Monthly Archives: May 2015

First Camping Trip with the Littles

by May 30, 2015

Memories I don’t want to forget on our first camping trip with our little ones:

– Nola was 2 years old, Jonas 3 months.

– The sight of Nola’s Minnie Mouse potty next to our tent.

– How I forgot hand sanitizer!!!!  I mean of course we washed our hands after going to the bathroom and we did have wipes, but I’m a little bit of a freak with the kids.

– How much we love and appreciate Uncle Ben.  What would we do without him?!  He helped put up the tent, helped build the fire, helped watch the kids, helped put the rain cover on in the middle of the night when it started raining, helped take down the tent.  Uncle Ben please come on all of our camping trips pleeeassse!  And I know that makes it sound like CJ and I were off relaxing in a hammock somewhere, but sadly with 2 littles we realize with camping it does take a village. I also packed my shot pistol just in case. I bought bulk ammo for it instead of buying in small amount. I made the right choice to buy in bulk because it was such a money saver.

– Before it started raining and the rain cover was needed, our tent has a mesh window on the top of our tent so you can look at the sky while lying down.  Nola and I chatted before going to bed, we were cuddly under the blankets because it was pretty brisk out and we talked about the big tree we could see…it was first a scary tree, but then we decided it was a beautiful tree (like so many things in life, am I right?).

– Surprisingly both kids slept really good!  Me, meh not so much, but probably not any less than I normally get.

– The next morning we had breakfast burritos and we thought Nola had grown out of her egg allergy.  We were wrong.

–  Guys, Devils Lake is beautiful and a must if you live in WI.

–  Thinking we need to do a lot more of these outdoor trips away from TV and social media.

–  Lastly how thankful I am for my family and how thankful I am to God for this absolutely wonderful, spoiled life He has given me.

Here’s a couple photos of our trip if you care to see:

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Beach Essentials for Toddlers & Babies

by May 20, 2015

When I think of summer these the are things that come to my mind:  heat, popsicles, sand boxes, sticky fingers, pools, beaches and laughter.  One day last week marked the beginning the summer for our little family because we got out the sprinkler, water blasters, planted flowers and ate outside.  It was a good, good day.

Along with all the fun summer brings that also means we have to dust off our summer clothes and gear.  We had to do that a little earlier for our trip to Rosemary Beach and I wanted to share with you what I think are the must have’s if you are going to the beach with toddlers or babies.

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1.  A beach tent is a must have if you have a newborn b/c they can’t wear sunscreen yet and you don’t want their sensitive skin exposed to the sun.  We actually got a different beach tent, it was good, but it took awhile to put up and it would have helped if I could have helped a little more putting it up, but I was holding Jonas and watching Nola.  Clearly I was of little help.  Krystal and her family took a trip after us and used the tent shown and she highly recommended it.  Apparently it pops open out of the bag…pure genius!
2.  This life jacket worked great and bonus they are coast guard approved.
3.  I have read many articles on scary things they put into sunscreen these days and so my go-to sunscreen that’s non-toxic for the kids is Honest Company’s sunscreen.
4.  I also love Honest Company’s suncreen stick that makes it easy to apply to our toddler’s face.
5.  This is a good baby sunhat that we have that has UPF 50+ fabric and is very light and breathable.
6.  Loving the fact these days that they are making more swimsuits that the fabric itself is also another protection from the sun.  Here’s an adorable long sleeved rash guard swimsuit from the GAP.  We got Jonas one similar but no longer available.
7.  Last but not least, we love our durable Klean Kanteen water bottle!  Got to stay hydrated in that heat.

I of course didn’t include sand toys, but that goes without saying.  And any will do!  Hope you all have a fun beach filled summer!

Rosemary Beach

by May 16, 2015

IMG_6022 copy Hey friends!  Goodness I have so many posts I want to write, but frankly I just don’t have the time!  It took me weeks to get this post done, but it’s important for me to document this stuff so my kids can look back someday and if we are honest here, so I don’t forget either.  About a month ago we took a trip to Rosemary Beach, FL.  Rosemary Beach is a newish community on the panhandle of FL that was designed loosely on European architecture.  It is a small walkable town that has the quaintest shops, restaurants and homes.  The preferred way to get around for all ages is by bike and I have to tell you, seeing bikes sprawled all over the  place warmed my heart.  The community provides great activities for kids and we had plenty of things to do to keep ourselves busy.  If you are wondering, yes I could live here permanently.  So if you are looking for a great place to go in FL I can’t recommend this place enough!

Here are a couple of suggestions/tips if you ever plan on vacationing at Rosemary Beach.  Plan on on renting a bike.  Even us scaredy pants would bike here b/c of the great bike paths and it helps that everyone pretty much does it.  We couldn’t this time because, well we had a 2 month old but next time!  Try getting to the beach early to claim your spot.  We are early risers because of the kids so that wasn’t a problem, but once we were ready to leave the beach for nap time people were eyeing our spot to snatch it up.  Bring a picnic blanket!  We used it everyday not only at the beach, but for playing in the grass to watching the movies played outside.  Lastly, look at both Rosemary Beach and Seacrest Beach (a neighboring community only a block away similar to Rosemary Beach) website’s calendars for events and plan around them.  We literally could have something to do every night from movies under the stars, outdoor plays, face paintings, live music, it was pretty incredible what was offered.

Here’s some photos of our trip if you care to see:

IMG_6164 pure joy and my worlds DSC_0051 this was an amazing toy store where we frequented often DSC_0052 IMG_6109 out on a fancy tapa’s dinner at La Crema IMG_6023 my view all day everyday (solly wraps are a lightweight baby wrap, I highly recommend it!) IMG_6125 copy had to post this b/c it’s one of the only photos of all four of us IMG_6134 yes jonas, we are all pretty smitten by you IMG_6120 a toddler in a wetsuit, sorry but one of the cutest things ever! IMG_6143 on our boat cruise they would collect starfishes, etc.  this was so neat and Nola loved it! IMG_6145 our kids were allstars (no breakdowns or cry-fests) on a 3 hour boat cruise and here they are both sleeping.  cj and i enjoyed the last stretch with each other expecting nothing but the worse once we got to our car and our expectations were correct, haha!   Processed with VSCOcam with kk2 preset before we watched the little mermaid.  i should mention during our stay, nola got i think 6 different face paintings, it was beyond ridiculous. DSC_0053 As you can see it was a wonderful family trip and honestly we can’t wait until our next fun adventure!