Small Group Camp Out

We decided to go tent camping with our small group - 10 adults (including 2 pregnant ladies) and 6 kids under 3! Of course no camping trip is complete without serving the camp meal, I may not have scheduled for the over an hour camp fire cooking time - hence all the pictures are taken in the pitch black night! Andrew did fantastic and slept the entire night snuggled between his mom and dad. We all woke up around 7:00 to a big breakfast (biscuits and gravy, bacon, sausage, pancakes) thanks to Ben and Beth. I am sure we will do it again sometime, but will probably be in a year or so - when we all forget how much work it is to go tent camping with babies!

Our Small Group

The Shaffer'sDavid, Sarah & Andrew

The Valpatic'sDrew, Andrew, Lindsay (baby boy) & Noah

The Stoke's

Ben, Beth & Ila

The Temm'sMike, Janese (baby girl) & Jackson

The Hayne's

(see the camp meal below)

The Camp Meal!!!

Thanks Matt, Megan & Avery for posing for my camp meal pictures!!!

Good thing we couldn't see what we were eating! Looks terrible, tastes terrific!

Around the Campfire

Andrew & I were the first to call it a night... no big suprise!

Bed Time

We used the flashlight to read books in the tent, it was a busy day and Andrew (and mommy) went right to sleep...

Another Beautiful Day!

We have been having fun exploring the backyard! Not too exciting, but Andrew loves to throw balls and dig in the dirt around his tree!

Visit to Grandma & Grandpa Shaffer's House

It is easy to understand why we live in Indiana when you have beautiful, cool, sunny weeks like we have had this August. We have taken advantage of it and spend lots of time outside! We went to Grandma & Grandpa Shaffers for the day, had lunch and spent some time playing with Gus, the puppy dog.

Grandma Shaffer watches Andrew 1 - 2 half days a week, so they get along very well! Andrew loves having Grandma over to play!

Gus, however is a little unsure of Andrew... He can only take so much, but Andrew can't get enough of him!

Always work to be done!

Just relaxing and enjoying the breeze!

Learning to use a straw

We took Andrew to Sammy's 2nd birthday party and got a fun straw cup. At 13 months old, I wasn't sure Andrew could figure it out, but just a day later he was drinking like a pro and even had blowing bubbles down to an art! He is getting to be such a big boy!

Andrew & Eliza

Cousin Eliza came over this morning to play this morning. The kids ate a wonderful breakfast and played well together. Lindsay, Andrew and Noah came over for lunch and some playtime too. Eliza and Andrew took a nap and when they wake up we will be off to the fair - I am sure we will have some pictures to share tomorrow!

What a Day!

Andrew and I had a busy day today. We met Emily, Moses and Lilly for lunch in Lafayette, shopped, played in the play area (mommy is starting to loosen up!), took a ride on the carosel. Next we headed over to Stewart to pick up my Steart PAL, Kelli a freshman in pre-veterinary medicine. We went to Starbucks, toured the vet school, walked all over campus and said hello to some of my favorite professors - it was fun introducing Andrew to everyone and catching up. Next we drove and picked up Wilda for dinner at Bob Evans and went swimming at the community center - Andrew loved the fountains. Anyway, we were on the move from 10am - 7pm and Andrew was amazing! He took one 45 minute nap and one 15 minute nap in the car and made it the whole day with out a single melt down! He was asleep in 3 minutes on the drive home and slept in this morning until 8:00!

Moses gave a big smile for the camera!

Andrew loved the tunnel! Lots of anti-bacterial wipes were used after this episode!

Date Night!

We had a fun morning with Andrew in the pool! He loves the water, no matter how cold it may be! He thinks he is a big boy and wants to walk thorough the baby pool without help, but he is not quite ready for that!

and mom, but no way will you see me in a swimsuit on this blog...

or any other for that matter!

We have had many a date since Andrew has been born, but this was the first time we have been out for dinner ALONE! He is such a good baby that we usually just take him with us and have no problems. Tonight we were going to the Cheesecake Factory to celebrate our 8 year anniversary - yes, it was in June... so it was a bit overdue! Daddy went to work for a few hours and came home with a dozen roses... what a man!

Trip to the State Fair

We took the evening to visit the State Fair. We had pork burgers and potatoes at the Pork tent and listened to daddy reminisce about the good old days at the fair! Andrew loved seeing the animals, but not to sure about how close he wanted to get to them! He really enjoyed the baby pigs, but when the sow turned around and gave him a sniff he grabbed on to mommy and cried! He preferred to see the larger animals from a distance... we saw pigs, sheep, cows, donkeys and some really good looking mules!

Andrew was much more comfortable with the chickens and bunnies.

He did not hesitate to pet them...

and even offered this bunny a big kiss! Awww, so sweet!

The chicks were adorable

and they weren't the only babies NOT for sale!

We ended off the night with a lemon shake up and an elephant ear

Ok, we had TWO elephant ears! The fair only comes once a year...

and Andrew wasn't going to miss out!

(Don't worry Grandma's, this was a posed picture and we really didn't feed Andrew a whole elephant ear!)

Swimming with Cousin Eliza

Cousin Eliza spent the morning with us and had fun playing in the Monkey pool! I had a small dilemma because the pool was in the garage and I needed to get it to the backyard, while keeping a 1 and 2 year old alive! My first floor is quite "baby proof", but I have learned you can't turn away for more than a few seconds or the kidos are getting into some kind of trouble! I decided that I would leave them in the house and that I would be back in within minute or so. I quickly pulled the pool outside and raced back into the house, Andrew and Eliza were no where to be found... I called for them raced into the kitchen to find them holding hands walking the circle around the first floor - it was adorable! They had a great time in the pool - Andrew was worn out, so went right to sleep for his nap when we got inside. I applaud those with more than one toddler at a time... one baby is keeping me plenty busy for now!