Our First "Camping" Experience!

Our awesome neighbors came up with an idea to host a "camp out" in their backyard the first weekend of June.  They have several friends who ALL have boys, and most of them are around Nolan's age!  It's great to get to know other people around our area that obviously have the same things in common that we do :)

I was so amazed by Jasmeen - she was nearly 8 months pregnant and made it through like a champ!
Here she is getting prepared for what it will be like when the next little boy joins the clan in a month or so!  Nolan loves her, if you can't tell :)

Overall there were about 5 families and 5 or 6 little boys that decided to camp out in the backyard.  The idea was for everyone to come early and hang out and eat, and then set up "camp" and roast s'mores.  I wasn't sure if Nolan was going to be able to stay outside, since he had been dealing with a pretty rough cough for a couple of weeks, but I at least wanted him to be able to hang out and set up his tent (even if he didn't sleep in it).

Jasmeen got some adorable pictures of the boys...

 

This perfectly sums up my boy...lol

 

 

Who needs a bathing suit when you have swim diapers?!

 

We got pretty lucky with the weather and dodged most of the showers that were going on around us.  We were able to eat, play lots of water games and get the tents set up before a couple of sprinkles headed our way.

 

But pretty much nothing stopped the boys from playing!  I love how Nolan's water gun was basically as big as he was :)  And I am pretty sure their water bill tripled this month!

 

 

The rain started to settle in just as we were going to roast s'mores, but we were able to cram everyone under a tent so that we could eat and not get soaking wet.  Finally, around 10:00, we decided it was best to call it a night and head home.  Which was great, because all we had to do was load up the wagon and head next door!  Nolan ended up waking up shortly after we laid him down due to his coughing, so coming inside turned out to be the best idea.

 

 

See the storm clouds in the back?  Yep, those hit right at 2 a.m.!

 

 

The majority of our "tent city." I am sure our neighbors were wondering what the heck we were doing!

 

Overall, we had so much fun and I know each year will just keep getting better and better as the boys get older.  I picture many more years of camping out in the back yard.  Maybe sometime I will even sleep out there too - ha :)

 





The Beach 2016!

Ollie and G invited us down to the beach this past weekend, and it was a fun (albeit crazy) weekend!  I also invited my friend Stacie and her family, and after my mom invited my cousin, his girlfriend, and Aunt Diane, we ended up with 9 adults, 2 kids, and 3 dogs in one house!

The craziness basically just mounted each day as more guests arrived :)

We arrived later on Thursday night, and let Nolan stay up for a little while until he was ready to go to sleep.  We were able to put him in a separate room, which was nice so Anthony and I didn't have to creep around in the dark to go to bed.  He slept pretty good that night, considering he was a little big for his pack and play, but did end up waking up at 4:45 a.m....ouch!

And this is what happens when you wake up that early...let me note that he has NEVER fallen asleep anywhere other than his bed or the carseat!

We spent most of Friday close to the house - we played on the beach, went to lunch, and then took a huge exciting trip to the Dollar Store :)  That tells you there is nothing nearby...a new Dollar Store opened up and everyone was talking about it - ha!  It worked out well, though, since I forgot my contact lens case and kept Nolan entertained for a while.

 

 

They have the sweetest relationship...oh, and Nolan climbed the whole row of chairs on his feet ;)

 

Stacie and family arrived late on Friday night, but we didn't see much of them until Saturday morning when we all woke up.  The plan was to hang close to the house for the day, and then take the kids to the beach on Oak Island after their naps.  The weather thankfully cooperated for us and we dodged most of the rain and were able to spend a couple of hours on the beach before it was time to come back for dinner.  Nolan was a bit shy about going into the water at first, but loved playing and running on the sand.  It was super windy, but we brought our handy pop up tent and that made changing clothes/diapers and passing out snacks really easy.

 

I don't have too many pictures after this (see above re: lots of people), but we spent the rest of the night fishing, grilling out, and trying to keep the chaos at bay :)  I got some good sleep that night, and we awoke the next morning and tried to find and pack everything that we had strode about the house for the past three days.  Traveling with a toddler is no joke, and there is a TON of gear that we still bring with us everywhere.  The pier outside was calling my name, but the quiet alone time will have to wait for another vacation :)

School Picture Day!

We got Nolan's newest school pictures back, and thank goodness he smiled this time!  We "coached" him a day or so leading up to his pictures, simply because when I am taking his picture most of the time we don't get smiles and he covers his face - ha. 

 

He finally got a great haircut, after three tries over the weekend!  Phew!

 

He looks a little pained in this one, but I love his Sperry's and of course Bunz had to make an appearance!

 

Anthony told him to say "cheeseburger," which I almost was certain would lead to weird face contortions, but he did great!  He looks so much older to me in these photos, and it just makes me want to cry.  I know a lot of it has to do with his hair, but the way he is sitting up and posed just makes it seem like he's already in grade school or something.  Ack - time stop moving now please.  Thank you.

Mother's Day Stroll

I didn't post these with my Mother's Day post, but we had a sweet stroll at the river after breakfast on Mother's Day.  Nolan insisted on bringing his scooter, so that's what we did!

He is really good at riding it, and is super fast, but not so great at steering or stopping - ha!  He will go really fast in a straight line, but as soon as he nears the edge of the grass of has to stop, he just hops off.  Gives me a heart attack but it's working so far!

 

You can't tell, but this was a REALLY steep hill, hence why Anthony is holding tight!

 

Kick push, kick push...this little leg cracks me up!

 

Such a pretty view from the bridge...

Poor Little Guy...

We were at our neighbors house getting ready to grill out when poor Nolan slipped on the sandbox and busted his lip so bad!  For a minute I was afraid we were going to have to visit the ER, but it managed to stop bleeding pretty quickly!  Thank goodness blood does not make me queasy, but this was for sure the worst injury our little man has gotten so far.

 

Aftermath the next morning...

 

I am sure there will be many more down the line, but oh man it makes you hurt for them!  The next day he had a little trouble talking and would walk around with his bottom lip sticking out, but it healed quickly. 

 

Sweet little guy still trying to smile for Mommy!