First Camping Trip of the Season!

Boy, you just LOVE the outdoors. It's one thing I love most about you. "Outside" was one of your first words, and it truly is all you want to do - go play outside! Pickup (and sometimes throw) rocks, explore our beautifully landscaped lawn, watch the birds, listen to the trees and in our yard, watch the choo choos go by. Well, camping is your Disneyland right now.

We packed the car up (and boy was it full) and headed for the hills Thurs before Memorial Day Weekend. Our destination was Lake Billy Chinook in Eastern Oregon, but this year it was a different kind of trip. When your mommy and daddy were younger, we would cruise around this lake in a houseboat with all of our closest friends. These close friends all now have a few kiddos and these friends serve as an extended family to you - aunts, uncles, and cousins. It's a beautiful thing - we are blessed with some awesome friends who love you to pieces (and the feeling is mutual). So, this year, we filled our kegs with grape juice (well, mostly grape juice) and traded in our houseboat for luxurious camping spots and roughed it - and boy was it fun! 7 Adults (with some special visitors) and 10 kiddos filled our campground, and boy was it fun to sit and listen to the things you babes say. Just so we never forget, here is the (extended family) that joined us this sweet weekend:

Lori/Jason + Jackson/Maverick + Ethan/Carter (Lori's sisters kiddos)

Jesse/Breanna + Haley/Caleb (+ baby #3 due in 2 months!)

Raegan + Emma/Liam/Lucas (Your other buddy Weston had a baseball game so his daddy Mike had to stay back with him. Boo!)

And special guests for a day: Nick/Rebekah and Camryn/Emery

We mostly hung around camp, ate smores for breakfast, read books, napped, played fun games, and put wood in the fire (lots and LOTS of wood - your favorite). On Sunday we had a pontoon boat adventure and darn, that was just FUN. You aren't yet the biggest fan of life jackets, but once we got cruising you forgot it was even on - we were SAILING!  You and Caleb were the best lil captains ever. We even brought your pack n play, and I'll be darned if you didn't just nap on that rowdy pontoon boat for 2 hours! Such a champ.

You are the most flexible and easy going babe ever. It's true, you don't like it when your schedule gets thrown off, but you were able to lay down and nap just about anywhere. You play so nicely with other kids, you love sharing but you're social enough to want to follow any of your cousins around camp. All of it was fun and I can confidently say that we will be camping a lot this summer. You just had too much fun not to. and So did we. :-)

Walking down to the lake at 6am - when NO ONE ELSE WAS AWAKE. :-)

Emma caught a trout!

Your buds (you're in there somewhere): Maverick, Emma (inside), Liam, Lucas, Maverick, Carter

Captain Sizemore

Showing Caleb how to steer

the famous cove - back here 10 years later with the same crew - but with babies. Even cooler

You were conked out on the pontoon boat. Bartender!

Beautiful Lake Billy Chinook

Sizemore tent mansion has two bedrooms - here was yours. Lucky ducks.