L&A Years 5&3 Week 5: Huntley Mill Kids Camping Weekend - 7/26/2018

Leia was so excited to finally be going on a summer camping trip this week, up at our friends' private property on Donner Summit, but then she had a full on meltdown when she discovered we'd only be there 2 nights.  I finally got it out of her that she was pissed because she only gets marshmallows on camping trips, and she wanted more than two nights worth of marshmallows!  She was super needy and whiny from the moment we arrived, and insisted on calling all the shots to try to create her ideal camping trip.  I was solo-parenting since Josh was in NZ, so I had to do everything by myself.  Leia wouldn't eat dinner until I put up the tent, then she didn't like dinner, then finally ate enough to earn marshmallows but through a fit about having to wait until campfire time!  I was on full survival mode, and couldn't talk to any of the adults socially.  Then she woke up acting cranky too.  I was about one tantrum away from packing everything back up and heading home, but finally we made it to the lake and everything was better.  We came back to camp for lunch, but again, she wouldn't eat, even though I said lunch would get put away soon and if she didn't eat, no treats.  She said she didn't care about treats until she saw Emmett with a popsicle, but like I had warned, no food was left.  Aunt Stacia was nice enough  to give her Emmett's leftovers, which I was surprised she even ate (especially after discovering the mayo on the sandwich!), but she was desperate!  She didn't want to take a nap, which I was ok with since she's no longer taking them at school, so John agreed to take her back to the lake so I could put Arwyn down.  I received all great reports!!  She was well behaved, and got along with Emmett the whole time.  She even went back to camp with them so I could stay longer with Arwyn, but by the time I got back, things fell apart again.  Emmett wouldn't do what she wanted, and stated being "mean" to her (all actually verified by Stacia, who even noted that Leia had been volunteering to do what Emmett wanted all afternoon).  Now Leia was just too tired to handle Emmetts actions in a good way, and started up with the loud screaming and crying, nonstop.  She was completely inconsolable; wouldn't calm down, wouldn't eat, wouldn't do anything.  Finally she said she just wanted to go lie down in the tent, and was totally passed out by 6:30!  Originally she had said she wanted to come back out when it was dark, but she never did, not even for marshmallows! And then I thought she would freak out when Arwyn was being a turd at bedtime and woke her up, but she just asked for a diaper and went back to sleep all the way until normal time in the morning!  Guess she really was tired!  And bonus: she actually woke up in a good mood!!  But she just wanted to go home right away, and was pissed we had to wait for breakfast and wanted nothing to do with another lake swim.  (Wait, is this the same girl that wanted to camp for more than two days??!)  Once she saw that we were all packed up and driving (not walking) over to the lake, she changed her tune and had fun, but she was definitely still ready to get home to watch a movie! Oy, the addict!  Once we got home she tried to refuse a bath, using her stalling and delaying tactics, then got all upset when I explained  that meant less time at Nana and Poppy's.  She was a total angel child while we were at their house, then instantly turned on the whine and complain button the second I arrived to take them home.  Then she was pissed that I said "no Chocolate until after dinner" because she wanted chocolate now and a different treat later.  And then she was pissed that we had to walk home, even though she was the one who wanted to walk there in the first place.  Ugh, by this time I'd just about had it!  I was ready to lay down the law and nip the whining in the bud, so I pointed to a sign and said, "I was going to offer you marshmallows tonight since you were so good about putting yourself to bed and missing s'mores last night, so I'll let you have both, but only if you stop whining once we reach that sign.  But, if you whine at all after that, you get nothing, and I'm serious, no second chances."  She whined right away, then thought about it, and ended up behaving great though dinner to get her treats, and even turned off the TV right away when I asked.  Then things fell apart after dinner and after talking to Daddy, and she was too tired to walk up to bed, and on and on.  Oh man, was I ready for this weekend to be over!  All that in the name of camping!

Arwyn was also super excited about camping, but followed suit with Leia as far as being whiny and needy at camp.  She flat out refused dinner, stating she didn't want marshmallows, but proceeded to flip out when marshmallows appeared, and managed to finagle some out of Aunt Stacia anyway.  She went on to be loud, disruptive, and uncooperative at bedtime, and woke up kind of cranky too.  At least she was happy with the breakfast choices, and had a total blast at the lake!  She just wanted to keep swimming out to the island, over and over.  She did have her floaties on, but still, it was a long distance swim, and she was totally attacking it!  She did a good job eating her lunch, and was initially cooperative with nap, but I had her sleeping in the wagon in the shade, and every time I looked over, she was still sitting up and messing around.  Finally she started crying for me, and when I got there, she had tipped the wagon over and fallen to the ground while trying to get out.  We ended up having her sleep in Emmett's bed in the camper, but she was over tired now, and getting mean and violent.  It was really hard to get her down, and now it was super late, which was a bummer because I wanted her to be able to swim again.  It ended up working out ok; she got to swim, and she was pretty happy the rest of the day, finally running around and playing on her own.  She did get cranky again at bedtime, screaming and waking up Leia.  But the next morning we finally had a good morning, where everyone woke up happy and snuggly!  Arwyn was pretty cooperative with packing, and was fired up about swimming before leaving.

