The Pool!

By far one of the best features of the campground was the pool.  It wasn't open the first time we went, but with the hot weather we had, it was not only open, but a life savior.  They had a small spray park for little kids and a larger pool.  Hours and hours of real cool (literally and figuratively) fun.

One thing that was great about the big pool was the low end was three feet, so the kids could actually stand.  Eventually, we convinced them to take off the life jackets and with their goggles, they just started swimming!  Completely under water, holding their breath and all.  Kind of did breast stroke like strokes.  Liliana looked like a mermaid!  

Paddle boats

One of the reasons we like this campsite is because there is a lot of activities for the kids.  We all decided to go out on the boats on the lake Saturday afternoon.  The Lewertoffs were in one boat, Gomezes in another.

Liliana and Felix up front.

Lucas and I steering in the back.

Here are the Lewertoffs.

Aaaah!  Collision!  Well, it was planned.  

Afterwards, we headed off to the pool to cool off.  Stayed tuned for details about that.

Jumping pillow

One of the fun things the kids got to do while camping was to jump on the jumping pillow.  It's like a big bouncy house, without walls.  At first I was nervous that they would just fall off, but they didn't.  They had what they called "tiny tyke time" which is when the pillow was open only to kids 6 and under.  And since we got there right when it opened, they had the whole thing to themselves!

Camping....

Well, as we planned, we headed out this weekend with the Lewertoff crew for some camping back up at Jellystone (where we had gone for Mother's Day weekend)  We were able to request two sites right next to each other.

Our set up...

The twins.

Everyone brought their bikes...and there was plenty of room to ride.

Arne the grill master.

Our other cooking set up (this is the stove I bought not too long ago)

Hanging around the campsite, blowing bubbles, picking out marshmallow sticks and roasting marshmallows by the fire.

How to explain this.

Our letterboxing adventure took us through St. Paul's graveyard.  That is nothing new for the twins.  Every week when we walk to church, we walk on the path right through the graveyard.  We have tried to answer their questions about this area in an appropriate manner.  They know that when people die they are buried there, and that by now, it's only bones.  They know that most of the people lived a long, long time ago...some date back to the Civil War!

But after we found our letterbox clue, Liliana noticed a grave marker with little toy trucks on it.  She was incredibly curious about it.  Turns out it was a grave for a baby boy.  He was born about three years before the twins and lived only eight months.  I explained that it was where a boy was buried and that his family probably left the trucks for him.  I wasn't too sure if I should have told her that it was a grave for a child, but I didn't know what else to say.  She sat like this looking at the grave for quite some time.  Lucas was less intrigued....he asked if he could have the trucks....go figure. 

Treasure hunting...aka letterboxing

It was threatening to rain all afternoon yesterday (but never did).  So instead of going to the beach, we went letterboxing.  Letterboxing is a scavenger hunt like activity where you follow clues to different letterboxes hidden all over towns and cities.  In Norwalk, the Historical Society is in charge of the boxes' locations and the clues given to those locations.  Two letterboxes are located within walking distances to our house....one is at our church.  So we headed out.

We figured out the location of the first box at the Norwalk Green, but the brush was so overgrown we couldn't find it.  So we headed over to the church.  The clues took us through the cemetery, reading gravestones and historical markers of the church.  Finally, in the back by the labyrinth, we found the letterbox!

Since it had been raining so hard lately, the water had gotten in and it was pretty wet.

People from all over letterbox.  The idea is that you bring a stamp to stamp in the book to say you have been there.  These are some of the stamps from people who had been there.

This family was from Maryland.

Some of these were from Florida!

This group calls themselves the "70 Something Sisters"  Pretty funny.

In the letterbox there is also a stamp.  I forgot to bring a stamp or ink pad, but you are supposed to stamp your book with the letterbox stamp to show that you were there.  The stamp still had some ink on it so we tried to stamp it as best we could in our clue book.

Last night I designed our family stamp online and ordered it.  When we get it we will go back and stamp the church letterbox.  There are about 10 boxes in Norwalk alone....something to keep us busy this summer.

Frist Family Race!

Well, it was bound to happen in this family.  Our first race altogether.  I have taken the kids to see Felix race and he has done the same for me, but this weekend, we all were in the Norwalk Lightfoot Runners 3 mile race.  Felix pushed the twins in the stroller which I found amazing.  I had been training all winter (running through ice and snow and cold) and ran my best time ever, and he STILL passed me!  Ha!

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The race was held at Norwalk High School and we went to the track afterwards to relax.  Liliana was all about running!  There she is with Felix.

Lucas even joined in the fun.  Who knows, they might be racing before we know it.  There was a family at the race who had their four year old running the race.  That seemed a bit much.  He looked at our kids in the stroller and said "Time to get out of that thing and run!"  That's ok, I don't think they need to be running 3 miles at 4.  

Afterwards we just hung out on the astroturf and enjoyed the beautiful morning.

A little night reading...

We recently bought the kids book lights to read at night.  Liliana has a Hello Kitty one and Lucas' is Buzz Lightyear.  They are a huge hit!  Of course this means they go to bed a little later, but that's ok.

And I should use this time to report a major milestone of Ms. Liliana.  She is officially out of pull-ups.  Both kids have been potty trained for a while now, but night time was always an issue. So its official. We are halfway out of diapers forever!  She is very proud and we are trying to be positive with her without making it too weird for Lucas who is such a sound sleeper, I think will sleep in his pull-up for much much longer.

Hiking

On Saturday we were supposed to have a BBQ at a friend's house, but the weather looked so crummy that we rescheduled.  It turns out the weather was great and so with nothing to do we headed up to Kent Falls State Park in Kent CT.  

The park had a waterfall and with all the rain we have been having, the falls were raging.

There was a nice hiking trail that took us up to the top of the falls.

Look at that split tree behind us!

And this fallen tree...

The long walk down.

We had a nice picnic snack at the bottom before heading out.  As we were driving out of Kent (a very cute little town), we ran into a book sale and got some good stuff!  A very successful day overall.

Too cute for words sometimes....

Things are getting serious!

The tent is up!  We had a dry run a little while ago, while the weather was nice.  It's an eight person tent, but with all of our stuff, I think it will get crowded quickly.

Liliana and Lucas just hanging out inside...

We even got some new "gear".  Our camping dinnerware.  Four plates, bowls, cups and insulated cups.    The twins quickly assigned us all our own color.

Got these new pots for cooking (we got a camping stove but that didn't make the picture)

All the dishware and pots stack up nicely, the three pots are on the right (compact huh?).

And it all fits inside this carrying case.

We are off camping in a few weeks and are currently planning a major roadtrip in August to Nova Scotia!  Details to follow.