Our 1st REAL Camping trip

Smith Family Campout

Aug. 29-Sept.1, 2008

Grandpa Dave and Grandma Pam left Friday to Belfair to set up camp. For them perhaps the most peaceful day of the weekend. All morning Cooper was so excited to go camping. In the car he was saying " I want to go camping!" at least a dozen or so times. As we were getting close to the campground I told him to look for Grandma and Grandpa, immediately he put his hands up to his eyes like binoculars and started looking and calling out for them. By Saturday afternoon, everyone had arrived, pitched tents and got to playing and having fun. We roasted Hot Dogs over the fire and had a yummy lunch.After cleanup we headed over to the park to play with the rest of the family. Here's Logan riding his big wheel for the first time on concrete. He was a little speeder, and he loved it. He even got a bump on his head the first 5 minutes we were at the campground.
Tia, Cooper and Grama playing baseball.
The guys playing washers.
Playing Football. Logan even played! He caught and threw the ball.
Playing with the other kids Legos and Thomas trains.
We took time to explore the creek while the tide was out. Cooper had already walked right in the water and got soaked. Not even camping for 2 hours and he's on his 2nd set of clothes. The kids really enjoyed throwing rocks in the water. Even my Nephew Bruiser liked to go in for a splash or quick drink. The older kids walked across the logs and down the stream and found a rope swing. While, Mackenzie was telling everyone stories, Logan was trying out the scooter.The kids were riding bikes everywhere! It was difficult to get pictures of all them together.

Stopping to strike a pose and a cute smile or two.
Logan got a thrill ride from James. He loves being thrown up in the air. James threw Mac up once and she decided it wasn't all that fun.
We came back to camp and Grandpa Dave cooked steaks over the fire, while Grandma made yummy salads and potatoes.

Would you believe that MacKenzie is a ham? I really liked this picture of Brenna & Bruiser.

Isn't he so cute?It started to rain so after cleanup all the kids invaded the trailer, and had a popcicle or rice crispy treat. It was at this time I had my "what was I thinking" moment. All the kids were really tired and crabby so it was time to head to the tents and go to sleep.

Or in my case try to sleep...I had forgotton how difficult it is to sleep while camping. All the boys slept really good, I made sure they kept warm. After all what else is there to do when you can't sleep?
Around 3 am I managed to dose off, only to be awakened at 6 am by Logan. I'm sure waking up in unfamiliar surroundings wasn't too much fun for him. Cooper on the other hand didn't want to get out of his Cars sleeping bag that he got for his birthday.

Grandpa Dave heard all of us wake up and came out of his trailer....I offered immediately to help start a fire to get warm. After breakfast we took a family walk to the beach. On the way, we stopped by the stream for a family picture.
Only to realize afterwards that MacKenzie had stayed at the campsite with her little friend.

The boys were distracted by Bruiser. Oh well.

Once we got to the beach Cooper said " Eew, stinky!" and plugged his nose. I don't think he liked the salty air. It was nice to be able to let the boys run crazy without the fear of them getting ran over.

Even Bruiser was able to be "off the leash" and have some fun.

We saw a bunch of little crabs running all over the rocks. (The crustacean type as well.) Okay the kids weren't crabby, they were actually having a really good time, collecting shells and watching hermit crabs.
I think they like the mud more than the rocks.

Grandpa Dave found some oyster shells and tried prying them open with a stick. James miraculously pulled out his hunting knife so it was easier to get the booger-like substances out of their shells. They looked worse than they smelled.
We collected our harvest of Oysters, sea shells and mud and headed back to camp.

Once we got back to camp, we stoked the fire and sat down for some lunch. Dad grilled up his oysters and passed them around for everyone to try. I was brave and tried one. I don't think I'll eat them again, but at least I tried it once. Cooper was having so much fun with Grandma Pam. He was her little shadow the whole time we were together.
Logan and Grandpa took a timeout to warm their hands.
We helped Grandma and Grandpa take down the tent and just as we were leaving it began to rain again. We only stayed one night, but it was fun and we made alot of memories. Thank you Grandpa & Grandma for everything. Now you can have another peaceful night before you come home.

Who's in charge?

I wasn't feeling good this morning, so I was lying on the couch, watching TV with the boys. I think I may have dosed because when I realized Logan was missing I saw him sitting at our table. I asked him if he was hungry and he said: "Yes." Well, being as cute as he was I just fed him breakfast sitting at the table. He did really good. Except for the milk down his shirt. Later, around Lunch time again, he was sitting at the table, this time at the opposite chair. I asked him, is it time for lunch? and again, "Yes." This time I put on a bib. He sat there the whole time and ate his lunch. I hope this doesn't mean he's done with the highchair. I think he just likes to climb up to the table.
What a cutie.

Creative Recycling...

Okay, so I got ambitious and took a Mac and Cheese box we got from Walmart and made Cooper a garage for his cars.

Paint-$0 , Stickers- $1,
Not dumping out all the toys to use the box as a garage-
priceless.

Family Fun Day..

Aunty Freda invited us to another Forrester's group activity. This time we went to Bullwinkles Family Fun Center in Tukwila. The rides didn't open until 11 a.m., so we had about an hour to play video games, skee ball, and all the other ticket giving games. Forrester's provided 10 tokens to each of us, obviously not Logan, to do whatever we pleased. James scored and got some extra tokens for free. Cooper and Logan were running around jumping on all the drivable games. James took this oppertunity to take Logan for a ride on a Harley. It's scary the concentration on both of their faces.

