Well, we are officially back to the world of reality now. First Ray and I had our NYC trip, and now, the whole family just got back from our annual camping trip with the Vogels. This time, of course, the girls were with us, but we still managed to have a pretty relaxing vacation... with the help of wonderful grandparents and uncles that is!! We all had a great time, but Ainsley and Evelyn had a BLAST!
When asked what her favorite things were, Ainsley's response was the waterpark (especially the lazy river) and the beach. I'm not surprised in the least. What I was surprised about was how little she seemed interested in going for hikes this year. Last year that girl was Little Miss Nature. She hiked, she fished, she swam... anything outdoors. This year she was a bit more content spending some quality (and sometimes not so quality) time inside. Of course I did notice that this was mostly in the afternoons after she had spent her mornings doing either the waterpark or the beach, so I guess she had an excuse... she was worn out!!
She did enjoy spending some time at the lake, however. She went down there quite a few times with her boots on, waded in the water with her net, and caught quite a few minnows. At first she tried to keep them, planning to bring them home so they could grow up. But as expected, and not at all to my disappointment, they all perished. After that she was just catching for fun and would let them go right away. She actually was very happy doing it this way because she claimed that this made them like her more. I love the way that little girl's mind works :).
Evelyn, on the other hand, was quite a different camper. That little monster was a ball full of energy. I mean, she never wanted to stop! I'm so glad there were 5-6 adults there at all times because there was always at least one person willing to take her outside for a walk, haha.
It was the strangest thing though... the girl was absolutely terrified of the water!!! She wouldn't go near the lake when we first got there. And I'm not talking just a little hesitation either. The girl literally kicked and screamed and refused to go within 10 feet of it, even in her daddy's arms! And when it was time for her bath we realized that it wasn't just the lake! Michelle had brought one of the baby blow-up tubs since the cabins were only equipped with showers. It was a great plan... so we thought. But the girl kicked, screamed, clawed, and cried as soon as we tried putting her in there. Needless to say the first night she got nothing more than a quick rinse off since that was about all we could manage.
The second day, however, we just had to get her clean. It was that day that the girls went to the beach with Grammy Chelle and Grandpa. She apparently played her little heart out in the sand (never going near the water) and was in desperate need for a good bath when she got home. This time, Michelle hopped in the shower with her bathing suit still on and held a very soapy, squirmy, and screaming Evelyn while I attempted to get all of that sand off of her. Not an easy task, but we were at least more successful than the day before.
On the third day I decided that bribery was the right approach. We started by filling the tub up in the kitchen and then just let her see it there without actually trying to get her near it. She wasn't too happy and wouldn't step foot into the kitchen. After about 30 minutes or so I broke out the brownies. This worked... sort of. It did manage to get her into the kitchen, and even managed to get her close enough to the tub to throw some toys in, but she wasn't being fooled that easily. It would take alot more than some chocolate to get that girl into the tub. After a good hour and a half of trying the bribe and lure technique I gave up and just forced her to stand in the tub. As expected, the screaming and clawing started. But I wasn't going to give in. I sat there next to the tub rubbing her back and doing my best to comfort her. Then she peed... right into the tub. I know this might sound gross to some of you, but given the water to pee ratio I decided that we had come too far to stop now. So, I let her stay there... yes, in the pee-pee water. Eventually she did calm down enough to start playing a little with her toys. Oh, did I forget to mention that the toys were still in there too? Yep, in the pee-pee water, haha. So, she hesitantly played for a little while, the whole time squatting, not actually sitting. And then it happened. The girl sat down! It was like an ah-ha moment for her! This water wasn't deep at all... it was like her bath at home!!! And from that point on she was good to go! She played happily and all was going well. It would be nice if the story ended here right? Haha, not yet. You see, she was having such a good time now that I decided to let her play a bit even though the pee-pee water was now pretty darn cold. And then it happened. I see her lean forward just a tad and then I heard the grunt. I look at her and say "did you just make poopy????" and she looks at me and says "uh-huh", LOL!! Sure enough, there it was. Now before you all get the thought in your heads, NO I am not that bad of a mother! I wasn't going to let her sit in the tub with the poop floating around! I quickly stood her up and did my best to bath her using some water that we had sitting next to the tub and got her out of there. The whole event (and I use that term loosely) took about 2 hours.
Now, I wish I could say giving her baths on days 4 and 5 were now a piece of cake, but no. The girl still didn't trust us and she still put up a fight until she again realized that the water was low and she actually could sit. But nothing could compare to day 3... that bath was just priceless!!! We didn't get any pictures of the peeing and the pooping (I can sense your disappointment), but Michelle did capture a couple of moments:
As you just read, the trip wasn't all relaxing, but for the most part it really was great. I managed to get alot of things done that I normally can't do when home alone with the girls. I drew and painted some cartoons on canvas that I've been meaning to hang in the girls' bathroom since we moved into this house. Well, I got one painted at least... ok, ok, partially done because I want to make some changes to it :). Anyway, I also made a couple of pieces of jewelry (I'll tell you all about this in another post). I even got some reading done in one of my photography books and must say that I have learned quite a bit already. I took my camera out a couple of times to play with my new found knowledge, but unfortunately I wasn't quite as camera happy as I usually am. The down side of this is that I didn't get very many pictures of the girls having such a good time :(. The good side is that you don't have very many pictures to sort through :). Here are some I did take:
The only bummer about the trip was getting sick at the end. Evelyn started on Saturday with the runny nose and fussiness. Poor thing still tried her best to have a good time, but we could all tell she was suffering. And then I woke up Sunday morning feeling pretty lousy myself. It made today rough, but hopefully tomorrow will get better... fingers crossed. At least it happened at the end of the trip though :).
