drip cough. However, we would have had this camping or not, so we will live.

So will we camp again, sure! I don't think I would make any changes with the exception of not to get sick bc then I could have stayed by the fire longer! I would for sure pack the wagon again next time and I am sure Andy would too. Here are some photos of the weekend.

These next 2 shots are at home the night before we left. Honeygram gave Kendall and Ethan some rain ponchos, a back pack, and a canteen. All of these items had to go on as soon as we got home to prepare us for our weekend. Kendall even decided on her hiking shoes and is holding what she found on her 'hike' around our basement. ( a crocodile, of course, her favorite animal & when asked, what she wants to be when she grows up)

On the way to camp. Ethan with his blankie, binky, and bear

as you can see, he could hardly stand the excitement.

Kendall fast asleep on the first night. We slept head to head to the kids so they slept next to each other. I was afraid one would wake the other up, but Ethan just curled into Kendall and a few times at night I would find him sprawled out with his legs and arms covering Kendall.

Our dirty little man. Some might think that it wouldn't even be necessary to take baths or showers over a weekend, who cares. Well you my friends do not know my son. He is a dirt magnet and often call him pigpen after the Charlie Brown character. This kid loves to get dirty, so put him in the woods, he is going to get into everything, as usual.

Kendall and her aunts. Everywhere they go, she is close behind. She adores them.

Our resident fire starter relaxing by the flames.

Ethan eating his breakfast. He just thought this was great that he could eat on the back of Pop's truck.

My Dad working on the flames. Can you find out what is wrong with this picture?

(Answer: The hand in the flame is not the one with the glove over it)

My Dad's new coffee pot and new cook stove. He desperately needed a new pot, he had an old stove and even through it was his Dad's, it

was in desperate need of being replaced, so my Mom got him one just like the old one for Father's Day this year.

Ethan and his Daddy getting in some cuddle time and eating, of course.

Happy Birthday Aunt Meghan!

We decided to hike to Hawk Falls, which was just long enough for the kids. When we got to the falls, there was people jumping off them, so what does my family do? Join in. Everyone but my Mom and I jumped in. (someone had to watch the kids, and not only that I didn't have my suit with me) The water was freezing, so much so that it took your breath away, but that didn't stop the jumpers from throwing themselves off cliffs and posing under the waterfalls for pictures. Kendall so desperately wanted to go into the water, so we finally said, ok we will let you in, thinking she would get right out bc it was so cold, yeah right. With some coaxing, she would have jumped off the cliffs as well.

Dad jumping in. There is pics of everyone jumping in, but there is no reason to post them all.

Kendall eating her lunch on a cliff like it is any other day.

Pictures in the woods. Kendall thought she was super cool sitting on this stump and having her pic taken, so of course monkey see, monkey do and Ethan was right up on it next.

Worth Mentioning...

There are moments in my world of mommydom where I do get great free moments. I love them just as much as I love the time being silly with my kids and playing...all...day...long. As they are getting older I am getting more of these moments, perfect birth control. Right now as I type I have them in the basement locked away in a cage. No, they are in the basement playing in their play land. I have the door open and have got each toy and its sound down to a science. Right now Ethan is pushing around the shopping cart and Kendall is setting the table for tea. This area is a pretty much safe zone for them and when the noise stops I know that they are up to something. I usually leave them down there for 20-30 minutes of non mommy play each day, and they are doing quite well at it. It typically ends in a fight, but what siblings don't?

Point of blog, I find it worth mentioning websites sometimes. My new favorite, http://www.etsy.com. It is all handmade things by super creative people, my competition to some extent, but just the same they have some really awesome things that are worth a gander. These types of things are right up my alley and I would much rather a gift from something like this. So if you have a free moment, check it out.

The ENT & Me

My little man, Kendall, and I took a trip to the CHOP offices in Chalfont yesterday to get a better inspection of Ethan's ears. E is a chronic ear infection sufferer and thus has become an antibiotic junkie, so much so that they are losing the effect they once had at lets say, 2 months old. At our last appointment for him and his ears the doctor finally flagged him and said, this kid needs tubes, the grand total is in, and in his 17 months of life, Ethan has had 11 documented ear infections. That is just being seen by the doctor, since the antibiotics have lost their effectiveness on him, there are times I know he has one but do not take him unless he has a high fever and/or his sleep is interrupted bc there is no point putting him through the nastiness that is augmentin unless I need to. And then once on the antibiotic we usually have a good month until it is gone, with 20 days on two different antibiotics. A clear candidate, don't you agree?

So off we went. Now some might cringe at the thought of taking two young toddlers to a doctors office for what is sure to be an extended period of time. However, these are my kids. I am not bragging or saying my kids do not ever act out in public settings, but the doctors is a sure bet that they will behave. Simply because they themselves think that they are doctors. I have mentioned this before with Kendall, but now it has gone on to Ethan, so much so that Santa will be bringing him his very own doctor's kit this Christmas because one stethoscope to share just isn't cool. Everything that could be deemed an eligible patient in this house has been evaluated by each of them at least 20 times. So being in the presence of another doctor is for them, being amongst colleagues. As the doctor was showing me charts of the procedure that was to be performed, they too were right next to me peering over the edge of the book. So you might think, well they are surely going to be doctors, well perhaps, but there is also a good chance they will just be like their mother and just obsess over the shows on Discovery Health.

