First Camping Trip

Last weekend Kevin, Abi and Myself along with my parents and siblings (and their families) went camping. My grandparents own property in Central Utah and there is a campground on that property, so that's where we went.

This is what is looks like.


It looks a little hot and dry, I know, but the weather was actually pretty nice the whole time we were there. Plus, the campground area is green and grassy. My grandparents have done a lot of work to take care of it so the rest of us can enjoy it. We wanted it to be a real camping trip (sometimes, it doesn't always work out that way, since my grandparent's house is right across the field from the campground) so we all brought all of our camping gear, tents, sleeping bags, camp stoves, etc. and set up camp.

Here's where Kevin and I decided to make our campsite.


My mom told us that we could do anything that we wanted, but she didn't want to fill every minute with some kind of organized activity. She just wanted to relax, and I could deal with that. There was lots of fire building, cooking and eating, some of us went on a hike (not me, but some), we shot guns one day, but most of the time we just visited and enjoyed to nice weather and enjoying each others company.

Abi has never been camping before this, so I was excited about taking her, but unsure how she would react to everything while we were there. She loved it. She was happy just to wander around the campground or play with her cousins.

I was also a little worried about her sleeping in the tent at night, not that she's not a good sleeper, but we watched the weather before we left and the first night we were to spent outside the temperature was supposed to get down to 37 degrees. The next night wasn't so bad, but that first night was COLD! We just had to bundle Abi up really good.


Because we camped at the campground and not at Grandma and Grandpa's, we were able to take Oakley, our Yellow Lab, with us.

Between Oakley and Abi, I'm not sure who had more fun. Oakley loved every minute of her time there. She spent all day sniffing something or playing with Mel and Tim's dog, Penny, or chasing Kevin around on the three-wheeler. She slept for two whole days once we got home.

Abi even rode the three-wheeler with her daddy.







And that's not the only thing Abi drove while we were down there.

Look! No hands!

It was so much fun spending time with our family in the great outdoors and we are excited to do it again!



Here are some tips for a great camping trip:

1. It's very important to keep hydrated.


2. Make sure that there is plenty of good food to eat.

(Especially corn-on-the-cob)




3. Always get plenty of sleep.

4. When going on a hike, be sure to use the "buddy system."

5. Be sensitive. Camping is hard for some people.


6. Always camp with those you love.


7. And finally, SMILE, you're camping!

Day at the Zoo

I have been a real slacker lately and haven't posted in a while, though I have had plenty to post about. On Labor Day (that was, oh, two Mondays ago) Kevin's mom thought that it would be fun if we all went to Hogle Zoo as a family. While we did have a lot of fun, I do want to make one suggestion: if you don't like crowds, don't go to the zoo on Labor Day. If you do, then by all means... who wants to be able to get up close enough to see the animals anyway?

No, really we had a great time and Abi has never been before, so it was fun to show her all the animals and everything. The weather was also really nice, which I was glad for. I was worried we'd have to be out in the heat all day with the babies, but it was nice an cool while it was still sunny.

Most everyone's been to a zoo at one time or another, so everyone knows how they operate. Having said that, I won't give a play-by-play and let the pictures speak for themselves.

Abi and Savannah in their cool shades (not that they kept them on or anything)

Here's a sampling of the animals we saw:

Rhinos


Giraffes


Tigers


Lots of birds (this one's called a spoonbill)


Some house cat sniffing a piece of meat (just kidding, this was some desert cat that I can't remember the name of, but isn't it cute and fluffy?)


And of course the main attraction this year, Zuri the baby elephant...


and Zuri's mommy...


and some other elephant. (Kevin thought this picture was awesome because he got her with her ears open. All the elephants at Hogle Zoo are female by the way. Did you know that?)

Abi had lots of fun looking at the animals, even though she sort of looks clueless in most of the pictures. It's a lot to take in for a one-year-old.

Of course, if you've been to the zoo and haven't stood up next to one of these with your arms spread-eagle, well, you just haven't had the full experience.



Then there's the carousel ride.

Waiting in line with Uncle Jon and cousin Savannah

Abi on her animal. We picked the polar bear.

Around...

and around.

Savannah fell asleep in line and slept the whole ride.

And then the train ride. This time, Abi fell asleep and we woke her up right as we got on board. I'm not so sure if she was happy about that.

Then, of course, we had to visit the gift shop to get Abi a souvenir.

Cool chicks!

Abi's very favorite things were all the stuffed animals...

Every one the she got her hands on she gave a kiss.

We ended up taking home that purple hat on her head, a giraffe magnet and a red panda stuffed animal toy, not this cute penguin.

I haven't personally been to the zoo in a handful of years so it was fun for me to go back and see all of the changes they have made so far. They are planning some new exhibits, so it will be exciting to see those as well.

There's a First Time for Everything

This afternoon when we arrived home from church, we got changed out of our Sunday clothes and went upstairs to eat lunch. Now, recently, Abi has been transitioning from one nap during the day to two, so she stays up a bit longer in the morning. When she was younger, she used to sleep during sacrament meeting (which we end our church meeting block with) and then would take a nap a little later in the afternoon. Now, she's been staying up through sacrament meeting and takes a nap soon after we get home, if not in the car on the way home.

