Summerland 2014!
Seriously, so much fun! Children got dirty. We ate junk food. The kids played hard and stayed up late. Memories were made. Children where in their element!
We invited these guys this year... Mostly because they are awesome, and partly because an extra set of adults and playmates for each of the kids was really appealing for our first camping trip as a family of 5! We've known each other since college, nearly 14 years! That makes us sound really old. The husbands were roommates. We got married 8 months apart, had our first babies 3 months apart, our seconds 8 months apart and our babies 2 months apart. It's kind of awesome having friends you've known for so long, who you've walked through so many milestones together, and who has similar and complimentary challenging views on things like parenting, religion, and life in general.
Jude and Livi play so well together.
It is such a privilege to watch them. They are amazing.
Evie is not the biggest fan of getting dirty but she enjoyed camping too!
Outside is her happy place and she was outside and happy!
One hot afternoon we went to Summerland Sweets to cool off with some ice-cream! Sofie, who rarely gets sugar really enjoyed that :)
Along with Down Syndrome usually goes a certain amount of a Sensory Processing Disorder. Out in the elements, with no walls, wind on our bodies and in our ears, grass noises and birds and insects and boats all buzzing around makes me a little crazy sometimes. I can't imagine what Sofie's little body and brain were going through. She did so good though! I was amazed by how hard she was trying and able to self regulate. Falling asleep was really difficult for her, since it was hot, still bright out and the wind on the tent was moving everything. During the first two days she did amazing. She started losing it on the third day. Her eyes got permanently big and darting while her body stayed still.... like she was folding in on herself. She started whining a lot more too. The third night she was up until 11:30pm, so we decided not to stay a fourth night. She made it to our goal though and we didn't have to come home early so I'm counting the trip as super successful!
Bundled up from the wind while everyone else was in swimsuits.
Daddy's girl!
Livi adored everything about camping, except getting hurt. She got a few scrapes and bruises :) She is a water baby. She was in the lake as much as we'd let her and swam from the point to the dock by herself! (with a floaty... though she probably didn't need it!)
Her favourite thing about camping was the s'mores. On the last morning, we let the kids have s'mores for breakfast!... because we are awesome parents who make adult choices :)
All 6 kids together! Love them all!
I love these babies. Evelyn is actually the younger of the two.
They are growing up too fast!
Childhood unplugged.
(I secretly hope, just a little, that these two get married someday
and I get to show all these pictures at their wedding!)
These two are a little bit of forced friends for now but they
are both developmentally 2-3ish and still learning.
An incredibly lovely and successful camping trip done!
This spot in Summerland is our happy place.
I can't wait for next year!
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