I was Brown and now I'm Wight

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

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!