Camping Fort Parker State Park

This weekend we went on a family camping trip to Fort Parker State Park near Mexia, Texas. It is small park on Fort Parker Lake and the Navasito River with about 20-30 total camp sites. We really enjoyed the park and had a wonderful time. The mornings and evenings were a little chilly, but all in all we couldn't have asked for nicer weather. Levi had a few whinny moments and periods of home sickness (especially when waiting on meals and at bedtime) but with a little extra hugs he did great and his super laid back baby brother was happy as always. Here is our trip in pictures :)

our home away from home

 

Joel spent a lot of his time doing this...

and enjoying this view...

Levi enjoyed finding bugs like this caterpillar and grasshopper

The nights were a little chilly, but Levi slept great, however, Joel got a little cold both nights & I ended up with a baby in my bag...I didn't mind a little bit of extra snuggling :)

both of our boys LOVE to swing, so we enjoyed some time at the playgroud

Just some cuteness and love between two of my favorite guys!

Levi's VERY MOST FAVORITE activity was to "throw rocks in da water"

he did that at all three bodies of water within the park and was sad to leave each time... 

he could have spent HOURS by the water with his beloved rocks :)

We were surprised to see a lot of flowers in the park with the cooler weather and the drought

We also had some adventures hiking along the parks trails. Levi loves to ride in the backpack and Joel enjoys his time in the bjorn looking around at the sights, or taking a little snooze. The hiking was Penny's favorite part of the trip...she loved running all over the trail and investigating smells. Usually we were the only ones on the trail, so she could run off the leash.

Levi also enjoyed getting to pee outside all weekend and particularly enjoyed going pee on the flowers. Every time he went he told us what he peed on such as, "I pee pee on pretty flowers (rock, log etc), I make it all dirty" with a big grin on his face. Spending all day outside getting dirty and enjoying nature is just about a dream come true for Levi and I'm sure Joel will soon agree. Philip and I both have wonderful memories of camping as kids with our families and are happy to make new memories with our children. Joel and Levi are both great campers and we are planning on many more family camping trips in the future.

Joel's First Solids

Joel will be 6 months old in less than 2 weeks (gasp!) so we decided to start him on a little of his first solids in case there were any issues with feeding that I would want to discuss with his doctor at his 6 month appointment next week. He did a great job getting the oatmeal down, but really seemed like he could take it or leave it. It was pretty anticlimactic. He didn't fuss and he didn't seem all that happy about it either. We were only able to manage one little grin, and for our super big mouthed grinning boy that wasn't much.

not too sure about the first bite

a little smile, must not be too bad

big brother had to sneak in a few extra bites while Momma was cleaning up

Levi and Joel are growing closer by the day and love each other so much. Joel just lights up when Levi gives him attention and smiles, coos and laughs at him. Levi always needs to know where Joel is and while Joel is napping he often says "Momma, can I play with Joel?"  Here are a few cute pics of the two of them playing with Levi's train. I love listening to Levi talk to Joel and try to teach him things. Joel is also getting REALLY close to crawling and whenever he is up on all fours rocking Levi will come over to him and say "you can do it Joel" and then get down on his hands and knees and say "look Joel I crawl, you do it." Oh how I love my sweet brothers :).

Gran's Little Pumpkin

Ever since Levi was a baby my Gran (his great grandmother) has called Levi her little pumpkin. This year she had the cute idea to carve a pumpkin with her little pumpkin. She bought a little pumpkin specially for Levi at the grocery store and kept it in her little apartment waiting for us to come for a visit. We were there today to have a birthday lunch with Pop (Happy Birthday to the best Dad in the whole wide world!) so after lunch while Joel was napping we covered her table with newspaper and got to carving! Gran helped Levi pick and scoop out the pumpkin seeds and Levi had fun getting out all the goo and saving the seeds for us to roast later (yum yum!). 

 

After getting the pumpkin all prepped Gran let Levi pick out all the shapes for "Jack" (Levi named his pumpkin) to have for his eyes and nose by having him point at the shapes drawn on some scrap paper. She asked him if he wanted a happy smiling pumpkin or a surprised pumpkin or a angry pumpkin and then asked him how many teeth he should have. It was super cute! Levi decided he should have triangles for eyes, and upside down triangle for a nose and a happy pumpkin with two teeth. Once I finished carving out the face (Gran's arthritis won't let her and I certainly don't want to see what damage Levi can do with a knife!) we put a little candle inside and Levi loved to look at him glowing. Here are the pumpkin carvers posing with "Jack" all finished. What special memories for 2 of my all time favorite people. :)

Camping with the Knochels

Well I have yet again taken a million pictures and am unable to narrow them down to a reasonable number, so brace yourself for a post full of photos :)

Sunday thru Tuesday our little family joined my big family (my Mom, Dad, Sisters, Brother, Brother-in-law, niece, nephew and Molly's potential mate :) ha) for a family vacation/camping trip to Tyler State Park. My parents have started a generous tradition of taking all of us on some type of family vacation every year to enjoy spending quality time together and make special memories for us and out kids. My Mom does the majority of the planning and we get all the benefit! This trip was special because when we were all kids my parents took us to this state park often. It was fun to take my boys there and watch them run around in the same park I once loved. We had a wonderful trip and enjoyed our little "limited use" cabins (my parents rented one for each little family and for the singles :) so we had 4 close together to share. Most of our time was just spent enjoying the company, relaxing outdoors and watching wildlife (kids and animals alike).

