Camping 2013

This is the boys third camping trip but probably the first one they'll remember for a while. The first time I was pregnant, and then we went again at 9mo before they could walk. We were not brave enough to take them last year when they were almost two, but I'm pretty sure it would have been a disaster unless we had a 2 to 1 adult:child ratio. My mom's visit was very last minute so we initially intended on going just Phil and I but boy was I glad that my mom and Sam were there to help us with the boys. It would have been a much higher stress camping trip if they hadn't been there. Of course the boys had a blast with this new experience. I had been telling them all along about camping and how we would sleep in a tent, eat outside, and go fishing. They knew it was going to be fun and were anticipating going but when we got to the campsite they all had a little bit of a bewildered look on their faces as they tried to grasp the concept of 'camping.' Slowly it all clicked, I'm sure, as they saw Phil put up the tent and saw us pulling out the cooler and chairs from the car. I love seeing that moment when "they get it." We also had some friends camping in the site next to ours, they too have triplets. We got to hang out with them out at the river and had a combined dinner one night.  

I picked up some bug collection kits at the dollar store and gave them to the boys as Phil and I began setting up the camp site. They went right to work looking for specimens (they were a huge hit)! 

Exploring the tent after we set it up!

Caleb, post roasting marshmallows

Discovering their headlamps, surprisingly not a big hit!
(neither were the glow sticks, you just can never tell!)

Bedtime!
The boys slept in our big tent with my mom and Sam while Phil and I slept in our 2 person backpacking tent.

The next day Thomas was rearing to go!

Caleb

My mom and T walking out to the river

The boys spent a lot of time wading in the river, I'm convinced they don't get cold because I didn't even want to stick my big toe in that cold water!

Another big hit was dollar store chalk boards

With our triplet friends, they are only 1 month older than my boys : )

Everyone except Phil, who is taking the picture

Our little group : )

Updates

I have been meaning to write more meaningful things but I just haven't had to time. So here are a few things I'm remembering at the moment. 

The boys for quite sometime now have made X's with sticks or have pointed out X's in things (like in a chair who's legs are crossed). I think it was their favorite letter for a while, they often fight over who's gonna do that letter on their alphabet puzzle (that and the T because it has a picture of a train on it). 

Now they are starting to write a few letters, they are very primitive but you can certainly tell what they are. Not surprisingly the letters they are writing are C, E & T. As you can imagine those letters come up a lot but writing letters is not something we've been working on so it was a little surprising. Sometimes they'll scribble something and say it's an 'M' for example but it doesn't really look like an 'm' unless you use your imagination. 

The other day I asked Eli to say that he loved me and he pleases me by saying "amo mami, amo papi, amo tia!" (tia = aunt, aunt Janet had just visited)

As we were walking to the park the boys were extra happy because their friend Oscar was with us and because I had just gotten them bats at the dollar store. I gave the boys pb&j sandwiches to eat in their wagon as we walked to the park and Eli all of a sudden says "a ball, a bat" and then very emphatically "a nat!" (nat = snack)

When aunt Janet was visiting, we were all together and Eli holds up three fingers and as he points to each finger he says "mami, papi, tia!" I love how they know how to count and it's not just wrote memory. They actually get the concept of counting : )

Cozy up for a silly little story that happened, again, while aunt Janet was visiting. The boys got up as usual, very early in the morning and as we were all trying to milk as few more minutes of sleep Caleb and Eli come into our room holding a box of mini wheats. Little known fact, the boys love mini wheats and while I discourage them from eating them dry they can and will sometimes just eat them dry. When we got up the boys had mini wheats lined up in various places and a few here and there on the floor. Only God knows how many mini wheats they had eaten. All I know for sure is that Eli ate a lot! Because by the time he pooped for the third time I told him, "don't eat so many mini wheats next time, they're making you poop so much!" Several hours later, what do you know, he's pooping again, I ask him if he's ready to be wiped but requests that his tia wipe him. As the barer of bad news I ask aunt Janet not to kill the messenger but Eli has requested she wipe him. Aunt Janet obliges and comes back to tell me that when she went in there she says "you pooped again?" And Eli responds with " caca mini wheats."