The Great Outdoors

As we've mentioned earlier, Collin loves to be outside. Our entire family has actually really spent much of the summer outdoors enjoying the relatively mild Minnesota summer this year. Although most of our adventures have been at the nearby park (future blogs about that), this weekend we were really able to enjoy the great outdoors during a camping trip with our friends the Neumann family. It was as smooth of a camping trip as Doug and I have ever had...and that was with the two toddlers! Thank you, Neumann family, for a great weekend!

Collin, relaxing and rehydrating at the campfire after a long day!

This time "roughing it" did not mean sleeping in a tent or finding creative ways to cook over a crooked campfire like it normally did when Doug and I would camp together. Both families were able to sleep and cook inside the Neumann's camper, and the campground itself (Canary Beach Resort near Alexandria) was very nice and well taken care of.
This time "roughing it" was keeping the children entertained, helping them to understand "taking turns" and making naptime and bedtime happen with any sort of success!

Doug, Collin, Bryce and Jay taking a walk to the beach

I have to say that Bryce is a trooper and he totally kicked Collin's butt in the "best sleeper" category. He napped and slept like a pro! Our dear son, on the other hand, struggled with both naptime and overnight sleep in the new and exciting environment. For those of you that spent time with us during Collin's infancy this should be no shock at all---after all, he did not sleep through the night until he was 13 months old. Now, at nearly 2 years old, he is a relatively stable sleeper at home and at daycare. This new camping atmosphere, however, changed all the rules! After some creativity with a drive around town, and a temporary return to co-sleeping for the weekend, our young man got some rest...and so did the rest of us!

I can't say that I blame Collin for wanting to avoid sleep in favor of some of the other activities at the camp grounds.

We took walks over to the play area on the beach to slide and climb and dig in sand. He and Bryce spent a lot of time "golfing" with the toy golf set, climbing around on the boat while it was parked near the campsite before going into the water, eating snacks and just running around.

Collin also took his first boat ride on the lake and caught his first fish!

Here he is taking a worm from Daddy...and then admiring the fishy that ate that same worm for lunch! Apparently there is some "guy thing" about kissing the first fish you catch...so Collin also took part in that right of passage, much to my surprise! I had never heard of that before...but both Jay and Doug swear it's "real"...

He also enjoyed his first campfire and s'mores! Just like his Mommy, his favorite part was the chocolate. Although he took some tentative bites of the first s'more and liked it, when I tried to make him another one he asked me for "no cover" and grabbed for pure Hershey's chocolate instead! That's my boy!

Collin also had another "first" that shocked his Mommy. After leaving the boys to play (Doug and Jay included) I came back to see this....

What a weekend! The weather cooperated nicely, the kids did well, and the adults got to enjoy some good conversation around the campfire late into the night. We again got to be amazed by our little man and experience many firsts together! Again, thanks to the Neumann's for a great weekend!