 

It is always a treat when Aunt Molly is in town because not only do we all love her, but she is also a big hit with the kids! Here Joel is showing off his open mouthed grin and tiny tater onsie (in honor of the fact that Molly nick named Philip tater tot) that Aunt Molly bought for Joel when he was born.

One of the first things we did upon arriving at the park was to go down to the beach and the lake and let the kids play in the sand and chilly water as well as the braver adults enjoying jumping off the platform. Levi loves anything water and since it had been a while since he had been able to play in the water this was extra exciting for him.

siblings :)

 There were some not so shy armadillos and raccoons that seemed to live and hang out near the cabins. We all enjoyed watching them scurry around and look for food.

One day the boys and Molly (so brave) went out for some mountain biking. Levi is always super excited when Philip rides his bike and yells over and over, "Daddy you ride you bike?!" While they rode My Mom, Sister Kate and the kids went on a long walk around the park and got a work out pushing the kids up and down the hills in their double strollers. Levi and Nora took a little cat nap together in their stroller. It is so sweet how much they love each other and enjoy playing with each other.

Molly brought along her boyfriend, Ryan, and he fit in quite well! We enjoyed getting to know him and to see Molly so happy. He loves babies almost as much as Molly and was very comfortable around the kids, which was very sweet. Ryan treats Molly very well and also jumped right in with all the activities and is an active guy, and so far we all seem to approve :)

Levi and Nora both spent most of their time filthy dirty. They could not resist the soft sandy dirt and were coated with it by the end of each day. The played hard and each obtained multiple ouchies as proof.

 

We all enjoyed the two littlest boys so so much! They are both just so cute and happy babies! I cannot wait to watch their relationship grow, they already seem to really like each other. Asher loved to crawl over to Joel on the blanket and love on him. Joel generally took the hugs, kisses and smooshing very well.

One evening we (Me, Philip, Dustin, Seth and Ryan) rode our bikes up to the play ground with the kids in bike trailers (Dustin pulled Nora and Asher and Philip pulled Levi and Joel). The kids LOVED the playground and we all had fun watching them climb, slide and play. After we were done we posed for a quick group shot.

We enjoyed a little extra time with Seth because he rode home with us so that we could drop him at the airport for his flight back to school. Levi loved having him in the back seat with him during the drive and then playing with him in his room with Joel until it was time for him to leave.

 

It was a wonderful long weekend and I think we will return to Tyler State Park. All of the facilities there are very nice and well maintained (including the all important bathrooms). There is a great playground, beach, hiking and biking trails, kayaking and paddle boating and we enjoyed all theses features very much this trip. Thank you again to Moe and Pop for a memorable and fun vacation! Spending time with my wonderful family in God's beautiful creation will always make me happy! We are so blessed!

Joel is 5 Months Old!

In one short month my rolly poly Joely will be half way through his first year! I cannot believe it! He has changed a lot between his 4th and 5th month and his personality is really starting to come out. He is SUCH a happy little guy and he loves to laugh, grin, coo and wiggle. The exersaucer has been a huge source of entertainment and Joel can stay in there very happily for 30-45 minutes at a time! It is wonderful! This has allowed me to get a lot more done around the house :). He just turns around in circles and jumps and rocks and gives each of the toys lots of attention. He especially likes to chew on the toys (and his hands all day long) and I wouldn't be surprise if a couple teeth pop out on the bottom pretty soon.

 

He has really started to be observant of his surroundings and loves to pick up anything he can get his hands on. Just like the rest of the family he loves to be outside and since the weather has started to cool off a little we have been playing out side a lot. Joel always manages to roll and scoot off his blanket and dig his finger and toes into the grass and pick up leaves and twigs. He is super fast! Joel has also really taken a liking to Penny and since she is always around when we are outside he enjoys watching her run around and will squeal at her when she gets close. He has also gotten pretty good at scooting around backwards while on his tummy and head first while on his back. Joel can roll quite a distance in no time. He can also turn in circles on his tummy to change the direction he is heading, and get up on all fours. I won't be surprised at all if there is video or photos of him crawling on his 6 month update!

Joel is also getting pretty good at sitting up and can last for some time with no hands, but usually props himself with one or both hands. If he gets excited or tries to reach for something he still looses his balance and topples over, but his balance is getting better every day.

I continue to be amazed at how laid back and happy Joel is. All he needs is a little face time with Mom and Dad and he is happy. He goes down awake for most of his naps and happily falls asleep without a peep and sleeps for up to 3 hours at a time (he usually takes 3 naps a day around 1.5-2 hours each with the second one usually lasting the longest). He is such an easy baby and a huge blessing to our family! If he would just sleep through the night he would be a miracle baby :) I won't have new stats until his 6 month check up, but I can tell he is growing and growing because his little thighs are not so little anymore and we had to move the straps up a notch on his car seat. To quote his big brother "I love my Joel!"