Logan took a whirl on the "snowmobiles" While James and Cooper took a Jungle Safari, blowing up giant spiders and mosquitos.
As part of the Forrester's package we had the oppertunity to have unlimited access to the bumper boats, Go Karts and mini golf. Cooper liked squirting people and pushing the go button. Later, I took Logan out and he figured out the squirt button and loved it! Cooper really liked the Go Karts. So did James.
You can barely see it but Cooper is all smiles.
They wouldn't allow Logan to go on the Karts, so James and I took turns with Cooper. This time I had found a Go Kart with a steering wheel for Cooper. (no he didn't actually drive.) The whole time he was 'driving', he was saying " I'm racing!!!"
After a free all you can eat pizza lunch, we went back inside for more fun. James took the boys hunting. I think Cooper got bored with it as he kept running off.
We went to put Cooper on the Frog Hopper ride and the attendant said it was okay for Logan to go. The ride goes up maybe 15ft. then "hops" back down. The first couple hops the boys loved it.
After that their smiles were gone and they wanted off! We took them into Kidopolis. Pretty much a giagantic version of McDonalds toys.
It had a couple of rides inside.
Of course the climbling part was the most fun. Even Logan went way up high. Cooper's in the top of the picture, Logan is in the bottom left corner.
Thankfully as far as they would go is to the slide. Logan wasn't so sure about the slide. Before James climbed up to rescue him, Cooper tried to help him go down. Picture for a moment, Logan on his stomach holding Cooper's hands for dear life. Cooper realized brother wasn't going to go down, so he let go. Logan was holding onto the top of the slide, not wanting to go down. Thankfully Daddy was quick and came to the rescue.
We had so much fun!! We were worn out from the whole day. Thank you Aunty Freda.

Playing outside with dad/Uncle James

James came home early today and was able to play with the kids in the back yard. Cole said that he could run faster than James. That sparked James' competitive side and said " Let's go see!" I was real impressed at how fast James can move. He and Cole raced the length of the yard and back. James won, but not by much. Cole is fast! So then they started a new game. It involved the kids, mostly Mac and Cole, hanging on his feet. Trying to make him unable to move. Again, James did great. Although it looked hard. Especially with Logan behing him worried that Daddy was being hurt.

MacKenzie gave up, but Cole held on the whole time.
It was nice to see James playing with the kids. It had been a long time since he was home early enough to play outside.

Happy 32nd Birthday James!

James celebrated his birthday with a few of his favorite things. 1. His family 2. His friends 3. The Ford Carshow in Kent. Every year, usually around or on his birthday, James goes to the same carshow. He likes cars and so do the boys. We met up with Jim and Jeannene and walked around looking at the newer mustangs and,my favorite, the classics.

In true man fashion, there they were marveling at rows and rows of cars.
Stopping every now and then to drool over an engine or an interior.
In the evening, we went to Claim Jumpers' for dinner with friends.
Thank you everyone for coming, we had a great time.

Another trip to the Spray park

I won't bore you with too much commetary, as this is the 2nd trip to the park this summer. Enjoy.

Got water?
Cooper and Best Bud, Ian (above) Logan and Jocelyn (below)
We're heading back to the lake tomorrow. I'm sure the pictures would look the same, so I'm not bothering with bringing the camera so I can focus on playing with the boys.

Grama Nina's Company Picnic

Once again Sysco had it's company picnic at the Puyallup Fairgrounds, and once again Cooper surprised us all. Pretty much the same story as last year. Free Games, rides, & food. This year more of the Twiddy's were able to attend. Maybe next year we can all get there.

We weren't in the gates all the way when Cooper saw the train.

He took Grampa Jim's hand and off they went for the first ride of the day.

Logan and James took their first ride on the Carousel. He didn't like the waiting part, but once the horses started he was happier.

Aunt Jehana, Jocelyn, Aunt Jillian & Zada hopped on too!

Cooper and Grampa disappeared after the train ride. I guess Cooper saw the other rides on his train ride and Grampa took him on the Bus, and the Scrambler. While the rest of us tried our luck at the games. There were 4 different carnival games that we could play and win prizes, and because it was free you could keep playing until you won a prize. Apparently they didn't keep track if you won, because somehow we came home with at least 6 stuffed animals. I even gave away 3 to some little kids, just so they weren't in my house.

Here's a flattering shot of Jeremy & Jehana playing the squirt gun game.

After a little while Logan began to get fussy. It was passed his nap time and was starting to get a fever. He just wanted to be held. It didn't matter who so we took turns.

I decided to take him on the train hoping that he would fall asleep. Sure enough after going around the park 4 times he was completely out. Poor little guy. Meanwhile, unbeknownst to me, my little Cooper was having the time of his life. Being 44 inches tall at 4 years old has it's purks. You get to ride all the grown up rides. Later I was surprised to find out that James had taken him on an upside down ride. I have to thank Heidi for taking pictures for me, as I probably wouldn't have believed it otherwise.

James told me that Cooper really wanted to go on the ride. He was fine for a little while, then all you could see was James in the car, as Cooper was white knuckling the bar and hugging James' leg at the same time. I think they were the first ones off. Cooper took Aunty Jillian on the same ride later that afternoon, and all I could see was Jillian and she was laughing her head off.

While still on the train with Logan, Cooper and Grama Nina went for an airplane ride.
After lunch Grama took all the kids for a train ride. Minus Logan, he was out.
Grampa Jim took a turn on the carousel with Zada.
and Jeremy went with JoJo. With Logan sleeping it gave me some time to sit and chat with the girls....
While Cooper and James enjoyed their "Seahawks" Sno-Cones, in a bowl.

Afterwards, Cooper wanted to go on more rides. So here we are on the Tiger Roller Coaster.
And I kid you not Cooper wanted to go again right after it was done. This time he went with dad.I am so impressed with Sysco Foods. They do the coolest things for their employees and their families. Thank you Jeannene for inviting us to another year of fun.