Camping with Our New Trailer

We have finally graduated from tent camping into the world of trailer camping. Yeah!! We recently inherited a 1969 14-foot Shasta camper trailer from Rod's grandparents via his parents. It had been sitting at the house in Williams, AZ since Rod's grandpa passed away in 2002 and I can only guess that it had been a while before that since it had been used. Regardless, Rod's parents put a lot of work and elbow grease into it and now it is lookin' good and ready for a new generation of Becks. As you can see by the interior, it is still hanging on to its 70's colors but we are working to change that. We picked it up a couple weekends ago and while Rod and his dad finished some final projects, his mom and I made new curtains.

So last weekend we decided to take it out for a spin and headed up to Haviland Lake north of Durango, CO. Amelia was so excited to be going camping and even more excited to be able to use the porta-potty we have in the trailer. She loved going for walks, which consist of her sitting on her tricycle while one of us pulls her with a rope attached to the front. Amelia also couldn't wait to go down by the lake but just like at the beach we could hardly get her to go in past her ankles. Caleb is our climber and wasted no time scaling the rocks by the lake (these rocks are not as steep as this picture makes it look). He loved watching the chipmunks out the camper window and was happier strapped into his stroller outside the camper than being cooped up inside it. Rod and I enjoyed being in the mountains and some cooler temperatures for the weekend as well as seeing the kids enjoying this new experience.

Summer Wrap-up

Can you believe that it is already September and the summer is over?! We, obviously, had a very busy but also a very fun summer. Throughout this post, I've shared some of the best pictures from the summer with you and I'll give you some background to go with them.

We started the summer with Amelia's first official haircut. She has sometimes freaked out just when we've tried to cut her bangs at home so I wasn't sure how she would take to a stranger coming at her with scissors. Luckily, she came through like a champ and sat super still while her hair was trimmed. Summer thunderstorms are common around here. They usually come in the afternoon but one day it started raining in the morning. I let Amelia come out in her pajamas with me to take trash to the trash can. She decided she would like to stay on the front walk and enjoy the rain as it dripped off the front of the house.

We love to spend time outdoors so before Caleb arrived we made it a point to get out to our favorite places. At Navajo Lake, Rod showed Amelia how to skip rocks. Of course, she basically just threw them into the water but it was fun to watch her want to do what Daddy was doing. Then, a week and a half before Caleb was born we decided to do our first family camping trip. We had a huge 8-man tent for the three of us and Sadie. We joined some friends at Haviland Lake above Durango and had a great weekend. Amelia loved sleeping in the tent and learning to fish with Daddy.

Then came Caleb (see the previous post if you missed these details). Amelia is a great bath helper although I've learned that it is best to position her at Caleb's feet instead of his head.

At the fair, Amelia enjoyed bouncing in the bounce house and checking out the specs on the Bobcat tractors. Although she did find the sheep a bit noisy. We also watched a small portion of the 4-H rodeo and she was fascinated by the barrel racing.

What summer would be complete without regular runs in the sprinklers and frequent afternoons in the kiddie pool? Rod's parents brought Amelia a pool/sandbox and she is still asking to go in the pool even though the weather has started to cool down a bit.

In August we were able to go up to Pagosa Springs to a huge cabin for the weekend with my MOPS Steering Team. It is a beautiful setting and was a very fun (not relaxing exactly) for the adults and the kids. Amelia loves being with her friend Kaytriel and on Saturday everyone drove up to a high mountain lake and the kids loved playing in the water.

One benefit of Caleb being due in the middle of the summer was that I had time to get my garden going at the end of May. This was about two months earlier than I was able to start it last year and I have been very excited with the results. I convinced Rod that it needed to be a little bigger this year. You might think that since my garden was so packed last year that I would expand so I would have more room for the plants to grow. Of course not! I took that extra room and planted everything that I had last year plus some. So we have watermelon, cantaloupe, honeydew, cucumbers, brussel sprouts, tomatoes (2 kinds), crookneck squash, zucchini, butternut squash, acorn squash and strawberries. Amelia loves to see what is growing and asks each time we have vegetables at dinner if they came from Mommy's "gardy". It has been a great way to introduce her to new vegetables.

It has taken Amelia a bit of time to get used to Caleb and the change in routine that has brought. It has been very sweet to watch her as she tries to help with him or comfort him. She is reading him a story here as he swings.
We hope that you has an enjoyable and full summer as we did. We are excited to see what next summer brings as Caleb will be active and Amelia will be everywhere!