Peanut Goes Camping

Recently, we took Peanut camping with her aunt and uncle who live far far away in Virginia. We decided to meet halfway in Pennsylvania, at Laurel Hill State Park (which was gorgeous BTW!).

Peanut walking along the beachy lake with Daddy C:

Peanut splashing in the water! This girl loves to swim!

She also went on her first bike ride with Daddy C and I! Here she is in her seat! She kept saying "weee!" all throughout the ride! So cute!

We went hiking to a dam and could not resist cooling off in the water below! Peanut practically dived right in, getting soaked in the process!

All 3 of us hiking! Peanut is busy look at the water in the background, haha.

We had a great trip spending time relaxing at the campsite and catching up with family. Peanut did not sleep the best the first night (we arrived at the site very late), and the second night it had started raining around dinnertime, turning our campsite into a mudsite, unsuitable for a walking toddler! So we got an emergency hotel room and let Peanut stay up late! It all turned out for the best, and next time, we'll know to take the weather seriously when it calls for a chance of rain (or at least have a backup plan arranged). Peanut thought the hotel room was so much fun though! Of course, this girl thinks everything is fun.

I can't wait for our next camping adventure, although next time it will likely be somewhere a bit closer so we don't arrive so late and also free of rain!

Do you enjoy camping? How often do you go?

Peanut is a Walker!

For the 4th of July, we went on a family vacation to my aunt and uncle's cabin in northern Michigan. The cabin is so peaceful and quiet, situated on a small lake not to far from Lake Michigan and Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore.

This was the second time that we visited together, but the first time that Peanut joined us! We had such a good time relaxing, swimming, boating, exploring, hiking and spending time together! And to add to the memories, Peanut started full-time walking on this trip!

The drive there was 8 hours, the longest we have ever gone with Peanut in the car. We tried going through the night thinking she would sleep most of the way, but that did not go over well. She only likes to sleep about 2 hours at a time in her carseat! So on the way back, we drove throughout the day and took lots of walking breaks, and that went much much better. As long as she had plenty of books to look at and interesting new toys every so often, so was pretty content! She did really well sleeping in the pack n play in our room at the cabin, and we didn't have to fight naps with her either, which was really nice! I think all the new experiences tired her out fast!

It was so nice to have some quality time together as a family! Daddy C took off 3 days so we had 5 whole days to spend there, which is the longest vacation we have taken in some time! The best part was that it didn't cost us hardly any money since we stayed at the family cabin and ate almost all our meals there. Including gas, we spent less than $400 for this trip! That also included a day excursion to one of the nearby islands!

Enjoying our hike on top of Alligator Hill! She loves hiking and does really well in the backpack- this hike was 2 hrs so I was happy she was so content!

Playing with the rocks at Lake Michigan. She loved picking them up and banging them together!

We had a great time on our vacation and can't wait to go back next year!

Now that she is walking, we have to keep an extra eye on her to make sure she doesn't get into anything she isn't supposed to be in or run off unexpectedly. But it's so wonderful to watch her explore and find things! She is so fun!

Spring Hiking

Last weekend, we took a hike out to a nature preserve near our local farm pickup. We're trying to take a family hike once a week this year, committed not to miss too many opportunities to witness the wonders of nature and share it with Peanut! She had a great time as always - this baby loves being outside. As soon as she gets strapped in her pack, she starts giggling! During this hike, she loved watching the cold, moving spring waters. Who could blame her? The peacefulness this time of year on the trail is captivating. Every sound and song of a bird is magnified and appreciated as the earth roars back to life after a deep sleep.

Winter Reprieve

This past weekend, Aunty C came for a visit here at the Campbell Castle. We were all so excited to see her and spend time with her - especially Peanut! She enjoyed playing, giggling and spending her days with her fun aunt.



On Friday, we went dumpster diving together for boxes! Apparently, one of the best places to go for free boxes is the local shoe warehouse. So, Aunty C waltzed in and inquired about us taking some off their hands, and they replied she could take all she wanted, but they were all in the dumpster in the back. When we drove around to the back, we discovered the boxes were laying pretty deep inside the dumpster, and the door was rather high. So Aunty C exclaimed "I'm going in!" and before I knew what was happening, she had dove into the dumpster! We laughed so hard; but don't worry, the only items inside the dumpster were boxes, no real garbage.

Saturday, we heard the forecast was supposed to be 45 degrees, so we planned a trip to the park to soak up some Vitamin D. We stopped at Panera Bread for lunch, and by then it had actually warmed up so much that we took our lunch outside and ate on the patio! Then we spent the rest of the day at Cherokee Park - a great place to go for a little nature in the city. We went for a lovely nature hike and took Peanut to play on the playground. The weather was so lovely, a true reprieve from winter. Since Aunty C lives in Chicago, she felt like she was visiting Florida or something! When we finally arrived back home, we discovered the high for the day had actually reached 56 degrees - no wonder our pasty winter faces were a little burnt!

A Camping Baby

This past weekend we were finally able to go camping with Peanut. Daddy C and Mommy C were particularly excited, especially since our last attempt to go camping ended up being a 2-hr trial after she started crying her eyes out and would not stop. But now that she's a bit older (3.5 months to be exact), we figured she might be able to handle the great outdoors a little better.

We found the perfect camping site just 40 minutes from where we live, so if things did indeed turn sour, we could always turn right back around and be home pretty soon. In our city, there's a forest just on the outskirts of town with peaceful, wooded, primitive camping - just what we love! Our site was well secluded from other sites, and there weren't any RVs, large bathhouses or busy roads to distract us. Just nature and the Campbells. :D

Almost as soon as we got there, Daddy C started collecting firewood and got a fire going. He has become quite adept at getting a fire started after many failed attempts! We decided to have hot dogs, zucchini and tortilla chips. Because what's camping without junk food like hot dogs?

Peanut loved the fire. She just kept staring at it like it was perhaps the most fascinating thing she had ever witnessed. I guess, considering the girl has never seen fire before, it probably was!

The weather was perfect in the evening - not too cool but not warm enough that you couldn't enjoy sitting by the fire. Just the right temperature for a light jacket. Peanut was cozy in her blankie and later we put her in her sleep suit, which was even cozier.

After she finally went to sleep, Mommy C and Daddy C got to enjoy the fire by themselves for a bit until the last ember finally went out. Then we snuggled into our spacious new tent with a blow-up mattress and a snoozing Peanut. We all slept well that night.

Until about 4am. When the planes came.

Why didn't someone tell us we were only a couple miles from the airport?! The planes must have been coming in for the day, since one takeoff after another lasted for about an hr and half straight. I got little sleep during this time, but Peanut was sleeping, dare I say, like a baby! Even Daddy C managed to roll over and ignore the hard sounds of plane engines.

When we woke up at 7am, like usual, we were all relatively well-rested though and ready for an adventurous day. Peanut woke up smiling as if to say, "I guess I'm a camping baby after all!"

Peanut's First Hike!

This weekend, we decided it was time for Peanut to take her first hike. The weather had finally cooled down a notch to make this possible, so off we went! Daddy C carried Peanut in her Moby Wrap. She loved looking around at all the wonderful things to see!

We passed a beautiful lake lined with cattails...

Leaves are finally start to change color around here...

It was such a sunny day! There were plenty of fishermen trying their luck at the lake...

By the end of the hour-long hike, Peanut had had enough of nature!

Peanut also turned 3 months on Sunday! We think she is definitely ready to start exploring the outdoors with Mommy and Daddy C. In a couple weeks, we're all going camping in the new family tent. Hopefully she will be as good of a camper as she is hiker!