Camping Day 2...

Raccoon madness...

So we woke up the next morning; Granama got the fire started; Lala was cooking bacon and eggs...when I notice a raccoon creeping up to our camp. He was not shy, but he wasn't aggressive either. He ran away when you walked toward him. Then Gran got the big idea to feed him the left over meat skewer from the night before and started laying out pieces and he would come up and get it and run away and eat it, then come back for more. That Gran...always up to the unexpected.

Fender carefully watching the raccoon approach. Clearly no fear of wild animals. In fact, if I ever figure out videos again I believe his quote was "Mamma, it's like a big kitty. Can I pet it?" Thank goodness he asks before doing things most of the time.


Raccoon smells fresh bacon cooking.


Loren feeds Rocky a piece of bacon that fell.


Eating a piece of chicken Gran left for him.


Fender "the fearless" feeding Rocky the last bit of food from the skewer. I'm guessing most two year-olds can't say they've fed a wild raccoon. Will no one teach this boy some fear? Where is his mother? Oh...I was taking the picture. : /


Fender pretending to be a raccoon at breakfast.
Bacon and eggs...


Next we cleaned up our campsite and packed up a bit, then headed for a swim at the lake. Not crowded at all. We were about the only ones there that morning. Just beautiful.


Fender had this floaty swimsuit contraption on. Again, no points for style, but it takes first prize on function! Life vests ride up over his head and prevent swimming. Arm floaties don't let them learn to swim since their arms can't go under the water well. I had been opposed to any flotation device since I much prefer him to learn to swim...but this definitely has its place on a 2 year old at the lake who is just learning to swim. He LOVED his freedom and really started learning that kicking and moving your arms gets you places.

Jumping off Mamma's shoulders is fun.

Swimming on his own.


He was a pro jumping off the pier. Again...no fear! He jumped off into the deep side all by himself and swam back around to the stairs (or I helped pull him up on the side) again and again.


Toward the end of the day...one final swim to the pier...


...and back. Yep...we were teaching him to dive by the end of it. He's a quick study.


Fender and his LaLa.


It was a great trip! Fender is a pro-camper now. :) And seriously...his nickname should totally be "Fender the Fearless!" Oh and I never even mentioned that he was barefoot the whole time. I kept offering him shoes, but apparently the sand, sticks, leaves, spikey vines, hot pavement, ants, etc were better experienced without shoes. I'm not the biggest fan of shoes either so I guess he gets that one from me. Oops. : /

Fender's first CAMPING trip... Day 1

Okay...not only was this Fender's first camping trip, but I hadn't been in probably 12 years and seeing as how I don't anticipate a chance to go camping again until the twins are his age...I decided it was now or never.

19 weeks pregnant with twins is probably the last possible week one should try tent camping...not for any other reason except that the ground is a difficult place to sleep comfortably, especially with a Fender that kicks you off your only thin 1/2" pad separating you from truly sleeping on the ground.

Oh...what a blast! It was as awesome as I remembered. Mom and sis went so it was truly just like old times, minus a few of our true camping buddies from the past. We took so many pictures and there's so much I want to describe and remember about the trip for Fender so I think I'll post pictures and comment as they go.

To start...we opted for a screened shelter at Tyler State Park. Pictured on the right is that shelter...basically a big room with screens and a door. It did have electricity and the site had running water...two luxuries we definitely did not have while camping growing up. To the left you can see where we set up the tent that Fender and I slept in.


This is the beach area where we played. I was amazed that it wasn't more crowded than this that first day. The lake is actually fairly small and it reminded me exactly of where you send your kids for summer camps in movies.


They had a sandy beach area for the kids and Fender played here a little bit each day, but spent most of his time in the water, of course. We got more swimming pictures on the second day that I will post later.


Fender loved the tent.




For dinner we had this shrimp, chicken, and steak skewers, but the highlight were our traditional A-1 cheeseburgers. You are missing out if you've never had one of our A-1 cheeseburgers!!! And they are absolute perfection when grilled on a camping trip! Many Thanks to LaLa and Granama for all our delicious food prep and grilling this trip.


This is Fender the next morning.


This photo shows a bit better, how we started out sleeping side by side, but through the night Fender turned head into my side and pushed me off my teeny cushion of a mat so that he had all the mats, blankets, and pillows in the end. Not my most comfy of night's rest. But still plenty fun.


And that was Day 1...
I should also note that on this first day, Fender swam in just his swim trunks and no floaties on his arms, torso or elsewhere. We had a float ring and a float board and noodles if he wanted. So most of the day was spent with careful eye and arm nearby on the boy who likes to submerge every half second.

He had such a blast and even jumped from the pier to LaLa once. That made me nervous without a life jacket but he jumped right to her and he certainly wasn't scared in the least. On Day 2 he sports a floaty suit that seriously lacks in looks, but I praise the design and function as far as safety and freedom go when at the lake!

Day 2 when I get a chance and I will keep trying to figure out how best to upload and share videos now that google won't host them anymore.

Happy 90th, Marie...

Last weekend (Jun 19th) was our cousin Marie's 90th birthday. She's one of two remaining full-blooded Greeks left in the immediate family. Her mom and my great-grandmother were sisters.

