A Little Fun...

There is just something special about getting away.

This past weekend was the beginning of a new tradition in our family: the annual Moulton/Himes camping trip. Even though we were not a complete group (one of my brothers and his family were unable to join us) it was a great start and one that will be hard to live up to for sure. It took some discussion, but we finally decided for our first adventure that we'd head to Seward, Alaska for an extended weekend of fishing, eating and of course massive sleep deprivation.

It was amazing.

The best part about the weekend was of course the kids. They were everywhere all at once and into everything and it was just perfect. Marshmallows for dinner? No problem. Boycotting naps? No biggie. Lack of showers and baths? Divine in the eyes of any child. They rallied nonstop from the minute they opened their eyes til the second they collapsed into their sleeping bags and it was almost exhausting just watching them.

Of course it was also exhausting for them as well and the trip was not without a few snags. One of them involved my sweet Sienna and hit at about 8:30 pm on the last night of our stay. Let me set the stage here quite clearly: Sienna had averaged about 7 hours of sleep each night when she normally gets at least 10 and had had minimal naps. Add this to the fact that she had lived on cookies and junk food all weekend and you have all the ingredients for an absolutely spectacular meltdown. Oh yes...it was about to really go down and so I decided that instead of watching her disintegrate before my eyes we would be proactive and get her to bed. Now, this was easier said than done and ended up requiring some bribing, pleading, begging and minor yelling on my part (hey--you can't always remain calm right??) before I finally got her into her pj's and ready to head towards the tent. As we were gathering our stuff she tells me she wants some milk before bed.

Sienna: "Mommy, I need some milk."
Mommy: "Okay, Sienna, you can have a little bit of milk so you can sleep."
Sienna: "Noooo Mommy! I want a wot of milk!! No wittle milk! Big milk!!"
Mommy: "Sienna, you can have a little milk so that you can sleep without having to go to the bathroom in the middle of the night or you can have no milk. You choose.
Sienna: "I choose big milk!
*note--this is where my father decided to be helpful and join in as Sienna was growing increasingly agitated and Grandpas can just not allow this to happen to their granddaughters...
Grandpa: "Sienna, how about you have a... half cup of milk?"
Sienna (not knowing anything about capacity, thought that this was a great suggestion): "Yeah! A hav cup! I want a hav cup of milk!"
Grandpa (who now was going to have a little fun with this): "Sienna, well how about a quarter cup of milk?"
Sienna (clapping with glee): "Yes yes! I want a cord cup of milk!"
Grandpa: "Oh Sienna, I know...how about a tablespoon of milk?"
Sienna: "YES YES YES! I want a tabawpoon of milk! A tabawpoon is the best! I wuv you Ba-Pa!!!"

Oh boy.

In the end, but not before at least one more major crying fit, Sienna did get her cup of warm milk and I found my thing to be thankful for: my father. His humor and patience helped to circumvent a potentially difficult situation...for at least 7 minutes. It is interactions just like this that solidify the heartwarming bond that lives between grandfathers and granddaughters. It's also extremely fun for me to watch my dad with my daughter as he melts like butter under the gaze of her chocolate brown eyes. Today though, he got to have a little fun with her and we were able to share a laugh as well. He's a great dad.

Now, we will just have to work a bit on her awareness of capacity. Or maybe not...this could work to my advantage in the future.

And God knows with her...I'll need any help I can get.

Checking out...to really check in

My world is really no different than any other modern day mother. I work full time, enjoy my family and am connected in many ways "electronically" to the world. Email, cell phones, tv, video games. It is endless and constant at times. And of course as my kids grow older in this new technological age, I have the same concerns that most other mothers have. Are my kids watching to much tv? Does the internet rule our household (laptops, iphones) and how do I introduce all of this "stuff" to my kids in a healthy and responsible way? I have a very good friend who said to me once, "This is a new world and our kids will HAVE to know how to navigate this sort of media in a way we did not have to growing up..." She's right but still it is a very intricate and delicate balance to uphold and one that my husband and I still are trying to figure out as we go.

This weekend we had the opportunity to go car camping at a local state campsite with our children and my parents. It was to be the first true "camping" experience for my children and I won't lie to you and say I didn't have some major reservations about how well it would really go. Some questions that ran through my head as we prepared to go: Will my kids actually sleep in a tent? Do we have enough food, milk, toys, water, clothing to last us 2 nights with YOUNG children who attract dirt like it is air? Will my kids sleep in the tent--and do we have enough wine in case they don't?? What if it rains? WILL MY KIDS SLEEP IN A TENT?????? Do I have enough diapers? WILLLLLL MYYYYYYY KIIIIIIIIDDDSSS SLEEEEEEEP INNNNN AAAAA TENNNNNNNNNNTTTTT?

Yes, I had my concerns.

As we traveled up the winding road and "out of service" from all connections to our daily world I could feel us literally checking out. I couldn't remember the last time I had disconnected like that. It was a bit unnerving at first to say the least...but also strangely liberating at the same time.

Turns out...it was a fabulous experience from the start to the finish, and one that brought back all sorts of nostalgic memories from my own childhood camping experiences. Yes, we had rain--and lots of it. Yes, we had enough food, milk, water, toys and clothing to last us 2 nights with YOUNG children who attract dirt like it is air. Yes, we had a blast exploring the muddy beach of the lake while tossing rocks into the bluest water you've ever seen. Yes, we had neighbors who partied til 3 in the morning despite the campground "quiet hours". Yes, we had more marshmallows in one night than I hope to ever ingest again in my lifetime. (Somehow all of the ones I took out of the bag were half eaten with tiny bite marks already out of them...Sienna????) And yes, my children went to sleep in the tent. Eventually.

What struck me most about this beautiful weekend is how easy it is to find yourself swept up into the "internet age" and how we can forget to slow down and really BE with our families. Oh I'm not knocking my iphone...believe me I had that thing up and running the MINUTE it had a single bar available for me to use. But after this weekend I am thankful for the "forced" opportunity to check out...in order to find myself fully checked in.

I can't wait for the next adventure...half-eaten marshmallows and all.