I was Brown and now I'm Wight

Tuesday, 17 June 2014

Camping, Take 2: Goldstream

Father's Day weekend was spent with friends camping at Goldstream. Thankfully, the rain held off until we were packing up Sunday morning. We missed out on this annual camp trip last year as I was giving birth. We were excited for K and B to try their hand at camping again, this time with other little kids.

Setting up was much smoother. I took the kids to the park (this year's addition to the campground) while Cole set up our tent with a friend. K was much more relaxed right off the bat. We were feeling like pros before anything had really even started, EXCEPT for the fact that I forgot our pillows, garbage bags and toothbrushes-woops!. So we headed to Wal-mart before dinner and picked up those things, so now we have a camping set. No need to forget them ever again- they will just be with out camping stuff in the garage.

After dinner, everyone congregated at our fire pit (that was super convenient). The girls went to sleep without incident and I remembered the sweater on top of B's PJs so her head was nice and warm. By the end of the night it was just the Wights left: Dave and Ali, Cole and I. We then headed to bed and prayed and hoped with all our might that this night would be better than our first night in Tofino.

Hallelujah! Nobody really stirred until 7:15am and then K only needed to be told once or twice to stay in the tent and play with B until mommy and daddy were ready. We didn't get out of the tent till 9ish and everyone was in good moods. We had our Father's Day breakfast on Saturday because we had endless time and on Sunday we would be packing up camp and didn't want to negotiate the take down, caring for the girls and making a special breakfast all at the same time. We had pancakes (the batter was previously prepared at home and stored in an empty, clean ketchup bottle for easy transport and convenient pouring-huge success!), blueberries, homemade syrup (also previously prepared at home), sausages, scrambled eggs and juice. I will definitely use the ketchup bottle trick again. Thank you Pinterest!

While the rain held off, it was still cold under the trees all day so the girls remained in their fleecy PJs all day and Cole and I never really changed either. Classy campers. The girls really enjoyed the park- K was very impressive and mastered the climbing wall meant for 6-12 year olds. B climbed the stairs and went down the slide all by herself. Our friend's daughter was celebrating her 4th birthday and had a little party later that afternoon in their campground. K enjoyed the festivities, while I napped with B. We had a potluck dinner with all the families we were camping with (most of which we attended YSA with back when we were all single), and that night the campfire party was at the Rebalkin's site across from ours.

The girls slept a little less well this night: K kept rolling off her mat, which was a problem because this was BC Parks, which meant we were camping on gravel. So I had to keep helping her back on her mat. I will be following the example of the McCulloughs and buying some floor mats for our tent when we camp in gravel sites from now on. B was up a couple times, cold again I think. I had a different sweater on her that night because the other one was dirty. The hood kept falling off her head. So I will make sure, in the future, to save the perfect sweater for sleeping only.

Take down, the next morning, was a breeze (as much as taking down a site can be). We were on time. Everyone's spirits were high and we were thrilled camping was such a success. It is indeed our favourite thing to do as a family and now we feel we have a really good handle on it for the rest of the summer.

Videos:
K climbing wall: http://youtu.be/H_LOd4aY22Y
B being silly with daddy: http://youtu.be/wC__g1otDeY

embraced the camping life

has a rock fascination

2 year old climbing the wall

so proud of herself

plays like the big kids now

pretty baby

being cheeky- she's not allowed to go down head first

we see this face everyday

much safer

loves to play with daddy

loves his baby

sweet gazes

butterfly ("gofly") face

how can you not love this face?

