Camping with a 3 month old and 2 yr old

We had a great Labor Day camping with our friends the Woods north of Pine, AZ.  The weather was pleasant and the views were gorgeous.  (WARNING: This blog post contains a lot of photos.  Be prepared to scroll!)

Baby Char-bug was a good lil snuggler.  Candace did a good job of keeping her happy.

We had to take turns eating and holding Charlotte, while keeping an eye on Roo.  It was a lot of work, but we didn't mind.  I forgot a sleeping bag for Reed though, so the 4 of us were sharing the 2 sleeping bags I brought that zip together.  That made for less than desireable sleeping arrangements (Reed likes to take up all the bed space, a trait he inherited from his Mom) and left us looking sleepy in the mornings:

 

He was SOOO excited to wake up every morning in a tent!

His first words every morning: "bike, bike, BIKE, BIKKKKKE!" until we'd dress him and let him out to play.  He'd wake up earlier than anyone else and wait patiently for his friends Trevor, Gavin, and Ethan to come play.

 
Here they are pretending to be on a choo choo train:

 We brought the Ranger and had a LOT of fun 4wheeling and exploring.

 We camped near Potato Lake.  The boys made a trip lakeside to catch grasshoppers and use them as bait to catch crawdads.  I'm in love with this picture!  Watching the kids chase grasshoppers and play with the crawdads are memories I will long remember.

The boys weren't the only ones having fun.  JoEllen and Candace had some quality girl time together as the Woods also have a baby girl, Reece.  Here is Cbug and Charbug at Knoll Lake:

 Candace and JoEllen left the kids with Cody and I to joyride the Ranger.  I said I didn't know who was less likely to survive, them off-roading alone or Cody and I watching 6 wound up kids!

 

Sunday we heated up water, took sponge baths, and set out to find church.  We were part of a congregation of 274 people in a small branch that usually has around 10!  Here are Cody and JoEllen loaded up and ready to go:

 I could not WAIT to get home from church and take a nap in my shady tent among the fresh mountain air and relaxing sounds of wind passing through the pine trees.  Doesn't that sound nice?

RooBear didn't think so.  He was a non-stop jabberbox and after 45 minutes of trying to sleep while he climbed over and around Candace and I in the tent I decided I'd take him on a Sunday ride and let Cbug and baby Sweets get some sleep.

Don't give me that face after making me take you on a ride!

 We had a great time.  The Woods were a lot of fun to spend time with.  I can't wait for another family camp out.

 Just like Daddy, he eats his cereal on the go!!!

 I hope you don't mind me bragging about my baby Sweets, but look at those eyelashes!!


LUBBBBS!

And lastly....without any prompting from me or the other boys, Reed found a hill and started riding his bike down it. It sounds silly, but its such a proud moment for me to see him have his own interest in riding things down hills and going fast!! I know my mom is shaking her head right now!  Reed did this ALL DAY ALL WEEKEND and I captured some of the fun on film: