Carson turned 4 years old today!
We celebrated with birthday biscuits (his favorite breakfast), a low-key day (his best kind), cupcakes (even the dinosaur got a bite) and presents (trains & mazes & new trucks - oh my!). Happy birthday Mr. C! Each day with you is even more fun than the one before. You are a treasure.

We spent this whole weekend just hanging out and getting some things done - including the Christmas stuff around the house. Once most of the general decorations were done, Carson made sure Daddy knew where the tree was supposed to be in the living room:

And when the tree arrived... both of them were quite, um, we'll say "helpful" in that they didn't actually pull it down on Scott while he was under there... they just tried.



Nolan was convinced his helpfulness could extend to trimming (which was cute until he tried to trim the dog's tail) and Carson had other ways of undoing that which had already been done.

What a great day! We started out with a lazy morning on the couch, eating cinnamon rolls (because hey, if you know you're going to blow your diet for a day, you might as well do it right) and watching the Macy's Parade... but what a parade it was! Carson's eyes lit up with every new thing that came across the screen... giant balloons, dancers flipping through the air and cartoon character that came to life. It was like seeing the whole thing for the first time. There was no sense in even trying to leave the room - I would just get called back... "Mommy, Mommy, come quick - it's BUZZ LIGHTYEAR!". When it was finally time to take a shower I got a play-by-play of every balloon that came through while I was gone. Adorable. We spent the afternoon in Albany at Elaine's Uncle Rob & Aunt Vicki's house just enjoying some time together as a family. Oh, along with football and some really good food. The kids fell asleep on the way home and Daddy & Mommy are snuggling into the couch. The blessings we have as a family are too many to count... we have so much to be thankful for.

Dear Nolan,

 

Some thoughts from your mother regarding sleep.

 

First, if you are cranky and mommy gives you Tylenol around 7:30 it is because she is afraid something hurts and she wants you to sleep. It is not meant to perk you up and send you dancing around the house. Tylenol may be withheld in the future if this becomes a regular outcome. For roughly 13 of the 17 months you have been alive, you have gone peacefully into your bed at 8pm. This was not simply coincidence or an accident. Your parents have actually put thought into your bedtime; an equation that involves the amount of sleep you need, the time you need to wake up and our own personal sanity. There is no need to start ‘testing’ the bedtime routine so see if it’s set. It is. We will win.

 

Finally, your parents provide some lovely food options between the hours of 5pm and 8pm. You are welcome (and encouraged) to eat whatever the family is eating, but we are also willing to provide any combination of waffles, sausage, eggs, yogurt, cereal, fruit, etc. Refusing to eat during these hours and then waking up hungry in the middle of the night is unacceptable. Our 3:30am rendezvous with a bowl of Cheerios, a dozen strawberries, three pieces of cheese and some yogurt will not be occurring on a regular basis.

On a side note, thank you for not trying any of this while we were trapped in a trailer together a few weeks ago.

 

Love,

Mom

Seriously the most interesting thing we've done since we've been home is make a berry pie one night. (Please excuse the little misunderstanding at the beginning of the video where one person thought we were taking a picture and the other thought he was shooting a video.)
Yeah for downtime!
Here's the picture I thought we were taking first...

We’re back and to answer the most obvious question – yes! We got one! Well, Terry got it actually, right off the bat on opening day. Yeah Terry!



A general gallery of pictures is posted here.

Posts from prior years have pretty thoroughly covered the ins-and-outs of elk camp so here are some notes about what made this year unique...

The “new” trailer
When it comes to trailers, size matters! The increased space was fabulous for life with two kiddos. Carson loved being outside, but also enjoyed playing inside. Nolan was fine outside once we got there, but (loudly) expressed his desire to stay in every time I tried to get his coat on him. Trailer time featured table dancing, live concerts and muffins. Quite the wild establishment we were running!


The bathroom
You can either continue to teach your three-year-old how to wash his own hands and use the bathroom by himself OR conserve the limited water available in the trailer. Not both.


A lot of bull
Multiple people, including Scott, saw multiple branch bulls in the woods this year, but no one held a branch tag. Frustrating, but also pretty cool to see the larger animals.

The windows
Before we left Scott designed and made Plexiglas storm windows for our trailer so we would not have to use the plastic that you tape on and blow-dry to tighten. This was a good thing. The plastic would not have made it through a single day with the boys.


Snow pants!
I like to think my sister and I were this cute when we used to run around in our snow pants and long johns, but I’m not sure that’s possible. The boys were adorable!


Bogart
…is a saint. ‘Nuf said.
 

The Boys
Carson’s energy level is either admirable, or frightening. Nolan can stuff just about anything he can reach into the two inch crack behind the couch in our trailer. I found rolls of paper towels, sippy cups, hats/gloves/scarves, toys and yes, Nolan himself back there over the course of the week.


The Kids Laughing
Is priceless.

If you need us we'll be here...

Witches, princesses, cows and an evil lego villain descended on our house this afternoon for some Halloween fun. We ate sausages, painted pumpkins and made Kleenex ghosts until everyone was gone and then enjoyed some much needed family down-time. Carson was very excited for trick-or-treating so in the evening the Geico money, Mr. Dragon, a Hershey's Kiss and momma with her little horns made the rounds in the neighborhood before heading down to our church for some Halloween activities there. Happy Halloween everyone! Thanks for making the day so special!

Carson had his first field trip this morning - to Farmer John's just outside of McMinnville where they learned about vegetables and farming, made rattles out of hazelnuts and took a tractor ride to the pumpkin patch. 18 three-year-olds on a field trip is a little, no, actually just like herding cats, but with the help of a lot of parents, everyone had a good time!

Dinner = Olive and Pineapple pizza!