We Did Pitch Our Tents

If there was one thing I knew without a doubt by the beginning of May, it was that we needed to leave town as soon as preschool was over. Every discussion we had with Abigail about the end of school, trying to prepare her for the idea of not seeing Ms. Sue three times a week, ended with her wailing and crying. I thought maybe it would help if she had something to look forward to. So we planned a family trip - and family camping trip because that's what we can afford - to a few different fun places within a few hours of our home. From that point on, every time she started to cry, I quickly countered with, "But remember, once preschool is over, we get to go camping!" And that worked like a charm. By the time Memorial Day came, we were all so excited to go.

A number of people gave me a "you're crazy" look when I explained that we were going on a five-day camping trip. Admittedly, it was a little overwhelming with a little baby. The last time Jacob and I went camping was six years ago, before we had any kids at all! And here we were, going for five days, with three kids, in a car so small that we couldn't even take a cooler with us. So yes, the trip had its challenges, BUT - I am so glad we went anyway. We had such a wonderful time. And looking back at the pictures to get this post ready, every one of us mentioned what a great trip it was and that we hope we can do it again soon. It really was a treat.

We left midday on Memorial Day and went first to Dutch Wonderland, an amusement park in Pennsylvania that is geared towards little kids. All the rides, shows, and activities are intended for young children. It was perfect.

Not a great picture photographically, but - the smiles on their faces!!!

Dutch Wonderland allows anyone with a full-day pass to get into the park for free the last three hours the day before. Our tickets were for Tuesday, so we went for the last three hours Monday afternoon. Then we went to our campsite, which was within walking distance of the park's front gate, set up camp, roasted dinner over a fire, played on the playground, watched the ducks swim by, and went to bed to start again the next day.

On Day Two we did a full eight hours at Dutch Wonderland, from park opening to park closing.

Digging up dinosaur bones

My favorite part was Exploration Island. Abigail and Thomas were the perfect age for the animatronic dinosaurs, which they absolutely thought were real.

Both kids loved these cars, which they could drive themselves, but Thomas especially was in heaven. We must have done this ride like fifteen times in a row, Jacob and I handing off Lydia back and forth over and over again as the next parent's turn came up.

All the employees were so nice. The actors stayed around after their performances so we could talk to them and take pictures.

We very rarely had to wait in line for any rides. As we walked through the park and saw new things we wanted to try, we just hopped right on.

One more thing I was really impressed with was the layout. There was shade and benches everywhere! But it was pretty hot by the mid-afternoon, so we changed into swimsuits and finished our day at the water park.

We went back to our campsite and spent another night there. The next morning we packed up and headed to Philadelphia, a little over an hour away. Our first stop was to the Smith Memorial Playground, an old mansion that has been converted into a free play space for kids. Every floor of the mansion has a different theme, and the grounds have an awesome playground with unique features. We came here two years ago and I was so excited to return.

From there we checked into our KOA campsite and all of our other Philadelphia plans were busted. The campground was so amazing! There was a HUGE jumping pillow and a playground and sand to dig in...the kids were so happy, we just let them play there. Unfortunately I didn't have my phone with me to take pictures. I'm pretty sad about that. I wish I had captured the joy on their faces as they played there.

The next morning we packed up again and left for Assateague Island State Park, which was another two and half hour drive. The kids were exhausted and slept the entire way.

Because they were Boy Scouts, my brothers camped at Assateague Island numerous times, but I had never gone. It's been on my bucket list for years. A beach with wild horses is about as magical a thing as I can imagine. It did not disappoint.

Abigail and Thomas sat and played in the sand while Jacob set up the tent. I kept trying to explain to them that "there's an entire beach just on the other side of that dune! Let's go! It's like twenty steps away!" They were undeterred.

But we finally made it. It was a foggy afternoon and we couldn't see very far on the beach in either direction (probably about a football field length, total). For as far as we could see, we were the only ones there. That was pretty fabulous.

I slept wonderfully that night. The sand was soft under our tent and the sound of waves crashing kept me dreaming all night.

That morning we played at the beach, packed up our campsite, drove to Ocean City and did the beach for a couple more hours, then started the drive home. Again, the kids slept most of the way. We stopped halfway through to visit my aunt, who happens to live right on the route home.