Fun adventure as we head way off the grid and into the wilderness for a weekend of camping fun.

We had to stop and open 3 different locked gates...

Cross the train tracks, and wait for Aunt Stacia who got stuck on the other side while closing the gate!

Beautiful views from way up here!

The field of dreams!

Back into the woods.

And arriving at some gorgeous mountain lakes!

The princesses were not adjusting well to camp life...insisted on being pulled around in their chariot constantly!

But we made it to the lake...lots of smiles and fun now!

Pristine views and private lake...doesn't get much better than this!

And tons of fun kids and toys to play with!

Talk about a great dock!

Finally finally got Arwyn down to nap in Emmett's bed!

Final morning, and Leia finally woke up with a smile!

So nice to camp mid-summer, you can keep the fly off the tent and wake up to pretty sky views!

My little bed-mate!  It was too tight to sleep next to her, so I made her sleep at the foot end!

Oops, morning bed-head and a bloody nose!

Happy Campers love morning snuggles!

Lots of kisses!

And great hugs.  Best way to wake up! (Wish it would last all day too!;)

Final swim at the lake before we make our way back home!

My body totally got a workout schlepping all our stuff from the campsite to the car (at least a 1/4 mile and LOTS of trips!)  And now I have to unpack it all again at home!  Arbonne Phytosport After-workout to the rescue!

My little cutie pie, showing off her summer dress!

Model pose!

Cooking project with Nana!

Das Boot body cleanse time!

Planning out tomorrow's special outfit!

Visiting Leia at class and playing "Make Me Laugh"!

I was not very good when I was in the hot seat...all the stupid stuff the kids said was so not funny that it was funny!

Fun after school ice cream treat with my girls!

Big smiles for ice cream.

Ice cream you scream, we all scream for ice cream!

Love these special moments with my beautiful girls!

Playing on the Big Rock at the hospital is their favorite thing!

Love hanging out on the big rock!

Cold Face!

Cute face!

Jump!

My little climbers!

Love watching Arwyn conquer the corkscrew.

L&A Years 5&3 Week 4: Leia's Salon and Spa - 7/19/18

Arwyn (and Leia) made laugh this week when I brought them with me to get my haircut.  They were both pissed that they weren't the ones getting their hair cut, and Arwyn actually asked Stephanie if she would wash her hair!!!  This from the girl who screams bloody murder every time I was her hair in the bath!  I was going to just do it myself in the fancy sink, but Stephanie ended up washing both girls hair, which was so nice of her!!  And watching them lying there, getting all scrubbed up, totally relaxed and loving it, it just makes me crazy!!  Why can't they do that for me?  Arwyn did really well on our hike up Shirley Canyon this weekend, and she had a blast jumping into my arms in the rock pool.  She stayed completely mellow all throughout Leia's drama and meltdown (thank goodness), but finally had her own freak out when I said jumping/swimming was done, and it was time to leave.  It was family picnic day at school this week, but it was on my day off, and I knew I needed to go spend time with the kids, but I didn't want to have to drive all the way to Truckee.  I tried to prepare Arwyn for the chance that I might not be there, and she seemed fine with it, but then I knew that I should go no matter what, so I did.  And thank goodness I did because she was so happy to see me, and had been really upset when other parents started  coming but hers weren't there yet.  She wouldn't eat any of her lunch until I got there, and she sat in my lap the entire time.  I've only been doing Mommy Time with Leia the last few weeks, but I can tell that Arwyn is really needing some attention right now.  I just wish they would cooperate more at home and allow the other one to have uninterrupted Mommy Time so were could do it every day.  But they won't, so now no one gets it because there's only one of me, and I can't be two places at once.  Oh well for now, but we'll have to work on it I guess.

