Post-camping trip

We're back! and the weekends not over. I must say it was WONDERFUL to sleep clean and in a real bed.

We left the city around 7:30 friday evening, we were well prepared and packed it up, grabbed supper on the way out, Caden went to sleep when we hit the road. Big, grey clouds are above us most of the way and rain accompanies too. As we got closer to the park, the clouds were starting to disperse, the rain had stopped, yay!

We check-in, go to our campsite. There was no way I was stepping foot in that campsite, it had a minimum of one and a half inches of standing water. Quinn checked it out. We decided to find a dry-er campsite (very few tenters in the non-electrical sites, surprise, surprise!). We found one that was dryer and made the switch. I was in the only sandals I have, which have a cushy cloth base, stepping into the site, the ground was so saturated, the water swarmed your feet. Immediately apply Fragrance au Repellent. Hurry to set up tent while it is still light out.
Try not to get frustrated with tent set up and take it out on my husband. :)

Caden slept almost the entire time through set up which was very helpful. We finished tent set-up. On the way out to the park we realized we forgot flashlights. It was after 10 and we decided to go to the store and get one. The stores were closed. We decided to drive back up the highway to find a gas station, drove 20 minutes, it was closed too, go back to the site. Decided we would use the truck lights for light with the screen door open. (That means starting the truck every 20 minutes b/c it automatically turns off lights). We hauled in everything we needed to sleep with snacks and drinks. Caden was now awake, so we fed him and played a bit, he grew tired quick and wanted to go to bed. Us too. I so wanted to take a picture of Caden of his sleeping outfit, I didn't have my camera in the tent. He had socks on, his sleeper over the socks, a sweater over his sleeper, a touque and 4 blankets in his play pen, 2 under, 2 on top. (I think this is why he slept as well as he did). He went to bed around 1, got up at 5 to eat (which is normal), then I kept in our bed and he slept til after 7.

Back to bedtime, after we put Caden to bed, Quinn and I decide to have a drink (cooler/beer) and some snacks. Before we go to bed, Quinn decides he has to go to the bathroom, I didn't want to drink my entire cooler, because at 5am, I would really need to go to the b-room, no thanks. So, Quinn said he would finish my cooler on the way to the bathroom. I'm in the tent, the truck is running and I hear muffled male and female voices. I thought maybe our neighbours two sites over were talking loudly. It went on for 5 minutes or so and then I heard Quinn yell "Lyla, have a bit of a problem here." I was confused. I went to the tent door and he said the park police had seen him with his drink on the road = possession of alcohol on public property. oh boy. Me thinking "am i going to have to bail my husband out of jail?", apparently these same thoughts were running through Quinn's head.

I went out of the tent to hopefully get more info and be a positive influence on the officer's (2 women) decisions as to what to do about this. Turns out, they had been standing on the road by our site because we had come late into the park, so they thought initially that maybe we weren't even checked in. (You would think they would check the records before coming to visit our site.) The 2 officers had been standing on the road, when Quinn walked off our site. Quinn saw 2 shadows and asked Hello? Who are you? Well, they immediately shone their flashlight and stated "You are in possession of alcohol on public property." Well, Quinn, being very tired, and not thinking clearly (he only had one beer!!), decided to quickly drink it, so that he wouldn't be in "possession" of it anymore. (brilliant, I know!) Well, now the officers said "and now you've just consumed (disrespected) in front of an officer". It was SO innocent, Quinn had no intentions of purposefully drinking on public property or in front of them. The 2 violations would have come close to a $1,000 fine or a night in jail. When he left the tent I didn't even think anything either, it didn't cross my mind it was illegal! One comment they made "If you were in the city, would you take a drink onto the street or the sidewalk?". Ok, its a campground, we both didn't think of it that way. So, after 15 minutes of Quinn explaining and convincing them it was a honest mistake, they sensed he was a little stressed because it was late, no flashlight, honest mistake and they let it go. PHEW!!

Poor Quinn, he was so stressed that night, not really believing it was over, worrying they would come back or send him a fine later...nope, we were free, forgiven!

Needless to say, we thanked God for that in our bedtime prayer!

(Those park police are serious, aren't they Candice?? no foolin' around with them ;)

Ahhhh, so we settled in for a good night's sleep.

Saturday morning, the sun is shining, it's a new day! Caden's being cuter than ever in our bed, seemed slightly confused as to why the ceiling was so close to him, he liked the tent though, crawling around in it. Feeling kinda dirty from the night before, we hit the showers. Bought some firewood and made breakfast. The site was slightly dryer than the night before, still pretty squishy, but we were used to it at that point. We had our jogging stroller which performed superbly in those conditions. Caden stayed clean. We had a dryer spot where our picnic table was, which was so nice. Quinn's parents came around noon to hang out. We checked out the beach, water still a few degrees too cold. Played at the park (saw some Dads there having a beer while their kids played, hopefully they didn't get caught ;)....SEE, it's so innocent!
Played Canasta with Quinn's parents while Caden had a nap. Sat in the sun. Made supper, ate supper. Around this time was when Quinn proposed we go home that night (brilliant)! We would have lots of laundry to do, I knew the house needed to be vacuumed, bathroom cleaned, ironing done. To be better prepared for Monday and my babysitting duties, would be very wise. Also considering we have to pack this Friday evening for our trip to Toronto. And we have 2 evening dates with friends this week and we need to do some shopping in the evenings too. It was a very wise decision and Quinn's parents were there to watch Caden and help us pack up. If it weren't for all the events of this coming week, we definitely could have handled another night.

