Camp Day Two

Today we day two of camp and we all had fun again.  Jack and Ewan played hard, swam/played in the pool and wore themselves out. 

After working out at the gym Sean and I headed to a baby only playdate.  He had fun with his pals.  It was nice to have only one child.  I actually got a chance to socialize and Sean could have some fun with kids closer to his age.

Then it was off to Moe's to grab lunch before picking up our campers.  It was definitely strange being at Moe's without Jack and  Ewan...my Moe's lovers!!  BUT, Sean discovered he too is a Moe's lover.  Today he had his first Mini Masterpiece and liked it.

Food Revolution

We here at Chez Dalrymple try to eat well.  I am quite thankful that Jack and Ewan are good eaters.  I don't know if it's luck or just constant exposure to good food.  I know many children their age that don't eat well...only chicken nuggets, cheese and other "kid" food.  I try to avoid this though obviously sometimes we do have "bad" food. 

We recently finished watching the second "Food Revolution" with Jamie Oliver.  It certainly opened my eyes as to what children eat in public schools across the country.  That having been said, my children will of course be taking their lunches.  I can only hope that seeing other children's bad eating habits won't influence them.

Last night we tried our first recipe from the Food Revolution cookbook.  I made chicken korma and it was a huge success.  Jack and Ewan ate their entire dinner!!  Like I said, they are good eaters.  We also had homemade naan with it (thanks to Josh for that one).  It's always better knowing what's in you food, and the best way to do that is to make it yourself.

It's nice to have a family dinner at home and everyone discuss their day.  That having been said, in practice it isn't always that nice, YET.  Right now we're busy getting Jack and Ewan to behave at the table, eat nicely and keeping Sean from putting all his food in his hair.  All of this practice, however, will someday lead to nice family dinners!  I also look forward to the day the boys can help cook.  I know they would love to help, but right now they just get in the way!

What recipe shall we try next??

Chicken Korma, YUMMY

Camp Day One

This morning was Jack and Ewan's first day of camp at the gym.  They were both excited to go.  It's amazing the difference 30 minutes makes.  We usually leave for the gym at 8:30, but with camp we had to leave around 8.  So we hit some of the morning rush along the way.  Not too bad, but still a change in routine.

We got to the gym early enough to still drop off my bag in the locker room and then take both boys to the bathroom.  And then it was time to drop them off.  Ewan was perfectly fine and happy.  Jack, on the other hand, decided to cry and have a mini meltdown.  I left and took Sean to the babysitting room.  On my way to the gym for my workout I had somebody look in the room; Jack was perfectly fine as I suspected.

I enjoyed my quiet time working out.  Then it was off to the shower...again the 30 minutes made a difference.  Since I was in the locker room earlier than my usual I discovered I arrived when the water aerobics class let out so I had to wait for a shower.  It was quite entertaining though listening to all the old ladies and their stories!!

Sean was happy to see me...it was about his morning nap time so he was getting cranky.  I packed him up and we went to Oma's to pick up Chloe.  We took her to the kennel as my parents left for Montana EARLY this morning.  Sean cried the whole time, unable to fall asleep.  He just nodded off as we approached our destination.  Luckily when I woke him he was happy. 

Next it was off to Old Navy, World Market and the grocery store.  We got home, had lunch and then had to run off to pick up Jack and Ewan!  BUSY morning!!

The guys had a great time...colored, played with sidewalk chalk, played/"swam" in the pool, had snack, lunch and played a lot.  They were the only kids staying just half days, the other kids were either already napping or close to it!

We got home, settled in and fed Sean.  Then it was nap time.  Jack and Ewan took LONG naps!!  Yeah me! I got lots done...cleaned clothes out of the eaves and my closet.  Now I need to go to the charity drop off.

Such a busy day, I'm pooped too!

Happy Campers leaving the gym.

Adventures in Boyland

Just a couple pics of the guys.  Yesterday Sean enjoyed his first taste of Daddy's homemade grilled pizza!  Yeah, success eating solids.  He wants more finger foods but still only prefers crackers and cereal so this was good news. 