This past Saturday the ladies of the church held a birthday luncheon in her honor. Fender painted her a birthday card, which she seemed to enjoy considering she has learned to draw and paint in her spare time. She really is unbelievable in all she does...and always doing for others except the painting class and exercise class. She volunteers at the church all the time and is head of the Altar Guild and has been delivering meals on wheels to shut-ins for a long-long time. She used to take me with her for meals-on-wheels when we would come visit in the summers growing up.

As with each of our Greeks, she is unique, truly loved, and such a joy to be around. She goes and goes, and Aunt Pauline (my 86 yr old Greek Aunt) and I marvel at how she gets around so well and makes us look so lazy. I tell Aunt Pauline...she doesn't make us look lazy...we just are lazy.

She never forgets a birthday and even remembers our anniversary every year! So we won't forget to celebrate her special day now. Happy Birthday, Marie! You are a blessing to all who know you!! :)

Patty, Me, Norie, Marie, Pauline, Fender.
 
 
 

After the birthday luncheon Fender got a haircut. See how he sits so grown up now all by himself without complaint. Lindsay gave him his first haircut and pretty much everyone since. :) He's growing up super fast! I better not blink.
 

Red cross swim lesssons...

Here's our Fender boy in swim class. Basically I enrolled us in the Parent-tot class again this year, but seeing that Fender prefers to swim alone and be under the water all the time, his instructor suggested I move him to the Pre-K class. Which I did. This class takes place in the shallow water and he gets in without me. Needless to say he loves it.

Another observation his instructor had, was that I should try to wear him out more by bringing him to the free-swim time after work from 5-6PM before the class. I did this Thursday...it wasn't enough so his instructor said go ahead and do the Parent-tot class too and maybe that will help wear him out more. So he got three swim times last Friday and I suspect he'll do the same again each day this week.

Basically...Fender can't get enough swimming...ever.

 
 
 
 

Happy Father's Day...

We had another fun-filled summer day. Fender woke his Daddy up by riding his big-wheel loudly through the bedroom door announcing it was time to get up. He gave him his Father's Day card and a craft he made him. We went to lunch with my Dad and sister then headed over to swim at a friend's house.

When it comes to Dad's, Fender is lucky to have one of the great ones! Fender and all of us, wish our Dad's and all Dad's a very special day today. Fender has a super terrific Daddy and Drew's Dad is pretty awesome too. But I have to say...and I am not ashamed to say it...my Dad is THE BEST DAD EVER! Hands down...none better in the history of the universe or that will ever be after! But it is fine if you think your Dad is/was the best too. I know the truth. :) (Do we girls love our Daddy's or what?)

Fender and his Papa.
 

And a little about our swimmer...uh...he's hard work at the moment. He LOVES to be underwater at all times. He holds his breath really well, and has no desire to come up for air unless he absolutely has to and only then for a brief gulp then back under for more. He can't swim yet either, so that makes it more difficult seeing as how he wants to be off in the deep water by himself. He'll grab on to you just to come up for air and then he goes back under or jumps away.

So...of course his favorite thing today was when Daddy showed him how to jump off the diving board. You didn't have to tell him twice. I said it last year too...the boy has NO FEAR, which is not necessarily a good thing when it comes to water. It is difficult to teach a 2 year old to respect the danger of the water without being scared of it. We're signed up for the Red Cross swim lessons again this year. They start tomorrow evening. I hope he'll learn to swim by the end of the summer, but I expect he'll have it aced next year for sure.

He was in this contraption a moment or two before he realized it wouldn't let him go underwater.
 
 

Quintessential Fender...swimming away from all safety to become one with the water. I should note...he gets this from his Granama who was also a fish growing up, spending her entire summer in the water and who feels most at home in the water still today. His Daddy isn't shy in the water either.
 

Airshow...

The family spent the day at the Denton airshow yesterday. Fen really enjoyed the static show (the parked airplanes and helicopters). His favorite was the blue plane he and Aunt LaLa are standing in front of. He also enjoyed the helicopter once he realized it wasn't the "bad guy" from Transformers. We explained that Decepticons get their name because they impersonate "good guys" and this was actually just a good guy and that the bad guy was in the movie. It was pretty funny.

We met up with Aunt LaLa and her friend's son Alex who had wanted to come along to the show too. He wants to be a commercial airline pilot and not so much the stunt pilot stuff.

The show was pretty incredible. Unfortunately, my camera shut down before we got to try to get pictures of the actual airshow. The fighter jet was everyone's favorite. We'd see the jet fly by and hear the sound come after it. The stunt pilots were awesome with all their twists and turns straight up in the air, then they stalled and fell straight back down spinning around even more. The small bombers flew three and four to a pack in close proximity and flew circles too. It was a great show!

Dynamo beat Dallas...

We had a great time at the game last night. 10 of us went to see the game and then a smaller group of us hung out with Bobby after. Don't forget to go online and vote for Uncle Bobby to be part of the MLS All-star team!

Bobby taking the field before the game...




Jason, Brady, Loren, and Fender. Loren and I have been friends with these guys since Jr. High.


Props to Fender from Uncle Bobby after the game.


Andrea, Uncle Bill, Fender, Drew, Me, cousin Carli, and her boyfriend Reed. Loren, Jason, and Brady not pictured.


Maybe I can be a soccer star like Uncle Bobby. :)


Our family....plus two in my belly.




Fender LOVES his Dynamo jersey from Uncle Bobby!!!


Uncle Bobby, Fender, and Daddy


Jason and Fender D.


Brady, Bobby, Jason, LaLa, Fender, Drew