'Tis the Season

We had our first real camping adventure of the summer this weekend.  We had our camper out one other time (Memorial Day weekend), but we just went to Mike's aunt and uncle's cabin, and basically just used our camper for "sleeping".  I put this in quotes because there really wasn't a whole lot of sleeping going on with Tyson and I that weekend. 

So, back to this weekend.  

We didn't go far.   Just to a little campground about 25 miles from our house. The weather was, eh, but not terrible. The boys enjoyed lots of outside time, and since they were the only kids there, they weren't lacking attention by any means.  

AND, Tyson slept all night on Friday night, and was up just once on Saturday night.  This is MAJOR progress for him in the camper.  I just hope this continues since we have quite a few weekends of camping planned for this summer, and I'm sure we'll be spending much of our fall in the camper at "The Pink House" (Eric's cabin) since Mike was drawn for a bear license this year.

I can't find my mommy!

We spent the weekend at the "Pink House". All in all, it was a good weekend, although the time went VERY fast! We had an interesting incident Sunday morning:
Tyler and Tyson were awake by 6:30. Since we were in the camper, and Kayden wasn't awake yet, I decided that the two little boys and I would head to my parent's camper so that Kayden could sleep until he was ready to get up. (Mike was gone hunting). So, at about 7:30, we headed to my parent's camper which was about 15 feet away from ours. I took the monitor with me, so that I could hear Kayden when he woke up. He always yells for me when he wakes up because he is on the top bunk and needs help getting down.
So, we were in my mom's camper for about half an hour when someone knocked on the door. It was Amy and she was carrying Kayden! She found him in the cabin, crying because he couldn't find me. I had the monitor on, but apparently it wasn't working. He said he yelled for me, but I didn't come. So, he climbed down from the top bunk (he will demonstrate this for you if you ask him), got his "hunting boots", put one on, but couldn't get the other on. Opened the camper door. Closed the camper door. Walked to the cabin (one boot on, the other in his hand) wearing his pajamas, opened two doors to get into the cabin and walked around until Amy came out of the bedroom and found him walking around crying. She asked him what was wrong and he said, "I can't find my mommy!". I'm pretty sure it took Amy a few minutes to wake herself up enough to figure out what was going on. She carried him back outside, to Grammy's camper and found me there. I'm still in shock as to how he climbed down, got his boot on, opened all those doors and found Amy.
I'll be buying a new monitor.

Brainerd

Kayden insisted on sitting on this rock for his picture---lovely angle!

Boats!

Eating lunch

Tyson spent the day snoozing in his stroller....

The airplanes were a favorite from last year

Tyler and Kayden on the Merry-go-round.

Kayden feeding the donkeys (or, in his mind, the horses)

Tyler and Daddy feeding the donkeys

Kayden and Sydney cautiously listening to the big Paul Bunyan welcome them.

This past weekend, we took our camper and headed to Brainerd to spend the weekend with Mike's brother Pat and his wife Leah, and their girls, Sydney and Karsyn. By the time we got there Friday night, the kids had just a short time to play outside and then it was time for a quick bonfire for them and to bed. We put Tyler to sleep in a pack and play in the house and thought we'd be able to move him to the camper once he was sleeping without waking him up---we were WRONG! He woke up when we brought him to the camper. This was a LONG night! We put Tyler to sleep in our bed (I think we finally had him sleeping again by about 1:00 a.m), Kayden fell asleep on Tyler's bed (the bottom bunk). At about 1:30, I heard Kayden fall out of Tyler's bed, which he does not remember =), so, I put him on the top bunk, moved Tyler into the bottom bunk and went to sleep. By 4:00, Tyson was awake and ready for a bottle. I fed him, got him back to sleep, and by 6:15, Tyler was awake for the day. Needless to say, Tyler took a 4 1/2 hour nap on Saturday, and was still in bed at his normal time Saturday night! Saturday night went MUCH better, thank God!

Saturday during the day, Mike and Pat went fishing while Leah and I entertained the kids for a few hours. Right around lunch time, the sky got pretty dark, so we quickly cleaned up all our toys and headed inside. The rest of the day was spent indoors!

Sunday we packed up all the kiddos and headed to Paul Bunyan Land. Last year we went, and since it was free for kids 2 and under, it was cheap entertainment. This year, since Kayden and Sydney are 3, it cost 14.95 for each of them, plus 12.95 per adult! We may skip this next year...

For that price we could take them to Valleyfair! They did have fun though, and Tyson did really well. He slept in his stroller all afternoon, except for waking up to eat one time.

We got home Sunday night in time to check the yard for storm damage, only to find just one tree down. We were expecting much worse based on the information we'd gotten from other people in our area.

Monday I was able to sneak away for a day of shopping at Albertville with some girlfriends. Tuesday night we were at home, and Kayden and Mike took care of the broken tree and some other "chainsaw" work in the yard. Wednesday night we headed to The Landing in St. Anna for tacos for Mike's birthday. Thursday Mike turns 30, and our plan is to go out to eat with Pat and Leah. This weekend we have nothing much planned other than a wedding reception for a good friend of mine.

Camping again...

Tyler sleeping with Auntie Rhonda on his first pontoon ride

Tyson sleeping on his first pontoon ride

Kayden and Daddy checking out the water

Tyson on his first pontoon ride

Tyson hanging out in the camper while Mommy does the dishes

This past weekend we had yet another camping trip planned. This time we headed to Sauk Centre with a much smaller group than the previous weekend. The weekend was spent relaxing, preparing for a storm that never hit, pontoon rides, and chasing kids. Tyler and Tyson had their first pontoon ride (they both fell asleep). There wasn't a lot of excitement, but it was nice and relaxing.

4th of July Weekend

Tyson with Mommy and Daddy

Tyson with his grandparents and Mommy and Daddy

Tyson with Great-Grandma and Great-Grandpa Eickhoff

Tyson and his Godparents, Uncle Matt and Auntie "Mazih" (Amazih)

*Tyson wore the Baptismal outfit that Matt was baptized in

Kayden and Daddy testing out the water at El Rancho

Kayden playing at the beach (this is the spot where he later decided to pee!)

Tyler digging at the beach

We spent our 4th of July weekend camping at El Rancho this year. There was a total of 7 campers and 14 kids 4 years old and younger! Needless to say, we all stayed busy! The kids had a blast. It's so fun to see them all play together. We had a nice grassy area for them to play in and we set up a bigger pool for the bigger kids and a little pool for the littler kids. Since they also have a beach we were able to really wear them out! During one of our trips to the beach, Kayden was playing in the sand when he decided he REALLY had to go potty. Before any of us could stop him, he dropped his swim trunks to his knees and peed right in the sand! I was a little embarassed!
Sunday, we also had Tyson's baptism. I was a little worried about how Tyler would behave in church since he is always so busy, and never sits still. Luckily he fell asleep on the way there, and Amazih was willing to stay in the truck with him. I knew if we took him in, he'd wake up right away. So, he slept through most of Mass and woke up just in time for Amazih to bring him in for the baptism. We decided to keep Kayden and Sydney seperated during church. So, Sydney, Karsyn, Pat, Leah, Grandma and Grandpa and Rhonda and Troy sat on one side of the church, while Mike and I and Kayden and Tyler and Grandpa and Grammy and Matt sat clear across the building. This worked out much better than other times when we are too close together and Kayden and Sydney just want to play!
After Baptism we headed back to the campground for lunch, cake, presents and naptime! It was nice that we were staying there until Monday, so we didn't have to rush to get things packed up, and the kids were able to take good naps, and we made another trip to the beach, etc. Lots of fun had by all!