Cabin 2013

Each year I am surprised how much Josh has changed from the last year. He gets more adventurous and capable in such obvious and measurable ways that surprise me because I have seen him change so slowly that I don't realize until an annual event comes up and I can compare him to the year before. This year, we got up to the cabin just as Carrie, Gary, Thor, and friends were leaving. Josh and Thor got to play on the deck together for almost an hour. It was both wonderful and a little sad to see them play. Josh followed Thor's lead laughing and excited for the new, head strong playmate. When Thor got on top of the bench and jumped, Josh did too. I loved seeing them play together, I think that they could be great friends. It is just a little sad that Thor was quite obviously the more capable and fearless of the two and certainly the leader. Normally this wouldn't bother me but Thor is 2 and Josh is almost 7. Of course, Thor is Carrie's son so head strong, fearless, leader comes pretty naturally, and Thor is especially gifted physically so I suppose this shouldn't come as a surprise. I hope that they can continue to have fun with each other as they grow older. It was so great to see Carrie and her family, I only wish we got to spend more time with them.

The first day was pretty chill but we did go on a little hike that would be easy for the kids. First thing on this hike we heard a strange noise. As I gently pawed through the grass we saw a frog clutching at grass with his front legs as he was dragged backwards deeper into the grass by one leg by a snake. The frog was letting out little screams which was the noise we had heard. It was terrible and would be terrifying if for some reason I was 4 inches tall or so. From that moment on, Josh has not forgiven the snakes for their diet. Throughout the trip he would say, "Ssssss!" then shake his head "no" then sign frog and sometimes even a thumbs down was added. For a kid without many words he sure does make it work.

On this walk I found our first horned toad. They are my favorite. I can't get enough of their grumpy little faces and I always can hear (was it Amber?) say that they are "horned toads" not "horny toads" the only horny toads on the mountain are Allan and (our cousin) Nate. Josh wasn't sure about him at first.

But as I told him about the horned toad he soon wanted to hold him. Olivia too.

In that last one Olivia is "smiling". As we continued our walk, Olivia couldn't cope with the bright sun (she has very sensitive eyes) and this is the solution that Chantelle came up with.

I know, I know, I am laughing too. Olivia actually liked this solution quite a bit. The only problem was that she didn't want to hold a hand while she walked so we resorted to talking to her and having her follow our voices. Whether it was muffled under there or perhaps it is because she is only two, I died laughing and snapping pictures as Chantelle was yelling directions to her little blanket Cousin It as this happened:

What a cute family

Josh and I enjoyed throwing rocks into the water from the dam (Josh's former favorite past time).

The night time fashion show:

Please disreguard how dirty my hair appears to be in like...every picture. Anyway, this was Josh's favorite thing to do in his down time: beat the tree to death while yelling.

And of course we made smores. We actually made smores every night I think but the sad thing is that the kids don't like to eat them. Josh likes to cook the marshmallows and Olivia doesn't want to do anything with them. I call it adult smore time.

Just look at Olivia's "what am I supposed to do with this thing now?" face. Then we went on an evening walk while Jeremy fished, we frogged.

Olivia didn't want to walk and Josh mostly cared about the flashlight.

Josh is scared of the dark so, if you have been to the cabin, you know this is a problem because it is pitch dark there at night. I came up with a pretty good distraction: glow in the dark nail polish. It is clear during the day but Josh couldn't wait to see it glow when it got dark. Between that and sleeping in the same bed with him, we didn't have any real troubles (other than him kicking me in the ribs all night).

While we were at the cabin, we decided that we would hike each morning and evening and stay at the cabin to play/read/sleep during the hottest parts of the day. For years Josh has whined and complained during our hikes, scaring away all wildlife and driving me crazy. This year he only asked me to carry him a couple of times when he fell and hurt his knees. He and Olivia both walked all the way to the trailer on the cliff by way of the road and most of the way back. I was so impressed with them! And with us honestly. It did take all three of the adults with distractions and encouragement, singing and trickery, to get those kids all the way up there themselves. Here we are waiting for Chantelle and Jeremy before the hike. Chantelle greatly enhanced the design of the blanket on Olivia's head.

And the cutest set of photos you have ever seen:

And of Chan's family:

And we found more horned toads. Chantelle found the little one and while chasing it down she almost stepped on the big one. Isn't the little one so cute!!??

They just have such good camouflage! Both of those pictures have both lizards in them. If I knew how to draw the little circles on like Abby I would. The little one is hiding under the stick with only his tail and but out but you can barely see it. We had a great view from the top, like always.

On the way back down, Josh found another horned toad on the road all by himself! I caught it for him.

In that last picture, the hands are Josh's so you know that thing is tiny. I am not sure how a child who can't find an item on a counter or a pink towel hanging behind him, or the light switch on the wall, can find this little guy scurrying on a road the exact same color as his skin. The mysteries of life and children eh? When we got home it was time for baths. This is way more calm looking than it was. Olivia loved it as you can tell. She just sat and soaked long after she was done being washed. Josh on the other hand was a crazy man. I think he still liked it but his bath involved me holding him by one arm as he struggled to get away as I washed him with my free hand. As he got more wet and slippery this got more interesting. He laughed and struggled to escape the whole time. The pictures of this are completely unfit for the internet and scary. Just imagine a starving looking child dancing around in the nude and laughing. A little like a fun "for 50 cents a day, you can change this child's life" ad. Ribs, lots of ribs and hip bones.

Now because I don't want to lose this I am going to publish this before I am finished.