This was definitely an experiment to see how camping would go with Caden, he loves being outside, watching birds, squirrels, anything really, its a lot to take in. Imagine how much fun he'll have being able to crawl around out there.

So while we caught up on some rest last night, we'll enjoy Father's Day and get a few things done :)

P & P for R & R

plan and prepare for rest and rejuvenation!

Camping - yes we are going, this rain is going to clear out by tonight and off we go. We're quite excited for it, first time for Caden, first time for us parents with Caden :). Sleep? on a good night he sleeps until 5am, maybe nature and wilderness will set his clock right ;)

Celebrating first Father's Day, what better way than camping with your Dad, Caden's a very blessed boy. Quinn, along with the deep love you have for us, you are an uncomprimising Father! Love you!

Love, me

You know, in the movies, those completely unrealistic sappy movies, a loved one dies and then the living go about going through their personal items and cherishing all the notes, letters. Maybe it's more realistic than I know...I've never gone through someone really close to me passing (oh boy, this is starting to sound really morbid)...

Moving on to happy thoughts...Quinn and I have had all our cards to each other (from dating and marriage) sitting on our night stands since we were married (1 and 3/4 yrs ago), I like reading them from time to time...(insert big romantic sigh here)...
I've been thinking lately, we can't keep piling them onto our night stands, so I've wanted to get those little memory/photo boxes (just like you always see in the movies) to put our cards/pictures/notes into.

Finally, last night we were out shopping, I came across them and told Quinn about my idea and that I wanted 2 boxes, one from me to him and vice versa. This way, if one of us dies, we'd have all these memories (insert Quinn's eyeroll here) (I'm laughing as I write this, it was so funny in the store). Quinn says, "Yes, cause that's what I want, my wife dies, but at least I have a box of cards!! - extreme sarcasm! Followed by later at home "I think the life insurance we got is a little more important, I'd like to be able to quit my job and take some time off." He's so funny all the time (I wish I could bottle the humour too, haha).

I thought it was really funny and I did buy those boxes, maybe guys (or just my guy :) don't think about these things, but he'll appreciate that box if/when the time comes! (I already said I'm going first!)

Do you keep romantic memories? or did I just fall off the crazy truck? :)

Brain foods

I'm in no way an expert...these are just my thoughts and observations right now...

I sometimes reference Dr. Sears (pedetrician) website...I thought this was a great bit of info from him on "brain foods", helpful to me when deciding what the family eats.

I've been thinking about discipline and children lately, last week I had a conversation with my sister about it, I said then, "I think there is a huge connection with how kids behave and what goes in them, particularly processed sugars, discipline might be a little easier if Junior is not hopped up on sugar"...Dr. Sears confirmed:

"PURE MOMS
Over my thirty years in pediatric practice, I have noticed a striking connection between how children are fed and how healthy they are. Mothers who consistently don't allow any unhealthy food to pollute the minds and bodies of their children seem to have healthier children. I have noticed that these children are sick less often, and when they do come for periodic checkups they seem more settled and better behaved. These "pure children" seem to get tagged with fewer labels, such as "ADD" or "learning disabilities." Even when these children do warrant such tags, they seem to cope better with behavioral and learning differences, and they seem less severe. These moms have made a believer out of me. I truly believe that there is a connection between how kids are fed and how they act and learn. "

http://www.askdrsears.com/html/4/T040400.asp#T040402

Day 6

(Caution: post not for weak stomachs)

The flu has invaded our space and taken us captive, but we haven't stopped fighting it, it's going to get kicked to the curb very, very soon.

Caden was first to get it, it's been an eventful week with him. He's been in very good spirits throughout it, I must say. I've made 2 calls in the last week to HealthLinks, he has a nice little file with them :). Caden had a little fever for Thursday morning. The nurses are great there, they lovingly told me, that when babies have viral "flu", diarrhea can last 5 to 14 days, yes, I did not give you a typo with those numbers. So, here we are on Day 6. Like I said, he does well through it, considering he's had probably 100 diaper changes in 7 days (the frequent BM's started 7 days ago). Grandma B has been here a bit on diaper duty as well, which was an even greater relief when I got the flu. Changing very smelly diapers when you are nauseous is not much fun either. (gulp)

I think I am nearly over it, still a little stomach upset, Quinn is over it now - he was second to get it. Caden is almost there except for the BM's...oh Lord, please!!!

I wish I knew how much Caden weighed before flu and after, I think he has lost a bit of weight. We've been trying to stick to the BRAT concept, Bananas, Rice cereal, Applesauce, Toast - supposedly good for diarrhea infants. I tried to give him Whole milk plain yogourt yesterday, it didn't go over well, it came up. At least he's still BFeeding really well.

appreciate your prayers throughout the week friends.

Today we are off to celebrate Mom Zach's 50th Birthday!! YAY!

(praying for you Sonya, I know you're in a little more tiring situation than we have here :)