Real sleep on the ground pee in a bush camping

We went camping a few nights ago, and it was really nice. The spot I have always gone to with friends we were unable to get to because of a rock slide. So on the way out of the mountains, I spotted this 4 wheeling path. I got out and checked it out to see if it was drivable. If I still had the Wrangler I would of done it and even though I have four wheel drive it still kind of made me nervous. I really did not want to get stuck in the mud and then sit there with no cell phone service. So I walked the path and found as awesome campsite right on the river. So we hiked all our stuff in and set up camp. The kids did awesome. If possible they got dirtier this time than a few weeks ago. Unfortionatly the people before us had been pretty inconsiderate and had broken bottles and left cigerette butts everywhere. So I had a fun time cleaning up because Bug still insists on putting everything in her mouth.
Bear got to learn how to pee in the bushes. And loved it so much that when we got home he asked if he could just pee in the bushes instead of the toilet.
We went to the pool last night and the kids had so much fun. Bug had no fear at all. She just wandered off without me. She would fall in over her head, I would help her up and she could continue on. She kept bending over to put her face in the water and would come up laughing and she loved jumping off the side of the pool. Maybe I will put her in a swimming class. Bear had fun and was quite disgrunttled when I told him they were closing the little pool and we had to go. When I pointed out that his sister was blue and his fingers looked like raisens, he complied a little bit. Now that we are home for a while, he is starting lessons on Monday. He is pretty excited about it too.
Bug now gives kisses. I ask for a kiss and she puts her face on mine and says, "mooooo-waaaaah!" And thankfully she is starting to mind directions. I mean it is real simple things, like go get me a baby doll, or lets clean up the toys or go put this back where you found it. But it is making life a little easier. She still has selective hearing and will just keep walking if she sees something she wants, but hey- a little at a time right?

Thanks for the help dude

Tonight Bug was having kind of a rough time sleeping. She was fussing around for almost 15 minutes, and I kept telling Bear to keep his voice down. "If she hears you having fun, she will want to come and play with you."
He decided my approach of letting her self soothe was not a doing the trick. In a very loud whisper voice he told her, "SSSSHHHH! You are trying to go to sleep!"
Needless to say it did not have the affect you had intended it too. It threw her into fits again.
Thanks.

Every excuse in the book

Bear got to stand with his face in the corner tonight for pushing his sister over. These are the excuses that were wailed at me as to why he could not stand there.

"My face is too squished like this."

"The wall is too bumpy."

"The wall is too big."

"The wall is pushing me over."

"The wall said it doesn't want me standing here."

"My shorts are too small."

"The wall is too brown."

"My sister wanted to me push her over. She told me!"

"The corner is too close."

"My cheeks are too wet."

"My nose is too runny."

What was supposed to be only 3 minutes in the corner turned into 15 with all of the crying and walking away and sliding down the wall. I am glad that we do not do this too often. I don't think I could handle it.

I can't say it didn't hurt just a little...

We were in the car on Thursday and sitting in traffic in Seattle. I turned on some music and started singing. From the backseat I hear this.

"Mommy, may she sing by herself, I don't really like your voice right now."

A few hours before that we were bored and in the middle of Oregon. I started showing Bear the sign language alphabet. It was so funny to see him contorting his hands to make little letters. We got to "i" and he raised his pinky. Now, "j" is your hand in the shape of the letter "i" and then you draw a "j." So I said, now take your "i" and trace the letter "j" I look back in the mirror to check his progress and he had his fingers digging in his eye socket and moving his head around like drawing the letter "j" I could not stop laughing.

Last night we went to the beach, and the kids were running around playing. There was a church group down there with some guitars and a drum singing songs. Bug walked around for about 20 minutes dancing to the music. Then they both went and sat down on a log for a couple songs and sat there and listened.

Her newest trick is to run at you with her hands outstretched saying, "tiki-tiki-tiki-tiki" and then tickle you laughing the entire time.

I am so glad to be home. The weather has been gorgeous, and it is so nice to see green trees and green grass again.

Home

We are home. That is all I can say right now. I am so tired and brain dead I just want to sleep. For the next two days. Maybe three.

Big sigh of relief

Can I just say that I have the best road trip kids? We made it from San Diego to Redding which is about 600 miles and only stopped twice. There was no whining or crying or fighting. Actually there was a little bit of whining on Bears part. As we were going through Coalinga, he told me he was tired of smelling all the cows. I told him to stick his nose in his shirt. There were a lot of strange smells today. There were a massive amount of onion trucks on the road. Those were really smelly. Bear commented on those too. And at one point I thought I smelled pepper for about a mile. I am not sure how pepper is grown, but I think that I might have passed by a pepper field if that is even possible.

We got to Redding at about 3:30 and it was 108 degrees. I think that is the hottest temperature I have ever been in. It sucks. I cannot wait to get back to dreary drizzly overcast Washington. I have had enough sun for awhile. i think we are going to take off early tomorrow morning and make it back before rush hour in Seattle tomorrow. That is the goal. We will see how tonight goes though.

My little beggar

Last night we had frozen yogurt for dessert. 3 of us sat on the couch eating our yogurt while Bug walked to each one of us, stood there, and signed "please" until we gave her a bite. If we did not respond within a few nano seconds of her first request, her signing would become larger, faster and more flourished until we obliged her. She is really catching onto the sign language and I am happy because she still speaks her own language. And she is not very understanding when she spews out an entire sentance at me, head nods and hand gestures included and I just stand there looking at her having no idea what she just said to me. She will usually say it one more time and then if I do not hop right on it, she gets pissed. So the sign language is really helping.