Camping at Big Sur

We took the kids camping at Big Sur on September 12th. (down by Carmel & Monterey). We had reserved the spot for 2 nights but ended up only going one night -- and I am sure glad we did. We had fun; but the girls had a hard time sleeping. (Which means Tim and I got no sleep.) We got up early Saturday morning and drove down to the campsite. It took us about 3 1/2 hours to get there. The drive was pretty and I loved watching the waves crash against the coast. (But we didn't stop and take any pictures). We got to the campsite and set up camp. We ate lunch and tried to get the girls to take naps. (didn't work). I took Miles, Caden and Alexandra exploring and found the small creek. We went over to the "gift shop" and bought a map of the area and some treats.

After Tim set up the tent we tried to keep Avery in it but she was able to crawl out and get dirty quite quickly.

Tim told the boys that they could start a fire by rubbing sticks together or hitting rocks together. Caden picked the biggest stick he could find. Notice that he is also barefoot. He ran around barefoot half the time and his feet were black by the time we got home.
Miles hitting together his rocks.
Miles using a bigger rock to hit. The big rock became our "time-out" rock for the trip.
Alexandra had fun picking up the chairs and moving them around to various places.
On our hike. The boys look like they actually like each other!
The silly pose.
What is camping without smores?

And lastly - the boys thought it was great to burn all of our paper plates. Many times.

Next time we go camping girls will be a few years older.
Or when we have to go camping to sign off something for scouts.

Avery at One

At Avery's one year check up she weighed in at 18 lbs. 7 oz. (11%). I was pretty excited that she had gained so much because she hadn't been gaining much since her last few visits. And she was 28" (18%) long. So she is on the smaller side but that doesn't stop her. She has been working on standing up all be herself. When you clap for her she will do it more, then she will clap for herself. She is also good at giving hugs and kisses. And she loves to EAT, everything you give her. When she is done she will start throwing the left over food off the high chair tray.

Turning one

We celebrated Avery's First birthday last night. Great-Grandma Duncan and Aunt Denise came over to celebrate with us. We were going to have BBQ chicken, potatoes, rice & watermelon for dinner but we ran outr of propane and ended up having Papa Murphy's pizza and watermelon.

Tim was in charge of getting her a present because I couldn't find anything that I liked. He bought her this cute Disney Princess ride-on.
I think she likes it. The problem is big sister likes it too. Tim asked Avery "Do you like your present?" Alexandra turned around and yelled out "YES!" Great-grandma Duncan was laughing so hard.
I made Brownie cupcakes and Cookie-dough cupcakes. I found the recipes online and couldn't decide which one to make so I made both. They are both delicious. She was funny because she wouldn't eat the cupcake sitting on the table. Once I put her in the high-chair she made a huge mess and enjoyed the cupcake.


We can't believe she is already one. The year flew by.