classy camping- long johns under shorts and t-shirt: it's how we roll

pinata fun

treat face

sour face (warhead)

playing with the remains

loves the soccer ball (K calls it "superball")

cousin fun with bubbles

grown men playing with a pink jump rope (camping only has so many activities)
-that's Cole in the foreground learning how to make a noose...like I said,
only so many activities

all Wight girls like cake

wanted his own handful of cake

baby crawling off into the forest

spoils from pinata-perfect for camping

Monday, 16 June 2014

Another First Birthday

My baby is one....I have been in denial for a while that this was coming. I still don't acknowledge it if I can avoid it. I didn't have any problems with K turning 1, but I've been a bit of an emotional wreck around B's first birthday. It just went by so fast, I didn't feel prepared for her to already be one. I feel a lot different this time around. I feel more tired, less on top of things, and I definitely don't feel ready for another baby. When K was turning one, I was getting pregnant with B. I certainly don't feel that way now. I'm so glad I felt it back then and had B so close to K. I love, everyday, watching them grow closer and learning to play and love each other. And that totally feels like enough right now. I don't feel back to normal yet. With only one baby, and an easy baby at that, I was feeling really good around this mark. Right now, I still feel like we're at six months. I'm still laying down most afternoons when B goes down for her nap. I'm still nursing, too. It's just all different this time and she still feels so much like a baby to me.

My mom, dad and two of my sisters came to celebrate with us. We had a nice Mexican(ish) feast and angel food cake, berries and whipped cream for dessert. B (and K) loved the presents: a car to ride around the deck and a little zebra, musical toy that can be switched from a sit and ride, to a walk and push, to a stand and scoot. (Present videos found HERE and HERE and HERE). B, and especially K, loved having grandparents and aunts give all kinds of attention. K kept saying "my family"- she thinks it only refers to extended family. She still doesn't believe Cole, B and I are her family, too. She threw a fit when they left.

I am so happy to have B in my life. It has been a much different experience parenting her- I love that she is so different from her sister. She is an extrovert: she lives life (so far) with all her emotions blazing, she isn't afraid to get messy and really experience her surroundings. She loves and laughs and cries so hard- sometimes so hard that her body can't seem to contain it. She chases after both Cole and I (and K) for cuddles everyday. She loves to touch and kiss and snuggle. She is our silly daughter, and is always trying to make us laugh. She is an eating machine and often eats 3 times what K does at meal times. She loves her sister so much and copies everything she sees. She wants to do everything K does and gets instantly jealous if she's left out. She is fearless in her emotional expression and that is something that is so different from K and I. I know she will be so good for our family in the future because she is already showing us how to love better.

We love you so much B! Happy Birthday!

Aunty Alexis (K calls her "Egsis")

Aunty Tanya ("my Tana")

Grandpa

Grandma and Grandpa

Mommy and her baby

checking out the new car

B in the driver's seat

upset that K was taking a turn in the car

love her cry face

funny face

Zebra scooter

taking a ride

"check out my sweet ride"

proud parents

birthday cake and 1 candle

....not her first piece of cake- she didn't make it to a year

digging in

exhausted

out cold

Camping, Take 1: Tofino

We were so excited to reach camping season this year! Last year we didn't go at all because I was recovering from a C-section and we had a new born and a not-even-two year old. We decided to start our season off by going to Tofino. We figured that any hiccups could be solved by sandy beaches and Tacofino.

We camped at the Long Beach Campground right off the golf course. The campground looked nice but upon closer inspection, we cannot in good conscience recommend anyone go here. This was not a new campground, and yet there was only one bathroom and it was at the front office. There were no outhouses or anything amongst all the campsites. That meant that our campsite was far enough away that if our 2 year old had an emergency, we were too far to walk and not have an accident. So we actually ended up driving to the bathroom a lot. It was ridiculous. Also, there was a lot of garbage in the surrounding bushes and even in some of the sites. The owners obviously don't care very much about their grounds so I would recommend finding a different place. The only good thing was that because it wasn't BC Parks, there was a nice soft ground to peg the tent into- not like the gravel that is often in BC Park campgrounds.

Like I said, this was our first camp trip as a family of four, and our first camp trip in 2 years so we were a little rusty. We forgot all the things we said we needed to remember 2 years ago- like the big broom so I wouldn't have to crawl around sweeping out the tent. K couldn't remember ever camping, so it seemed brand new to her. She was soo excited she couldn't contain herself. She was just bursting with enthusiasm. Let me tell you -- that got old...fast! She didn't stay cute-excited very long; pretty quickly it turned into the annoying-crying-I'm-just-going-to-die-if-we-don't-do-everything-right-now kind of excited.