Also a pic of my dirty sweaty Ewan.  Needless to say it was hot here as always and he was busy playing outside after dinner.  He managed to find dirt, imagine that!!!

First Ice Cream

What is a holiday weekend without ice cream?!  Last weekend Sean enjoyed his first taste of ice cream.....coconut ice cream from Dolly's in Brevard.  Can't do much better than that for your first taste of ice cream!!!  Took longer to post this as I'm just now getting to retrieving the photo from my phone, though some of you saw the photo already as I e-mailed it right away!  He's too cute!!

Mountain Fun, Part 2

Sunday after breakfast we hiked Graveyard Falls.  It was supposed to be 30-90 minute hikes, depending on which trail you took.  We planned on doing the short one...it even for us it was too short with the boys.  So we decided to continue on all the way to the top of the falls.  It was a beautiful hike and I was especially impressed with Jack and Ewan.  They did extremely well.  They are great little hikers!!!!

We got to the top and had some fun playing in the water.  After snacks, a bottle for Sean and other adventures (aka me falling flat on my butt and elbow, covered in water and mud) we headed back.  Jack and Ewan still did well, despite it being nearly 1:30 and not having had lunch yet!!  Ewan was definitely getting tired though and after several falls, scratches and skinned knees I had to carry him.  I ended up carrying him most of the way back (1.6 miles).  Good thing I work out at the gym!!!  Sean took his nap on the way back.

Needless to say when we got to the car it didn't take long for all the boys to fall asleep.  Of course this meant no regular afternoon nap.  It was 3 by the time we got home.  So we had some snacks, took baths and showers and went out for an early dinner. 

We went to Marco Trittoria....one of my favorite restaurants in Brevard.  My duck risotto was heavenly.  Just like being back in Italy.  We also got a caraffe of wine....couldn't even finish it they filled it so full!!

After dinner we headed to the park to wear out the boys and then to Dolly's for some ice cream.  Sean enjoyed his first licks of ice cream.  He likes coconut ice cream, as do I!!!

Today we went to the Fourth Festival in Brevard.  Jack and Ewan enjoyed playing on the bouncies, though it was hot.  We checked out the car show and had lunch.  Then it was back to the house to clean up and pack.  All in all a great weekend, despite lack of sleep!  The boys just get so excited to be there they don't sleep much.

Mountain Fun

We went to the mountains for the holiday weekend and had an action packed time!  We left Friday at after 8PM with the boys in pjs in the car.  Figured we would miss major traffic by going later, which we did, yeah!  All three boys fell asleep after a little while.  Jack woke up when we stopped for gas right before the state line and stayed awake the rest of the way.  He was very busy paying close attention to everything.  Ewan woke up eventually too and was thrilled to be approaching the mountains.

I should mention that Jack and Ewan really appreciate Oma and Opa purchasing a mountain house for them!!  They keep calling it "my mountain house" or "our mountain house"!  Sean also enjoyed himself....he really loves checking out new places.  He was also mastering his pulling up skills.  He had pulled up a couple times at home already but was doing it everywhere in the mountain house.

While we did have tons of fun, we did not enjoy the sleep schedule for a while.  After we arrived around 11pm Friday Sean decided it was time to party hard and stayed up til 1:30am.  Not my idea of fun!!  Then Jack got everyone up at 6:15.  Having all three boys share a room isn't easy at this age....Jack kept waking up early and waking his brothers.  He was so excited to start the day and get hiking!!  Plus with big hikes during the day, afternoon naps were pretty much short, just the ride back to the house.  We did survive though!

Here are some pics from the hike on day one.  Saturday we went to the farmer's market, had lunch at home and then hiked Triple Falls and High Falls.  Sean really enjoyed riding on Daddy's back and checking out his surroundings.  He LOVED playing in the falls.  I think he may like the mountains more than the beach.  All the boys had a blast!!!  Jack and Ewan were excellent little hikers too.