I have such lovely memories of camping with these little ones. If I have just one complaint, it's that we didn't get enough time at any of our stops. Even with eleven hours at Dutch Wonderland (three preview hours and then a full eight-hour day the next day), we didn't get to everything! And we didn't get to go back through and re-do any of the things we had enjoyed the first time. I think we could have done another full day without getting bored. And we barely did anything in Philadelphia, we could have done another full day there. As for Assateague - ah, beautiful, peaceful, magical Assateague - I probably could have stayed there for an entire week. 

We made the decision to go camping for Abigail's sake, but it turned into the perfect family treat for all of us. 

I can't wait to go back. 

May [the good Lord bless and keep you]

In early May, a Mama and Daddy goose moved to the pond next to our house and hatched five adorable goslings. They were so cute but they grew up fast! We've been watching them all summer. 

May brought us lots of long, beautiful days in the sunshine.

Because we can always use more pictures of Lydia.

Family movie night!

It also brought lots of rainy, stormy days.

Watching a thunderstorm

Jacob took the training wheels off of Abigail's bicycle and taught her how to ride in just a few days. I think three days? We went through the classic process of learning something new: first she was excited, then she was scared and upset and begged us to put the training wheels back on, but then she mastered it and was delighted and so proud of herself! She asks to ride her bike every day and confidently zips around the neighborhood. I love watching her!

Once she could ride her bike she lots interest in her other riding toys, and Thomas kind-of took over the scooter. He is really surprisingly good at it.

One morning around 7:30 there was a knock at our door. Puzzled, I was tempted to not answer it, but then I thought - who knocks on a door at 7:30 a.m.? What if it's an emergency? So I went ahead and opened the door even though we were all still in our pajamas. Standing on my doorstep was an elderly neighbor I had never seen before. "Do your kids want to see a turtle?" she asked, and she pointed to her house across the parking lot where a big ol' turtle was trying to cross. Well yes, we did want to see that turtle. Thus the adventures of living next to a pond.

I don't know if this is happening everywhere or just here, but lately the grocery stores in our area have been adding kid-sized carts for "shoppers in training". My kids get such a kick out of this. They love wandering the aisles and putting items in their carts (although sometimes we have quite a discussion about what needs to go back onto the shelves).

We had a LOT of rain this spring. Every time we crossed the Potomac River we could tell the water was much higher, but we didn't really understand how much higher until we tried to take a hike on our favorite trail, the C&O Canal towpath. This flooded area used to be the parking lot. Way out by the bush (which is actually a tree) you can see the sign for wheelchair-accessible parking. So we didn't get much of a hike, but our kids threw rocks into the water for like thirty minutes, so I guess it was still a winner outing in their opinion.

Another trip to the pediatric dentist, another set of helium balloons. We tied one to Lydia's wrist and she LOVED it.

The end of May saw the end of Abigail's preschool. I can't believe how quickly this year went. There were a lot of tears - from me, from Abby, and from her teacher Ms. Sue. Abigail is very excited to start kindergarten next year, but hardly a day this summer has gone without her sighing, "I just miss Ms. Sue so much." We all do. She is a wonderful teacher.

Graduate!

Having three little children is pretty hectic and busy, and most days I feel like I am always letting someone down - or all three of them. And Jacob. There just isn't enough time to get to everything I need to do. I wish, more than anything else, that I had more time to spend one-on-one with each of them. But if there is one bit of silver lining to this cloud, it's that Abigail and Thomas have really learned to take care of each other. I took this picture one night as I sat in Abigail's room, nursing Lydia before bedtime. The older kids knew they were supposed to be getting ready for bed, but they were struggling a little since I wasn't right there helping them. I watched them get out their toothbrushes and then work together to turn on the faucet, unscrew the toothpaste cap, and brush their teeth. It was such a sweet, tender moment to witness. They are good buddies.

At the end of the month our town had its annual Mayfest celebration. It was a rainy day so we only went for the last hour when the rain cleared up. As I suspected, my kids' favorite part was riding this "trolley" shuttle (and we drove out of our way so they could do this. We are within walking distance of everything in town, and the shuttle was farther away than the Mayfest festivities, but whatever. We drove to the shuttle parking lot just so the kids could ride the trolley.)

Just a few couple of days later we left for our first family camping trip, but I will create another post just for that. It was a big deal!