After we got set up, we took the girls to the beach for a bit before dinner. They loved the sandy beaches and crashing waves. Both girls immediately ran into them. Poor B wiped out her first day and was hesitant in the water for the rest of the weekend (video HERE). We had great weather and soaked up every bit of Tofino beach goodness. That night we relaxed around camp, introduced K to her first (in memory) campfire and s'more and attempted our first night in the tent together with two kids. K got her very own sleeping pad and sleeping bag and thought it was so cool. B slept in the play pen. Our bed was particularly comfortable this year with our new thick, warm, heavenly double sleeping bag. I don't know what it is, but I have never been so comfortable camping!

The night was less than ideal. K slept fairly soundly, although she did keep trying to get out of her sleeping bag (not knowingly, but I still had to wrestle with her because it was too cold for her to be rolling around the tent without it). B was the real treat: she was up several times. Cole and I were so tired and getting up out of a warm bed while camping is almost worse than getting up out of bed at home. The night before camping the girls slept horribly so we were already tired and the lack of sleep in the tent was not helping our moods. I think B may have been a tad cold. Her head is not as full of hair as K so I think it was getting cold. She was also getting over a yeast rash, and that was probably not helping. Unfortunately, on top of everything else, they got up with the sun. K was still so excited, she didn't want to remain in the tent, even though I brought toys to keep them occupied in the early morning so we wouldn't have to rush out of the tent. It was a big struggle to keep K in the tent and eventually we all got up for breakfast. We were feeling like maybe camping was not our favourite thing anymore and felt really disappointed. Cole even threw a muffin angrily in the fire and said we should go home. (He's a peach without proper sleep).

We persevered. We headed out for lunch later that day, and the girls fell asleep in the car during the 8 minute drive to the Tacofino truck. We decided to leave them sleeping and go get and eat lunch by ourselves (the taco truck is in a parking lot- so we could see the van the whole time). Wonderful, delicious Tacofino. We were there during a professional surfing competition (on purpose- we like to watch) but this meant that the lunch line was longer than usual. Probably took 40 minutes for us to get our food. You know it's good when everyone is willing to pleasantly wait. I've written about Tacofino before so I won't go into this time. Suffice it to say, it was heavenly- and totally deserved after that terrible night. I never take pictures of it because I'm too busy enjoying it.

The girls woke up, and we drove to Chesterman Beach. It's outside Pacific Rim National Park so it does not incur the visitor's fee. We had a lovely afternoon of sand and surf. As always, the crows were ready to attack your picnic site as soon as you leave, no matter how well you've covered things. Also, too bad I didn't get a picture of it, but Cole came prepared this season with a great little utility wagon to pull all the beach stuff, and B fit perfectly in the front. Everyone we passed stopped and admired the cute baby in the wagon full of beach chairs, a cooler and toys. It was seriously precious.

That night, things started to calm down. The day at the beach seemed to cure everyone's bad moods. Even K seemed calmer. We put the girls to bed a little earlier, K even turned down her s'more. Cole and I were so exhausted we didn't stay up much at all, we headed to bed pretty soon after the girls. But everyone slept blissfully well. B didn't make a sound, K stayed in her sleeping bag. I added a sweater with a hood to B's PJs and that seemed to do the trick. The day at the beach probably didn't hurt. We slept so well, we all slept in (of course on the day we need to pack up).

Packing up took longer than expected. But thankfully we were one of the only ones camping so checking out late went completely unnoticed. We survived our camping trip- and mostly it was a good experience. It was a great trial run and the magic of Tofino softened whatever grumpiness resulted from the learning curve. We made a list of what worked and what didn't and were determined that our next camping trip, in two weeks, would be much smoother. I also hoped that it was soon enough, K would remember what camping was and be less wound up because it wouldn't be new anymore. We spent the afternoon at the beach watching some of the finals of the Rip Curl Surf Competition, enjoyed one more meal of Tacofino and then drove home, the girls asleep most of the way back.