Camping

This weekend was our much anticipated camping weekend! We borrowed a tent, bought a camp stove, and planned all of our meals. One thing we didn't anticipate: RAIN! Looking back, I can't believe that I didn't think to bring rain gear. I had s'more ingredients, tooth brushes, and an air mattress, but umbrella?...no! I'm definitely a camping rookie! 

Planning: FAIL

We got to our muggy campsite by the St. Croix River and pitched the tent and relaxed. ButterBean thought he was extremely cool sitting in his own chair and sipping his water. He got a little too confident and face-planted off of his chair on to the gravel, resulting in a scraped nose and lip. So, within 15 minutes, he had already become filthy and scraped up! He was loving it though! 

Child safety: FAIL

Later in the evening our friends arrived with their 18 month son. We spent significant amount of time trying to get a fire started with wood and newspaper, which resulted in smoke, smoke, lots of smoke. We got charcoal...smoke. Lighter fluid...smoke. Finally we got a little fire going, which got stronger by 10pm, just in time for s'mores!

Fire making: almost FAIL

Under a beautiful starry sky, we all went happily to sleep. At about 1 or 2 am I heard thunder and rain and saw crazy lightning through the tent.  "That's ok" I thought, "I love sleeping during storms!"Then at about 3:30 I woke up again to the air mattress jiggling and my husband shifting around in the tent. "The rain is coming in!" he said. We had left the fly of the tent open to get a breeze. The floor of our tent was covered in water (thank God for the air mattress!) and somehow I had slept through half of my pillow getting drenched! I went out of the tent door to close part of the outer fly resulting in more drenching. The rain, thunder, wind, and lightening continued. At one point our tent started caving in on my side. "It's caving!!!", I screamed! For those who don't know this: I HATE being wet in the rain! The whole situation was so comical though that we couldn't stop laughing!! Gatsby and I met in a torrential rain, so it brought us back to 2003 when we were sitting in a mud puddle in Toronto waiting to see Pope John Paul II.

As I was lying there I was tallying the things I had left outside: paper towels, paper plates, dishes, newspaper, OUR SHOES, chairs....yep, we were going to be wet for a looong time!

Water-proofing: FAIL

We stayed in our tent until ButterBean woke up at 7:30. It was still raining and ButterBean was not going to be cooped up in a tent for much longer. We drove into Stillwater and found a breakfast place where we warmed up with pancakes and hot chocolate. We looked crazy: ButterBean was barefoot, our hair was everywhere, and we were half soaked. I contemplated buying a sweatshirt (yet another thing I forgot to bring). The rain let up at 10 am, however, at this point we made a collaborative decision: abandon the camp site and move the party to our house. So, we went back and started packing up our sad, soggy mess. 

Camping: FAIL

We showered, dried off, washed out our tent and set it up to dry, grilled our kabobs, and camped out in our living room. We played games, laughed, and feasted on banana boats (see below). The boys played together the next morning while we munched on our breakfasts and lounged.

Living Room Camping: NAILED IT!

Fun Memories: NAILED IT!

CAN'T WAIT TO TRY IT AGAIN!

Banana Boats:

Cut a center strip out of the curve of a banana. Wrap the base in tin foil so it can stand on its own. Fill the center strip with peanut butter and chocolate chips. Bake at 350 degrees until melty. Then top with marshmallows and broil in the oven until browned.

The Softie

Back before ButterBean was even born, we were given a small green fuzzy blanket with silky edges by Swaddle Designs. I knew right away this would become a favorite! Before I gave it to him as a newborn, I slept with it next to me so that it would smell like Mama. 16 months later, the "softie", as we call it, still goes everywhere with him! We searched for a duplicate to have as a back up, but couldn't find one at the local store that sells them. We've bought 2 similar blankets, but lost both of them. A close friend, however, bought an exact replica for him for his birthday and it has been a great addition! 

ButterBean calls the blanket his "AhNana" (said in a sweet, soft voice). When he urgently wants it, he squeals "AhNaNaaaaaa!!!!" When he spots AhNana, his face lights up! As soon as he gets his hands on that blanket he smooshes his face in it and smiles so sweetly. He also offers AhNana to everyone else and rubs it on their faces as well. 
I've noticed that the blanket creeps into the majority of our pictures: 

When Softie was still fresh and new!

Back in the day! He still loves Peekaboo with Softie

There it is again

ButterBean and Bunny wrapped in Softie

ButterBean sitting inside a drum with Softie. Why? Good question!

AhNana is definitely the most frequent word ButterBean uses! Lord help us if we lose both of our Softies! It's funny because we have an ever-present Softie-Radar. If he drops it we are both diving to save it from getting lost. Before we go anywhere the question is "Do you have Nukie (his pacifier) and Softie?". Soon I'll try to wean him from the nuk, but Softie/Ahnana is going to be around for a loooong time!

Minnesota Summer

Despite the fact that I have only camped outside of an RV once, live in the city, sun burn in a matter of minutes, and freak out when lake weeds touch my feet, I have a strange delusion in my head that I am "out-doorsy". Part of this is my inner wish that I was a rough out doors-woman and part of it is that I live in Minnesota, where most everyone relishes every moment they can spend outside and try to wring every last drop of out door fun from the short 3-4 months of summer that we have. This spring/summer started amazingly early and has been one of the best I can remember!
In order to be a true Minnesotan you must looooove the lakes that surround us! ButterBean had his first trip to Minneapolis' Lake Calhoun not that long ago. I thought he might be wary of the water, but he had a great time even though it was an extremely windy day and there were whitecaps on the lake. Whhewww! He IS a Minnesotan!

My Calhoun Surfer Boy

 Yesterday he went on his first cruise of Lake Minnetonka and played in the Murphy Bay beach area. I've got to get ButterBean in the lakes as much as possible this summer to make him think he's out-doorsy too! We are actually going on a REAL camping trip in a couple of weeks, so I'll put my "roughing it" skills to the test. Expect an interesting blog posting!
Our other "outdoor" adventure recently has been a trip to the Como Zoo. The only animals ButterBean actually paid attention to were the monkeys. The rest of his time was spent finding any door he could sneak through, crawling up any stairs he could find, and pushing the stroller. Oh, and pounding the glass of the polar bear exhibit and screaming for no reason - the bear was nowhere to be seen. 

We didn't get to the Sparky show, but we did pose with the Sparky statue

Me: trying to get a picture with my son. Butter Bean: trying to get into the sea lion exhibit

As I sit in my air conditioned home, looking out at the 93 degree muggy day, I'm still convinced I was meant for the outdoors. Maybe it's because I'm wearing no makeup and KEENs?