Goin' on a Camping Trip

Before talking about the camping trip, I wanted to show some pics of Jeremy playing softball. He is on a team with a bunch of co-workers, part of a pretty big league. Not only does he love it, he is really good at it. Here he is making a hit.

His games are on Weds nights, which means that I don't go to them because our youth group happens at the same time. We get a babysitter to watch the boys while we both go out. Luckily, we were able to go watch Daddy play on June 11. Can you find Jeremy way out in left field?

Tanner was so excited, proud and concerned about Daddy. He wanted to be with him in the dugout and talk to him while he was on the field.

Dallin was happy walking around and stealing the other kids' baseballs.

On Friday, June 13, we went camping!!

 It was our very first camping trip with kids. We decided about an hour before we left that we should go camping because it was beautiful weather. We got the boys in pajamas and ate dinner on the way. The campsite is only 20 minutes from our house on a lake at a state park. 

The boys were really excited about the tent!!

Dallin loved walking inside the tent and then leaning and falling into the walls of the tent. The boys giggled and giggled.

We relaxed a little.

And we enjoyed the BEAUTIFUL surroundings.

We went on some hikes, er, walks.

Can you see the deer in this picture?

We saw lots of wildlife including deer, cranes, fish, large spider, mosquitos, something that looked like a small beaver, and RACCOONS that creeped around our campsite, getting within 10 feet of us while we were roasting marshmallows!

Family selfies.

I love the Midwest. It is soooo green here!!

Tanner reminded us to be quiet at the lake by shhhing us so that we wouldn't scare all the fish.

He wore his camping vest that Grandpa Papa gave him.

Once we got a fire going, we roasted marshmallows and made s'mores. We also ate hotdogs roasted over the fire.

Even though Tanner was very scared of the raccoons, he slept the best out of all of us. It was a really warm night, so that was awesome. When we woke up, Jeremy read "8:30am" on his phone. We ate some yogurt and granola bars, packed up camp, and put the boys in their carseats. I wondered for a minute why no one else was up and about; it must have been two hours since we first woke up. When I started the car, the clock said "8:25am." No wonder the campgrounds were so quiet. We had actually gotten up at 6:30 am!! 

I officially deem our first camping trip a success!! The best part was that we didn't have to stress out about food and multiple days of clothes and activities. We were back home before 9:30am, so we had our entire Saturday to work in the garden and get some projects done.

On Saturday morning, Jeremy was doing this:

Only a few hours later, he was doing this:

For me to say that I am so incredibly blessed to have Jeremy for my husband is a major understatement!

Chicago

During the weekend of June 6-9, we went to Chicago!! Jeremy had business there on Mon and Tues, so we tagged along with him for the whole weekend, and Hormel paid for a lot of the trip.

Our hotel had the coolest pool stuff for kids. Dallin was in heaven. 

 Tanner used his body floaty thing for the first time. It worked really well in the big pool, except that Tanner wouldn't let go of us to really try it out.

This time swimming, we noticed that Dallin naturally SPITS and blows away any water that gets near his mouth. Tanner naturally SWALLOWS any water that gets near his mouth. I never really believed that some kids have a knack for swimming over others, but Dallin really seems to be one of those kids that just has a knack for being in water.

We met up with the Hills at their church Fun Run. It didn't take long for Jeremy to round up a bunch of kids to play baseball. He said he was just trying to play with Tanner, and then all of a sudden other kids were begging to play, too.

 We enjoyed the Kohl's Children Museum in/near Evanston. So many fun exhibits.

We were in the music exhibit for quite a while.

 The dancing room was cool.

Man, I love how silly Jeremy is sometimes!

 I don't think the boys are supposed to climb on this one!

 We walked on the grounds of the Chicago temple. Tanner has been begging to come with us to the temple (He stays with babysitters when we go to the one in St Paul). So when we told him that he could come to the temple with us, he was so excited!

He liked feeling the stones on the temple wall.

 Tanner took this picture of us. What a good shot!

 We had homemade pizza dinner with the Hills. The kids played independently for a long time, kind of avoiding each other, it was super funny.

 But then after dinner, they started interacting with each other.

 And then they got really crazy.

 I think Tanner is pretty fond of his little friend.

 Zavoral and Hill kids!

 We ate out at some fantastic restaurants, including deep dish pizza and this Persian restaurant!

Here's my attempt at getting a picture of them in their matching shirts.

We spent an afternoon at the Museum of Science and Industry. 

We learned a lot about this U-boat that the US captured in WWII.

Another attempt at matching shirt pictures.

A tractor!

TV buddies.

All tuckered out.

We also enjoyed a day at the beach with the Hills and some of their friends! Jeremy was at his work stuff this day.

The boys played mostly by themselves. They were very content to be alone.

I tried moving them closer together for a better picture. Dallin got up and walked back to his own play area.

During the last 30 minutes or so, they warmed up to the other kids.

Sand angels!

Ready to go back to the hotel for a nap.

That night, we went to a White Socks baseball game. The boys LOVED it. Everyone got a hoot with how our boys cheered. If a great play was made, Tanner and Dallin would watch everyone cheer, completely mesmerized and amazed at how loud we all got. Then, when things were dead quiet, the two of them would scream at the top of their lungs, clap and bounce up and down. It was hilarious.

We all lasted happily for 6 innings, dinner during about two of those. We left at the first sign of discontent from Dallin, which I thought worked out nicely. Sometimes we try to tough it out the whole game, trying to get our money's worth or something. Leaving right when we could tell the kids were done made the whole experience way more enjoyable!

On Tuesday morning, I took the boys to the Bean at Millennium Park. When we first walked up to it, Tanner said, "Hey! I was here last time, Mama!" He remembered being here over 10 months ago! I thought that was pretty cool that he not only remembered it, but that he was able to articulate that he remembered it. (He was only 25 months old the one other time we were here).

Can you find us in this reflection? We're the ones with the stroller.

Dallin did not care at all about the bean, he wouldn't even look at his own reflection. He just wanted to climb things, like the stroller.

We met up with Jeremy for lunch at this yummy pancake place.

Then, we headed home! The weekend was sooo much fun. I can't wait for our next trip to Chicago. Seriously, this city does not get the attention it deserves. There is so much to see, which can be illustrated in this family pic of us all looking in different directions! Chicago, we'll be back soon!!