Naughty Potty

Zora Jane is naughty.  Partly because she's two.  Partly because she's full of sass (she sways her hips when she walks, and wags her finger at me to say no, and then cocks her head to the side and holds a little finger up to me and says "One minute").  And partly because her older brother is the king of naughty.  

Last week Zora Jane became my first child to learn how to get out of her crib.  Henry taught her.  Turns our Henry also taught at least one other girl in our ward how to get out of her crib while playing at her house one day.

So after Zora broke out of her room several times one night and me thinking I heard her crash land a few times, I took the side railing off her bed at 9:30.  She wasn't too happy that night and kept telling me her bed was broken and showing me how to fix it.

Surprisingly enough, all I had to do was explain to her that I was afraid she would bonk her head if she kept climbing out and she stopped crying about it.

So far she's pretty good about staying in her bed.  We still have the lock on the outside of the door from when Henry slept in there so I have had to lock her in a few times.  This morning I even had to go get her out of bed as she seems to have forgotten that all she needs to do is stand up but whatever.

This also means that I can't just leave her at home asleep anymore as now she can get up and wonder the house if I'm not back by the time she wakes up.  Just to be clear: usually I just leave her when I go over to the Wheatley's to swim or whatever.  But those days are at an end too: the Wheatley's close on their house on Monday and then it's bye-bye pool.

Unfortunately she knows she's adorable and refers only to herself as Baby.  When I ask her if she's Zora, she says, "No.  Baby."  She's a big pile of trouble.

Paige

I've mentioned this before, but I've recently re-acquainted myself with my old roommate Paige.  And Paige is just great.  She asks the best questions, listens so well, shares experiences and has a wonderful way of just saying exactly how she is feeling at all times.  She is so refreshing to be around.  Plus our kids get along pretty well, so that's fun too.

So a two weeks ago, the kids and I ditched Greg for two days and headed down to visit her in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina.   We got in around lunch time and let the kids play for a while while Zora slept, then we thought we might head to the beach but a big storm came through so we went to Krispy Kreme where Paige did an inpormtu lesson on donut making and added in simple machines and math.  She is a super mom.

 The kids watched and waited for the donuts for a good half hour.  Paige also made that dress for Zora Jane just because.

 Rex was all about playing board games with Paige's boys.

 The kids were super naughty going to bed that night.  Zora Jane screamed for a good 45 minutes.

The next day we headed to the public beach.  I'll be honest: I'm not a huge fan of the beach and even less of a fan of Myrtle Beach.  The sand is chuncky and crusty, the wind was windy and the surf was harsh.  But the kids had fun.  Paige's kids were ready to go after a few hours.  I think my kids could have stayed all day.

 Paige is an adult child and dug a huge hole for the kids to play in until the tide came up.

 Zora was initially terrified of the water but then she decided the water's edge was were it's at.

 Mom-ing hard with my hat, sunglasses and long-sleeved rash guard.  I'm over getting sunburnt and nobody cares if a 30-something has a tan or not.  I'm flying a kite here so Rex can find us after the surf pushed him down the coast a ways.  It's a good thing I bought him a bright orange rash guard so I could see him down ways and make sure he wasn't drowning.

 Henry belongs on the beach.  I think he could live on the beach.  The beach has all the things he needs: water and sand and waves.  Little Henry heaven.

Point is: We had fun.  I'm super grateful that Paige has reignited our friendship and now I have to think of something cool to do in Charlotte (Charlotte is the worst place to visit) so Paige can come visit me again.

Eleven

In between hiking and camping, Greg and I celebrated 11 years of marriage.  Woot woot. I (surprise surprise) decided I wanted to do something nature-y so we did a zip line tour at the White Water Center on the outskirts of Charlotte.  It was...ok.  It wasn't super romantic, which is fine, because there were 2 guides and a guy and his daughter also in our group, but it also wasn't that cool.  We did the canopy tour so we did 6 or 7 lines, none of which were very long or high.  But it was fun to try something different and now I can say I've done a zip line tour and probably won't do one again.  

We got dinner at the White Water Center, walked around a bit and then listened to the live music for a bit before we realized that we're too old for live music and left.  Since it was our anniversary our one rule was that we wouldn't need up at Target or a bike shop so we got dessert and just sat for a bit because I do not go to all the effort of getting a babysitter if I have to put the kids to bed myself.  

And that was that.  Eleven years down.  

Back to the Mountains

Last year, we went to the Blue Ridge Parkway for the 4th of July and found this tiny town that does an awesome fireworks show.  When we left after 2 nights the kids cried and have begged to go back all year.  And thus a new tradition was born.

This year we returned to Camp Bear Den, to the exact same cabin just across from the bathroom and the playground.  But this year we stayed 3 nights and brought the mini-fridge because I like fresh food and we can.  And after the first, super hot night, we added a fan to the cabin.  I think this is what they all glamping.  Judge not.

We arrived in the after of the 4th, unpacked, set up camp and headed to Spruce Pine for the parade, dinner and fireworks, none of which disappointed.

The cabin

Two suckers

So much candy--not a lot of people were at the parade so we got lots of candy.

Dinner

Post dinner ice cream

The best seat in town--the rail road tracks.  4th of July is just about the safest holiday ever.

The next day, we hike Crabtree Falls.  The kids picked to take the long way back so I think we ended up hiking about 5 miles of strenuous hiking and it felt so good.  Hiking gets the endorphines going in a way that regular walking or even running just cannot.  It must be the nature.  After Zora's nap, we went to the lake near our cabin and finished the night with foil dinner and s'mores.

Overlook on the Blue Ridge Parkway (the East coast's version of the PCH)

Look closely and you can see my kid climbing across the bottom of the falls

Zora taking a break on the hike back and playing in the stream

Sometimes I feel bad for my kids that we don't do cool stuff like go to Disneyland, but then would you rather listen to other people yell at their children combined with theme songs from rides, or this all day?  The choice is obvious.

The nasty lake

Doing the dishes (the first night) was super fun.  And then she realized it was a chore and stopped.

Day 3 we hiked to a little waterfall at the campsite and spent the morning playing on the rocks there.  Eventually Zora fell in and got cold and then we started hearing thunder so decided it was time to head back.  Greg and I had already done hours of hiking in the rain and were not anxious to hike in the rain with children.  I wanted to take the long way back to the cabin but the kids had learned their lesson from the day before and I got out-voted.  After lunch we got hit by another server thunder storm, so we hunkered down in the cabin for a bit before walking down to the camp ground arcade for a bit.

Even Zora got in on the dishes action

Quick let's hike to this beautiful waterfall and have a snack

 Again, Disney?  Or this?

Zora really liked hiking--I wonder why

Henry in little Henry heaven--the playground next to the cabin.

Of course, lots of cards were played

It's not a real Baker vacation without the bikes.

Zora finally actually put her feet on the ground.

Day 4 was pack up and leave day, which is always sad.   Henry wanted to stay longer.  Camping is really his jam--running, climbing and being dirty--there's not a whole lot he gets in trouble for when we're camping.  We stopped at a mineral museum run by the National Park Serve where I bought myself a National Park Passport--here I come every National Park; and at Little Switzerland for lunch on the way home, which was a disappointment. 

Everybody except Greg slept most of the way home. 

Until next year Camp Bear Den.