Fall Camping

The mountains called to us this past weekend and we listened and obeyed. And it was good for everyone's spirit. 

Who needs a pack n play? 

Like he really stayed on the sleeping pad...

Posin'.

The morning after the night that everyone slept well (not to be confused with the other night that no one slept well or slept at all).

All these cuties. 

Beer Walls climbing approach. 

Rock rest. 

Jarod taking a lap on Frosted Mug. 

Right before she slid face first down that rest spot. 

Buddy boy!!

47 is pretty cold for camping!

Looking A LOT like his big sister here. 

Beer Walls selfies! Aka, waiting for Dad to finish climbing. 

Much good was had in the Adirondacks. Grateful. 

Campin'

Taking a five month old and a two and a half year old anywhere, I mean camping, for five days is a gamble. This time around we came out on top. I am so impressed and so in love with my little family. 

Camping and being outside are two things that Jarod and I are quick to agree on and can do well together. So to celebrate the end of his semester, we threw our tent, some sleeping bags, a dog and the two cutest kids I know, into the Pilot and headed north east to the Adirondack Mountains. 

It was a laid back, low key, low expectation family trip. We ate meals around the campfire, went on a few hikes, saw a waterfall, played in the river, had a fox visit, learned to poop by trees, ate a lot of "golden bwown" marshmallows, played in the dirt and pine needles, weathered rain and wind, and watched Daddy climb "waaaay up high". Charlie Ann had some of her cutest sayings thus far.. Including, "I so excited!" "A lottttttta times" "woasted mashmawwows". Completely adorable. She was genuinely thrilled about every part of the trip. Tripp was a trooper too. He was teething most of the time, which meant more nursing through the night, but otherwise, he loved being outside too. 

Let's keep our fingers crossed that these kiddos will do this well again in another month or two :)

Adirondack's, aka Spring Break with a 1 Year Old

Previously, we have dillied and we have dallied about road tripping with a baby... she's not a fan of the car seat or really sleeping anywhere other than her bed, she's particular about putting herself to sleep, and being alone, and on and on...  But it's Spring Break.  And Jarod and I love to go places and see new things.   Dilemma.  This wouldn't be a mandatory trip, like previous cross country excursions (i.e., moving West Coast to East Coast), this was a voluntary, possibly self-inflicted, but hopefully leisurely activity.

After being wishy washy most of the week, and contemplating and just over-thinking the entire ordeal, we remembered that WE are the parents here, and WE like to travel, and SHE is going to like it too.  So we took a deep breath, set the expectation bar super low and said, "deal with it, sista."  Not really the last part, it was more like check out a bunch of Baby Einstein DVDs and strategically plan the trip around her regular routine.

Wednesday, Jarod and I planned a smash and grab trip to the Adirondack's and Lake Placid in Eastern New York.  We booked a dog friendly room in Lake Saranac, made some Paleo-friendly trail mix and loaded up in the car at 4am the next morning.  We assumed this little package of cuteness would doze back off and snooze through most of the 6 hour drive.  False!  Good thing that expectation bar was just a few inches off the ground.

CA at 7am - sober faced and very much awake the past three hours.

We stopped at a little diner along the way for a leg stretch and breakfast.  

And surprisingly, after breakfast, around 9am, Charlie Ann napped (!) in the car seat for the next hour and a half as we finished the drive into the mountains.  

We dropped off this happy-as-a-lark guy to ice climb for the day in Keene Valley...

in these crazy conditions... bitter cold, whipping wind, snow gusts and a balmy temp of 15.  I repeat, crazy conditions.

Charlie Ann and I drove into Lake Placid and spent the next several hours doing what girls do best, shopping and eating and seeing the sights.  The conditions were about the same in the former Olympic Village, but CA seems to be rather invigorated by the cold (even though I remind her often that she is a SoCal girl) and was in peppy spirits the whole day.  
Now that she is a walker, these little outings are just great.  She can get out all of her 'I-need-to-move-energy' in a public place without say, licking the floor of the visitor center and being covered in slushy mud-snow from crawling.

In the late afternoon we returned to our drop off point to pick up the lark.

And yes, lark-dog joined him all day as well.

Here he is, post climbing!  Looking a little more frozen and a lot more like a skittle.

That evening, Charlie Ann again impressed us with a fabulous nap in the hotel room (asleep in 6 minutes flat in her pack-n-play!), a rambunctious Mexican dinner and another astounding night of sleep.    Who knew she was so capable?

Friday morning, Jarod got in another ice climbing session, and Charlie Ann and I played in the hotel pool.  

In the afternoon, we saw more sights at Lake Placid.  Including the acclaimed ice rinks that hosted the famous hockey match between the USA and the Soviet Union; and the Olympic Bobsled, Luge and Skeleton Track.

We even got to watch part of tournament.. Charlie Ann really loved the action.

Skeleton-er!  Crazy, crazy fast.  Like 84 mph fast, head first.  

And of course, Charlie Ann was ecstatic when they zoomed by.  That girl, she has her father's love of thrills and adventure.  The louder and faster, the better, for her.

Late that afternoon, we headed home.. in beautiful, but blizzard conditions.   

And once again, this little girl proved me wrong.  She took quite a long nap and was happy happy.

I am so glad that we braved it as new parents traveling with a little one.  She did super fantastic.  And we had a great time.  Jarod and I are learning that her little personality loves to be out and about.  She does great in groups and in public; the more action the better.   

And although the trip was shorter than it would have been pre-baby, we all were satisfied.  Happy Spring Break!