Krause Springs

Joseph and I have not been camping since before Emily was born, so we decided it was about time to try it again! It was only one night, but I think that was plenty with the two little ones. Some friends in the ward camp a lot and recommended a great place about 40 minutes from where we live. We borrowed an extra tent and set off around noon on Wednesday. We were happy to have Joseph with us for two whole days in the middle of the week!
Here is a before shot of me, taken right when we arrived at the camp site. Just keep this one in mind for when you see the after.

Here is Joseph with our friends' tent that he just figured out how to set up. It was a huge tent and really nice compared to what we are used to.

This was Caleb's room while we were there. The rest of us slept in the big tent.

Emily loves dirt and went straight for the fire pit when we arrived. She started out fairly under control.

She ended up sitting in the ashes making a cake for us all to enjoy.

I am so glad this all came out of her clothes. Those shorts are supposed to be dark brown and those are flowers on her shirt.


While Emily is our dirt girl, we discovered this trip that Caleb is our water boy! The kid cannot get enough of water! I have decided that he will be a swimmer when he's older. Or maybe a water polo player. Whenever I set him down on the ground he went straight for the nearest spring. It was uncanny how instinctively he knew where to find it! (There is a little spring right near that mini pavilion-looking thing.)

Aah. Isn't this just how camping should be?

Our first outdoor meal. Hotdogs roasted over the fire.

After lunch/dinner we went swimming. The kids of course had tons of fun. Sorry about pregnant me in a swimming suit here.


Joseph braved the cooler temperatures and cold water to try the rope swing.

Cute daddy and son!

Back at the campsite to enjoy some s'mores. Hmm. I wonder how much weight these camp chairs are built to withstand.


THE NEXT DAY

The kids slept pretty well through the night. It got pretty windy but I think it kept me and Joseph up more than it did them. We were mostly worried about little Caleb all alone in his tent, but it turned out his tent was warmer than ours and he slept from about 7:30 pm until around 6:15 am.
After breakfast we went for a walk down by the lake. If someone knows an easy way to get your kids to smile naturally for a camera, I am very interested.


Then we went up to the butterfly garden. The kids loved all the waterfalls and the huge wind chimes and the random chickens wandering around. Here is Emily riding a golden Aslan.

And here is my next morning after shot. Isn't my hair wonderful? I did not bring a brush or mirror on this trip.

There were some amazing huge trees growing around the place. It was really pretty and green. Joseph kept musing to himself that we would never find a campground like this in Utah.

It was a great trip to get in before the new baby arrives. I am so glad we were able to take Emily and Caleb out for a fun experience like this. We will definitely be back before we leave Austin!

A Day of Rest

Whew! Today was a hard Sunday. Joseph leads the choir and I accompany, so we have to be at church for an extra hour every week. On top of that, Joseph is the ward organist so I sit by myself during sacrament meeting. I know anyone who has had a spouse in the bishopric has had it much worse than this, but it seems hard. On days like this I wonder how I will ever manage with THREE little kids.
We left sacrament meeting before the opening hymn and didn't make it back in for the rest of the meeting. Emily was literally bouncing off the walls (and then falling down and laughing hysterically at how funny it was). I had someone ask what I had fed her for breakfast to make her like this. Caleb would run for it whenever I set him down so I ended up dragging him along with me whenever I tried to discipline Emily.
After church we ate a quick makeshift meal and I put the kids to bed even though it was only 4:30. They both fell asleep immediately and gave me and Joseph the first break we've had all day. I just don't know how long they'll sleep for or what time they'll go to bed tonight. Woops. Totally worth it though.

Pictures from yesterday at bedtime:
Before:

After:
Emily is a spaz and took forever to fall asleep because she was playing with Caleb... who was a good boy and fell asleep at the proper time. What is up with her recent bout of hyperactivity?

Bull Creek

Our mouse has been doing unusually well today so I will take advantage of it and post a few pictures.

After enduring horrible, horrible weather yesterday (super hot and humid) we were happy to welcome a beautiful day today. It was actually really good kite flying weather so we headed outside to try out Emily's new Cinderella kite.