We saw the nurse practitioner, went over his medical history, raced to get weighed and measured, and then went back into the lobby to wait. We then saw the audiologist who gave us all a hearing test. It really was just for Ethan, but the three of us got to go into the booth and watch the show that tests a small child's hearing. Kendall thought we were in a theater, she asked me when the movie was going to start, which is odd bc she has never been to a movie theater. Regardless, Ethan passed with perfect hearing. Back to the lobby. We then saw the ENT, Ethan was evaluated thoroughly, clear ears at that moment, figures, but he had also just ended a dose of antibiotics. Then one last time back to the lobby to wait for them to review E's chart and either call us back or send us on our way. They came out, we were called back like with thought we would be, and met with the surgeon who confirmed that Ethan would for sure be getting tubes in his ears. 2 1/2 hours later we walked out the door, and some might say, oh the kids must have been relieved to get out of there, but I turned to Kendall and asked, 'ready to go?', and she replies, 'ok, lets go to another doctor's house.'

Ethan's surgery will be on Monday September 8th, and no Kendall will not be scrubbing in, even though she would love it.

The Grange

This past Friday night my parents and I took the kids to the Grange Fair in Wrightstown. This is a fair that we used to frequent annually when I was a kid as well. Andy had an alumni soccer event for his high school soccer team and so he missed all the fun. I'm not being sarcastic we really did have a lot of fun.

The McCays met us there, so of course Kendall was so pleased to have her buddies, the twins with her.

Kendall and Ethan LOVE animals. I mean above all else. If you were to put candy in front of them or a dog, I am not kidding my kids would go for the dog. This was Ethan's first time at the Grange Fair, and of course Kendall didn't remember last year, or so I thought. As we were driving down to my parents to go, Kendall says to me, 'Mommy, I gonna ride the pony, o.k.?', which is what we did last year.

So we get there and Ethan could barely contain his excitement when he saw the first baby goat. Every part of his body was shaking with enthusiasm as he ran up to the pen. He loved every second of it. He moo'd at cows, hopped in front of bunnies, and screamed at the pig races. Kendall also enjoyed all the animals and found out where milk comes from. I had told her that it had come from cows before but to actually see where the milk is kept was an experience for her. She just stared in silence at the udders, and then goes, 'why, mommy?'
Kendall also got to ride a pony with Brynn and Molly. Her pony was named Sparky. The look on her face as she went in the circle was sheer pride. When the ride came to an end and she was lifted off of Sparky her world crashed around her and she cried and cried and begged to get back on, my Dad was ready to put her back on and I quickly diverted to another event...funnel cake.

We love to get funnel cake at fairs. On the ride there I told Kendall we were going to get funnel cake and she was said, 'I not have any of that.' I told her she would love it. And so when the plate and some lemonade were placed in front of her, her eyes popped out of her head. A massive swirly donut it must have resembled to her bc she dug right in...and our resident food eating contestant Ethan joined right in.

She of course ate next to Molly and Brynn and they had their own funnel cake extravaganza!

We then walked off some of the greasy and fatty sugar coated bliss and then listened to an Elvis impersonator that the kids loved to dance to. Well my kids will dance to anything, it is one of their favorite things to do, so even a silly man trying to sing like Elvis will do.

Then off to the rides. I had forgotten how crazy carnival/fair rides are. I mean they look as if they might fall apart and send people flying to their death at any moment. But for some reason I gave no second thought to sending Kendall on a Merry Go Round. I then decided to go on with her, and would sit with E on the little bench that goes around. E then decided he would go on a horse before it began to spin. And spin it did. Ethan grasped on to me so tightly as it spun around and around and insisted upon me holding him. So as I attempt to get him off the horse and keep my balance at the same time, I envision myself flying off. I grab on to him and then I am stuck holding on to the tail of this metal horse that is going up and down for dear life. I honestly thought that if we spun anymore it would start to take flight. Thinking that was it for Kendall, as we are exiting the Merry Go Round of death, she looks at the Ferris Wheel and says, 'I want to go on that Mommy.' Yeah right. And then she looks to the right and sees that swinging boat and asks to go on that. Does this child have any fear what so ever?

After Aidan & Ashley go on the Scrambler that must have scrambled their brains like eggs, we headed over to the kiddie rides. Wouldn't you know what Kendall ran to right away...yes, the roller coaster. Albeit, it is a kiddie roller coaster but generally not for 2 year olds, she didn't even meet the height requirement, but Aidan volunteered to go with her, and the girl bent the rules. Like Aidan could save her if she were to fly out, but what is the likelihood of that happening?;)


So to get her ready for this ride, we sent them on the jeeps that go around in the circle, as you can see by Kendall's face, this ride held no level of excitement for her. She is always after a thrill. So to the roller coaster. We got them in and it took off, as it whipped around the corner Kendall's mouth popped open in that astonished way that could induce tears or laughter, I thought for sure she was about it cry when she began to scream and laugh. Amy thought for sure Molly was also going to scream to come off, but as they rounded the second bend to go down a slight hill, her arms went up in the air as if she were on the Great American Scream Machine having the time of her life.

Thus ends another year at the fair with fun and laughter amongst everyone.

However, we were really upset and offended by the sheep's Halloween Costumes this year...

We love the Olympics

The Olympics are a big deal in our house right now, we will watch them to the bitter end and cheer on Michael Phelps as if he is a member of our family. So in honor of that, I thought that we could live out our dreams and be part of the Olympics, if just in the blogging world...enjoy...

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Andy will be having further drug testing performed after a review of the footage.

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Videos of the Week

Kendall loves to tell this joke that I think is just so silly. For those of you who watch Flipped Out on Bravo, this joke was told on there, and I laughed out loud. I know it is silly. However, it is even funnier when your two year old picks up on the nuiances surrounding a joke and will say them. You can't help but need to get it on film.