Our big campout- June.

Yesterday, amam and papa had a big surprise for us- we were going camping! Henry and I were really excited because we've been reading a book about when Curious George went camping.

We had a minor hangup when mama called all the state parks and they were all full. Mama couldn't believe that campgrounds were full in October, but we're in the south and it's still warm. We finally found a private campground that had openings and took off.

Mama put me on a blanket, but I kept crawling off and stuffing my mouth full of dirt and sticks. So they set up the pack and play and I was forced to play in it for the rest of the weekend.

Henry thought it was pretty funny that I had to stay in bed and he got to load rocks into his dump truck. It took him a bit to get used to being out in the country. He fell down once and wouldn't get up on his own because he didn't want to get his hands dirty. What a city boy.

The campground we stayed in was a real trip. Pretty much, you paid your $20 and that was the only rule. No registration, no marked sites, and no requirements to keep your dog on a leash. There were dogs roaming everywhere! If you wanted a fire, you had to walk around and look for an unused fire ring. There was also a stage that featured live bands all afternoon. If there weren't other families there, we might not have stayed because it looked like a place that might get a little rowdy after the sun went down. But we were pleasantly surprised that the campground stayed fairly quiet all night long.

Henry had so much fun, he fell asleep in the car on the way to get more firewood and slept for 2 hours before he woke up very disoriented demanding marshmallows.

Our friends Mister Paul and Miss Susan came camping with us and provided plenty of distraction for us kids and good company for mama and papa. Here's Henro and Miss Susan taking a walk in the shadow of Pilot Mountain.

Mama and Mister Paul also tagged along.
Miss Susan is Henry's new favorite person because she spent hours helping collect acorns with Henry.

After they had a good supply of acorns, we spent a while throwing them in the pond.
Last night Henry had a mishap and stumbled in the water up to his knees. He was pretty upset for a few minutes, but resumed throwing acorns.

I was pleased to get free of any meddling arms and enjoy the beautiful day.

Then I tried to stuff a few leaves in my mouth before anyone noticed.

Mister Paul and Miss Susan were great company. They tolerated that our potato packs contained eggplant and mushrooms instead of potatoes and two kids that were deprived of naps and prone to frequent breakdowns. After Henry filled his belly up with applesauce and marshmallows, he demanded to go to bed in the tent. We both fell asleep with no problems. Henry slept through the night. I had problems staying asleep and decided to channel my cousin Natalie at the 2005 Door County Seibert vacation, where she refused to sleep the whole week. Like Natalie, I was very pleased that mama and papa got me up and I got to continue enjoying the campfire well after my bedtime.

We thought about hiking to Pilot Mountain, but realized these places always seem closer than they really are. So we went back to our campsite for another granola bar.

While we were cleaning up, mama got goofy and decided to make a dress out of the tarp.

Then we got silly when I tried to get in the tent after it came down.

Mama and I think that next time, we'll just try to sleep like this. It seems like much less work than trying to set up the tent.

Pumpkinfest- Henry.

Mama says every state has things it's known for. Ohio has county fairs and jello. Wisconsin had cheese, sausage, beer and the Packers. She's been trying to figure out what North Carolina can call its own. And she's pretty certain the church festival/sale is it.

Since there's literally a church on every corner, there are endless possibilities for children's consignment sales, bake sales, holiday bazaars, and various produce themed festivals. Yesterday, we headed over to a Methodist church for their Pumpkinfest.

We had heard people refer to this church as the "Pumpkin Church," but were never really sure why. It's because about a week before Pumpkinfest, they fill up the front yard with about 10,000 pumpkins of all sizes.
Then for 3 hours, they have a big party where you can go buy them and do other fun pumpkin related activities.

Don't worry, I'm not going to drop this pumpkin on Juner's head. I was trying to balance it there.

We took a break from the pumpkins for some pumpkin muffins. Yum!

Juner loved hers and mama couldn't pick out the raisins fast enough for her liking. She ate two before the day was over.

I decided I wanted to paint a pumpkin. I was very pleased with the final result.

We left my pumpkin to dry and snapped a quick family picture.

When we went back to pick up my pumpkin, someone had taken it home with them. Apparently, all pumpkins painted by 2 and 3 year olds look the same to some people. But the good news is that I got to paint another pumpkin! This time we were sure to put my name on it.

Trying to crawl- Mama.

I didn't intend on updating the blog today. When you update too often, people come to expect it and then if you miss one day, certain members of the Cleveland GG and GG's start calling you and asking if something is wrong because you haven't posted recently. But with kids this fun, I couldn't help but get the camera out again.

I was feeling bad because my fancy camera doesn't have a video feature, so I haven't been taking many videos of the kids lately. Which is a shame, because they are pretty funny these days. In this video I was trying to get June to show off her almost crawl.

Here June gives it her best before Henry starts showing off and eventually decides he wants his picture taken with hs baby sister. And with both of them so close together and not crying, I did my best to get a good shot.

"I could eat you for breakfast, Henry." (Seriously, she probably could. Henry did choke down a bowl of eral and two grilled cheese sandwiches today. He even ate two spoonfuls of peas on the promise he could fill up the sink with water and play in it.)