Leia cracked me up this week when, after 15 minutes of complaining about the purple farmer's market carrots that we made for dinner, she finally agreed to try them, and instantly decried, "Mmmmm, so good!"  Seriously, we always make good food, why does it have to be such a struggle?!?  Leia entertained herself really well during my haircut this week.  She loved looking through the fashion magazines, but then got all upset when she couldn't rip out the picture of the pretty shoes she found.  We ended up solving our problems by taking a picture and printing it out at home, although that took quite a bit of convincing because she was sure it wouldn't look the same.  She made a whole project of printing and cutting out the shoes to make her own paper shoes.  After wearing them around for a bit, she finally hung them on display in her room.  Leia was really clingy and attention seeking at the Asado Party, and kept telling me so.  "I need some attention right now!!"  It's frustrating for me in those situations, because I didn't really get to chat with any adults at the party, but I'm still glad that she can recognize her feelings and communicate them.  We stayed way too late past nap, and she was exhausted and screaming by the time we left; it was a total scene!  As I mentioned above, we made plans with my friend Liz for a hike up Shirley Canyon, which I always associate with being short and easy (at least up to the first falls), but Leia decided she didn't want to do it, so she made the entire experience pretty miserable for all of us.  She was crying and whining the entire way up.  She finally had fun once we put on our bathing suits and jumped in the pools, but then she freaked out screaming again when she accidentally dropped her glass jar of slime (which I didn't realize she had brought, and told her not to walk around with) on the rocks.  It shattered, and I wouldn't let her rescue her slime from between the glass shards.  I was so frustrated because she was screaming bloody murder in front of all the people we were hanging out with, and wouldn't calm down for anything, on top of the fact that I felt like the worst parent in the world for even allowing a 5 year old to have the glass jar there on the rocks in the first place.  I was ready to just throw her off the waterfall!  She finally finally got over it, and convinced me to get in the pool in my underwear because they wouldn't swim to the other Dad who was there with us.  Then we all ended up having a great time, and she even wanted to hike further by the time we were ready to leave.  I couldn't talk her out of it, but of course it was another big mistake on my part, because then everyone was so tired when we went down, and it was so rocky and technical, so now we were back to falling down, crying, and screaming again!  Sometimes you just can't win!  And of course, Leia's announcing, "I never should have come out here on this hike today! I should have stayed home and watched a movie!" Oy! We've really got to get past this kind of attitude asap!  Leia started K Camp this month, which is basically an intro to kindergarten.  She won't get to ride the bus to school at her real kindergarten in the fall, so this opportunity to ride the bus for the summer was a dream come true for her!  She's been infatuated with buses since she was big enough to see out the car window, and one of her first words was "scubas" (aka. school bus)!

Unbelievable, this balloon is still at full height a full 3 weeks later, while the other 3 have been on the ground now for over a week!!  Any guesses for how long it will last?

Josh is heading off to NZ for 3 weeks.  For some reason this goodbye seems harder than usual, maybe because we won't be able to just call him any old time like we usually can.  Miss you already!

Leia made her own "Car TV" on the back of my seat...always lots of entertaining shows on the Leia Network!

She's one cool cat, with her fancy shades and homemade flower!

Thumbs up for purple carrots!  (And is it just me, or is that one crazy looking thumb??)

And even better news...they BOTH liked the purple carrots!  Win win!

Watch out for this crazy bird lady!

Got my hair done this morning at Leia's Salon and Spa.  Leia took over the camera to document her masterpiece!

Arwyn's turn for a luxury spa treatment by Leia!

First a wash.

Then a rinse.

Then a very special lotion treatment on both arms.

Can you say "foot massage"?  Oh yeah!

Customer Service with a Smile!

Finally, a powdered makeup treatment.

I think we have a very satisfied customer!

Picking cherries after our trip to the real salon!

Leia found these shoes in a fashion magazine, and absolutely fell in love!

We absolutely HAD to go home and make our own pair!

A pair for everyone, in fact.

Unfortunately, they weren't as functional as we might have hoped, but they still make a lovely decoration on Leia's wall.

All dressed up and ready for a party!

We are Asado-bound!

Scootin' is a pretty great way to travel!

Fun afternoon at the Poulson Property...checking out where Mommy and Daddy got married!

Leia is the wildflower bouquet queen!

Flower arrangements are serious  business.

The Googie Woobs was in need of a little Mommy Love.

Excited to be able to help out with the raffle!

This gem just came home from school this week.  Love you Arwyn!

Play date and treasure hunt with our friend Kira!  The big girls were super cute, hiding treasures for Arwyn to find.

Fun hike up Shirley Canyon with Lizard Pants!  Always a great day when you get to spend time with Liz.

The girls had a blast playing in the waterfalls and pools, just like I did when I was little!

They even got me in...brrr!

The Googie Grin!

Leia trying to hide from the camera.

We had a fun group of people hanging out on the rocks.

And the falls were as gorgeous as usual.

Bare feet and tight quarters...not a great place to drop a glass jar!

Look! Up in the sky!  It's a bird...it's a plane...it's Superman!

Waiting for the K Camp school bus!

Ever since she could see out the window, Leia has been infatuated with school buses. 5 years later she finally gets to ride one...K Camp time!

Checking in with her special electronic badge...school buses are very high tech these days, but still no seat belts, what's up with that??

Arwyn, did you get in a bar fight or something? A little disturbing when your 3 year old wakes up looking like this in the morning!

Family Picnic Day at school with my girls! Sometimes I feel like I’m so busy, and just don’t have time for this stuff. But then I remember how even the smallest things make the biggest impression on a little person. It was so nice to take a little breather and just relax with the important people in my life, knowing that it made their whole day. And, the extra attention compounds exponentially into better behavior in the future, saving me time in the long run. I’m so fortunate to have the lifestyle to be there for these moments. 

Love my snuggle bugs!

My little lollypop ballerina!  Love your color theme, Googs!