Sorry the pictures are taken from so far away. I was parked in the shade eating snacks while Joseph handled everything. About this kite though: almost two months ago I took Emily and Caleb for a walk in the stroller. It happened to be the day after a big kite festival was held right along the route that we walk. Emily spotted a Cinderella kite stuck in a tree and almost every day since then had been asking me and Joseph to make her one. I'm not kidding. The kid has a memory like a steel trap. After two months we relented and paid $3 for one from Target. She has loved it, so I think it was worth it.

After kite flying we went inside for lunch and naps and then headed out to Bull Creek. This is a place that Joseph's adviser recommended we visit. When we went last year it was in the middle of a bad drought so there was hardly any water. This year it was a totally different place. We have been receiving a lot of rain lately. The kids had a blast! It is definitely a place we will be revisiting this summer.
Here are Joseph and Caleb headed out of the parking lot onto the trail.


The trail was really pretty - very lush - and not steep at all. It was very easy for Emily and even Caleb to walk along.






















The trail followed a little creek that was very shallow in places so we all waded in.

Caleb loved getting his feet wet and kept trying to sit down. He also would try to put his hands in the water, but the second he got them wet he would lick them. He wasn't thirsty, I promise! He's just a wacky kid.

Emily was in heaven.


Here are Emily, Caleb, and Joseph crossing the river on stepping stones.

Emily would deliberately jump into the water between the stones to splash as much as possible.

After a fall. Sopping wet and so happy about it!

Climbing out of the river. Emily is a tough little hiker. She's such an athletic kid already.

Beautiful green scenery.


Caleb's close-up. Cheese!

Saturdays are so much fun!

Technical Difficulties

I would really like to offer up an interesting, exciting post with lots of news and pictures, but Caleb has ruined our mouse by repeatedly grabbing it and running across the room with it until it's jerked out of his hand when he reaches the end of the cord. He has also ruined the speaker connections from the computer so we are not able to listen to any of our music at the moment either. It kind of stinks.
Right now I am typing from our laptop, but we hope to order a new mouse tonight and be back up and running by sometime next week.

Propaganda only works if it's propagated

A Random Assortment

Emily and Caleb are getting to be such good buddies. They have come a long way from the time when Caleb could only lie there and Emily wasn't sure what his deal was.

I love that Emily's staying modest in this picture with that little washcloth.

Here they are both coloring in the car on the way back from Utah. Caleb does his best to keep up with the big kids.

Here is an overtired family in the hotel on that same trip.

Cute little tv buddies. Emily loves a good dress-up outfit.

Random leftover pictures from the Utah trip:

Caleb just "working on something" (Emily's favorite explanation for when she needs a laptop).
He had some time to kill while waiting for his crib to arrive.

Caleb trying out an antique trike at Great-Grandpa's house. Joseph and I slept in the antique room. There was a lot of really cool stuff in there like wedding dresses from the turn of the century. Joseph and I lost a lot of sleep going through a lot of the stuff before we went to bed.

Emily sitting in an antique rocking chair laughing at Caleb on the other side of the room.
Funeral pictures. I love this one of contemplative Emily. She wanted a flower from the coffin and Grandma Cooper allowed her to take one.

Poor groggy Caleb and me posing in front of the mortuary car. I want one - it had a front door and two back doors on both sides - what a great alternative to a minivan!

Sorry about the disorganization of this post. I really just wanted to clear out some of the pictures in my blog picture folder.

Beauty is Pain

Poor Emily has discovered this at a very early age.


On a totally unrelated note, do you know what she did to me a couple of days ago?
I was dishing up some soup for dinner and she looked at it and said, "That looks like throw-up, Mama. Take the throw-up out."
And you know, she had a point. It did look like throw-up. But did she have to be so honest?

Summer Days

Emily and her friend Eric are so cute when they play together! I'm glad we've been having such good weather.

Baby Corn

This packaging made me laugh.

Candy Overdose

Today at lunch Emily announced that she didn't want any more candy, she only wanted [hard-boiled] eggs. I guess we overdid the Easter candy?