Best friends.

June is showing a little too much skin for my liking. W're trying to make a few unworn summer outfits last a little longer. This fetching jumpsuit was too obscene when worn alone, but I can handle it under other clothes (and buttoned up to the neck.)

It's like anime was inspired by June's bizarre mouth contortions.

The crazy train rolls through and leaves two kids in giggles.
Here's the outfit. I think she look pretty cute and girly without being too pink. Unfortunately, no one at the restaurant tonight could figure out she was a girl. Seriously, how many boys wear skimpy tank tops and dainty mint green sweaters? It's like people don't understand that baby girls can wear jeans too.

After supper, we headed to the store and we picked out hair barrettes to further push gender roles on poor baby Junery.

Completely ridiculous. And totally cute.

Before bedtime, June really got to show off her stuff unfettered by the restraints of clothing. She even got some air under that big belly! We bet you didn't think that was possible.

Playing around-June.

While Henry and mama were setting up the train track, I was (again) banished to the other side of the room.

But not for long. Look at how close I am to crawling. It's just a matter of time.

Almost have it! This is usually the moment that Henry grabs whatever I've got and attempts to roll me over and away from his toys.

Henry has been working on his patience skills with me. Now he knows that he can't just grab toys and push me. Instead, he's supposed find me a toy I can play with. In this case, I get the big wooden train.

Lately, some of our loyal blog readers (Aunt Jenni) have been commenting that some might have a hard time distinguishing whether I'm a boy or a girl. Just because I wear a lot of t-shirts and overalls.

And even super cute tights!

So today, I put on a very pretty dress. How's that for feminine?

My eating habits (get me something, anything, I'll eat it all) remind mama and Aunt Jenni of my cousin Evie. Now mama thinks I look like her too. Remember the picture of Evie that looks just like this? (Mama's going to try and find it. Aunt Jenni, you look for it too.)

Has there ever been such a cute baby?

We doubt it. There are rumors floating around that I have some cute cousins. But we'll never know unless they update their blogs. (Hint, hint Sadie!)

Playing with trains- Henry.

Tonight, I just wanted to play with my trains, but mama kept taking pictures.

We set up a pretty great train track and I'm starting to use some of signs and road blocks that came with one of my car sets. You'll see some road blocks on the left. They are called "Pay the Toll." And when your train approaches them, you have to get up and give your mama a kiss. Guess who made up that rule?

Mama tried to get me to pose for some pictures, but I just wanted to play.

We've been having a lot of fun down here. Mama and Papa think I'm more fun than ever. My new favorite thing to say is "You guys." I'm currently in my hibernation mode because I haven't eaten willingly in over a week. Only about 1 bowl of cereal in the morning. Mama and Papa decided that my 3rd birthday is the deadline for losing my nuk- my most beloved and prized possession ever. Mama and I were talking about it tonight. We talked about how this year, I'll be 2+1=3. And 3-year olds are too big for nuks. Then she dropped the bomb. She said that I'll only boys without nuks get their presents. I regarded this for a long time, then slowly walked to my bed, picked up my nuk, got in bed, and pulled the covers over my head. It's going to be a very painful birthday. Mama and papa have been contemplating how to say goodbye to my nuk. Right now, their ideas are to pack up my nuks and send them to baby Tessa or to sew them inside my Curious George. Does anyone else have any ideas?

On the potty training side, things really aren't progressing. One weird thing has happened. Lately, I have been complaining that mama and papa are fastening my diaper too tight. So I spent most of my time trying to pull my diaper down outside my pants. Papa said if they bother my that much, I can put on some underpants and use the potty. No thanks.

Dixie Classic Fair- Part 1- Juner.

This afternoon, we picked up Henry from school, kidnapped Papa from work, and headed over to the Dixie Classic Fair. We don't think it was a proper 4H fair, but it wasn't too bad.
The first stop was the petting zoo. The animals were very smart and they only went to people holding the bags full of carrot slices.

Hey goat, are you going to eat that?

Henry remembered that the best way to feed animals was with an open hand.

He even got to feed a camel!

I wanted a closer look at the camel, but it lost interest in me pretty quickly after it realized I didn't have any carrots.

Henry liked this funny cow. We were impressed that all the animals had a Christian message to spread and that the barn had running water to wash our hands. Very considerate animals.

We spent a good 3 minutes trying to figure out what the heck these big leaves are. We never saw anything like that in our organic vegetable share. Then we realized that they were tobacco leaves and hung our heads in shame like a bunch of yankees.

Mama asked Henry if he wanted to do anything special and he immediately pointed to the airplanes. We went up to see how many tickets it costs and the man running it just told him to jump in an empty plane. How nice was that!

He was very brave to fly that plane all by himself!

I was too busy hamming it up to ride any rides!

Next, Henry couldn't decide if he wanted to ride on the motorcycles popping wheelies or the semis.

He settled on the double decker carousel. But only if he could ride on the top deck.

There they are! All the way up there!

We love the fair!