When asked what her favorite things were, Ainsley's response was the waterpark (especially the lazy river) and the beach. I'm not surprised in the least. What I was surprised about was how little she seemed interested in going for hikes this year. Last year that girl was Little Miss Nature. She hiked, she fished, she swam... anything outdoors. This year she was a bit more content spending some quality (and sometimes not so quality) time inside. Of course I did notice that this was mostly in the afternoons after she had spent her mornings doing either the waterpark or the beach, so I guess she had an excuse... she was worn out!!
She did enjoy spending some time at the lake, however. She went down there quite a few times with her boots on, waded in the water with her net, and caught quite a few minnows. At first she tried to keep them, planning to bring them home so they could grow up. But as expected, and not at all to my disappointment, they all perished. After that she was just catching for fun and would let them go right away. She actually was very happy doing it this way because she claimed that this made them like her more. I love the way that little girl's mind works :).
Evelyn, on the other hand, was quite a different camper. That little monster was a ball full of energy. I mean, she never wanted to stop! I'm so glad there were 5-6 adults there at all times because there was always at least one person willing to take her outside for a walk, haha.
It was the strangest thing though... the girl was absolutely terrified of the water!!! She wouldn't go near the lake when we first got there. And I'm not talking just a little hesitation either. The girl literally kicked and screamed and refused to go within 10 feet of it, even in her daddy's arms! And when it was time for her bath we realized that it wasn't just the lake! Michelle had brought one of the baby blow-up tubs since the cabins were only equipped with showers. It was a great plan... so we thought. But the girl kicked, screamed, clawed, and cried as soon as we tried putting her in there. Needless to say the first night she got nothing more than a quick rinse off since that was about all we could manage.
The second day, however, we just had to get her clean. It was that day that the girls went to the beach with Grammy Chelle and Grandpa. She apparently played her little heart out in the sand (never going near the water) and was in desperate need for a good bath when she got home. This time, Michelle hopped in the shower with her bathing suit still on and held a very soapy, squirmy, and screaming Evelyn while I attempted to get all of that sand off of her. Not an easy task, but we were at least more successful than the day before.
On the third day I decided that bribery was the right approach. We started by filling the tub up in the kitchen and then just let her see it there without actually trying to get her near it. She wasn't too happy and wouldn't step foot into the kitchen. After about 30 minutes or so I broke out the brownies. This worked... sort of. It did manage to get her into the kitchen, and even managed to get her close enough to the tub to throw some toys in, but she wasn't being fooled that easily. It would take alot more than some chocolate to get that girl into the tub. After a good hour and a half of trying the bribe and lure technique I gave up and just forced her to stand in the tub. As expected, the screaming and clawing started. But I wasn't going to give in. I sat there next to the tub rubbing her back and doing my best to comfort her. Then she peed... right into the tub. I know this might sound gross to some of you, but given the water to pee ratio I decided that we had come too far to stop now. So, I let her stay there... yes, in the pee-pee water. Eventually she did calm down enough to start playing a little with her toys. Oh, did I forget to mention that the toys were still in there too? Yep, in the pee-pee water, haha. So, she hesitantly played for a little while, the whole time squatting, not actually sitting. And then it happened. The girl sat down! It was like an ah-ha moment for her! This water wasn't deep at all... it was like her bath at home!!! And from that point on she was good to go! She played happily and all was going well. It would be nice if the story ended here right? Haha, not yet. You see, she was having such a good time now that I decided to let her play a bit even though the pee-pee water was now pretty darn cold. And then it happened. I see her lean forward just a tad and then I heard the grunt. I look at her and say "did you just make poopy????" and she looks at me and says "uh-huh", LOL!! Sure enough, there it was. Now before you all get the thought in your heads, NO I am not that bad of a mother! I wasn't going to let her sit in the tub with the poop floating around! I quickly stood her up and did my best to bath her using some water that we had sitting next to the tub and got her out of there. The whole event (and I use that term loosely) took about 2 hours.
Now, I wish I could say giving her baths on days 4 and 5 were now a piece of cake, but no. The girl still didn't trust us and she still put up a fight until she again realized that the water was low and she actually could sit. But nothing could compare to day 3... that bath was just priceless!!! We didn't get any pictures of the peeing and the pooping (I can sense your disappointment), but Michelle did capture a couple of moments:
As you just read, the trip wasn't all relaxing, but for the most part it really was great. I managed to get alot of things done that I normally can't do when home alone with the girls. I drew and painted some cartoons on canvas that I've been meaning to hang in the girls' bathroom since we moved into this house. Well, I got one painted at least... ok, ok, partially done because I want to make some changes to it :). Anyway, I also made a couple of pieces of jewelry (I'll tell you all about this in another post). I even got some reading done in one of my photography books and must say that I have learned quite a bit already. I took my camera out a couple of times to play with my new found knowledge, but unfortunately I wasn't quite as camera happy as I usually am. The down side of this is that I didn't get very many pictures of the girls having such a good time :(. The good side is that you don't have very many pictures to sort through :). Here are some I did take:
The only bummer about the trip was getting sick at the end. Evelyn started on Saturday with the runny nose and fussiness. Poor thing still tried her best to have a good time, but we could all tell she was suffering. And then I woke up Sunday morning feeling pretty lousy myself. It made today rough, but hopefully tomorrow will get better... fingers crossed. At least it happened at the end of the trip though :).
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