Today she had no nap and was awake and alert at lunch time, so she sat in the high chair and ate happily as Kevin and I visited with his mom. As we were finishing, Abi started to get the sleepy look and her eyelids were starting to droop.

While some kids fall asleep at the table all the time, like Abi's cousin Savannah, Abi has never done it before, so I was a little surprised and couldn't help giggling as her head bobbed sleepily forward and back. She was also aware that she was falling asleep and would start to smile when she caught herself losing consciousness. What made the situation hilarious was that she was still trying to eat her lunch with her eyes rolling around in her head.



When she finally fell completely asleep, I snapped some pictures, but wished that the battery on my video camera wasn't dead.

Sick Again? This Really Bites!

That's right. We've been sick again. Why can't we just stay healthy and enjoy this summer? Abi started running a fever last Tuesday afternoon. That night she threw up and the next morning she was hotter than before. I decided to call in to work and take her to the doctor, because I didn't want it to be another ear infection because the last one was so scary.

I called the doctor's office and asked if her pediatrician was taking appointments that day. The receptionist told me no and that it was his day off. She had to get sick on the only day of the week that he's not there. Just a side note about her doctor: he's awesome. I think that we are really lucky to have him as her pediatrician in the hospital when she was born. I was a naive mother (it was my first baby, cut me a little slack) and I didn't know you were supposed to find a pediatrician before your baby was born. I thought he seemed okay, so we stuck with him, and I'm sure glad.

Anyway, he wasn't so the receptionist asked if I wanted to make another appointment for that same day with another doctor. I said, "yes" mostly because I figured some doctor was better than no doctor, but I'm not so sure about that now. So, I give her some medicine so she's not so miserable and head out to the doctors office. She fell asleep on the way, which I fully expected. When we got into the exam room, she was still asleep, until the nurse had to weight her, then she woke up not knowing where she was, so she was not a happy baby.

I told the nurse that she was running a fever and had an ear infection not too long ago, so I wanted to make sure it wasn't another one. She took Abi's temperature, and she said, "well, it's only 99 degrees right now." What I wanted to say was, "Well, why do you thing that is? Couldn't be because I gave her medicine right before we came, could it?" Instead I told her politely, without the sarcasm. After she left to get the doctor, we found a book to read to get her calmed back down.

The doctor came in and listened to her heart and lungs, checked her glands and said, "let's take a look in her ears and throat," since I had also let him know that she had an ear infection not too long ago. Another note about Abi's normal doctor: when he looks in her ears and throat, I hold her, so she cries, but it's not so bad because Mommy or Daddy is still holding her. I thought that this was normal for doctors when dealing with small children. I was wrong. Again.

He had me lay her down on the exam table and when she started crying, he said, "I've got to go get someone else to hold." Uh, excuse me? Hold? What exactly are you planning? Sounds like you're planning on doing something the hard way. Anyway, he comes back in with the same nurse that we saw earlier and she says, "oh, is someone not cooperating?" Yeah, the doctor. Whatever lady, I don't like you much anyway.

The doctor takes one look at Abi laying on the table and says, "actually, I'll need her head facing the other direction." So I pick her up to turn her and the nurse snatches her from me and turns her herself. Abi starts screaming because she thinks someone's going to take her away from me. I felt awful and was thinking, "please, let's just get this over with." The nurse had Abi's arms pinned above her head and I held her legs. This doctor is old, so naturally it took him forever to check her ears and throat. When he finally left to run the strep test, I try to calm Abi down with another book. She stops crying for a second then he comes back in. She buries her face in my chest and starts screaming again. Can someone say "traumatized?"

The results were that she didn't have strep, nor did she have an ear infection, just a throat infection caused by a virus. The only thing I could do is give her fever reducers and let it run it's course, which is sort of awful considering the next day her fever got so high she was delirious. It also didn't help that same day I started to run a fever as well.

Abi's feeling much better now and doesn't have a fever anymore. I still have a little bit of a fever and just got a sore throat this morning. It's nothing a little Advil won't help, though. Kevin seems fine, but he's been working a lot and not been around the sickos too much, thankfully. We'll get through, but next time Abi's doctor isn't in, I think we'll wait until he is.

Summertime Fun

It's been a few weeks since I've updated, so I'll do some catching up.

One night, we went to a Bee's game with Melanie, Tim, and Riley.
Abi having some refreshment

Abi with Mommy


Abi with Daddy


Melanie, Tim and Riley

Abi and Riley enjoying popcorn

(The only way we could keep them occupied was with food.)

This was my favorite picture that night.



Abi has recently learned to:

play video games (or pretend to at least),


fix her hair and brush her teeth,

and eat with utensils by herself...
sort of.


Kevin has had family over from Boston, so one night we had them over for a barbecue.


Abi and Savannah with cousins Zach and KC

The summer is starting to wind down and we are enjoying the break from the heat that has come with the recent rainstorms (well, I am anyway). Kevin just got his old job back at the airport, since he won't be teaching this next school year. I'm still teaching water aerobics, and filling in for people at my old job. Oakley's been lonely, but is hanging in there. And Abi just gets bigger and bigger every day. Look how big she looks!

Life's good and we're having a blast!