Lucia's Rainbow Party

My big birthday girl

We just finished up Lucia's birthday party last week. I still can't believe she is a year old! But that's another story.

Callie getting a squeeze in!

I decided to do a rainbow/st. patrick's day theme since her birthday was so close to St. Patrick's Day. We held the party the day before St. Paddys. I scoured that oh so dangerous place, pinterest, for months for ideas.

First, the food! I found a ton of ideas online for sugary treats but I wanted at least a few healthier options. About an hour into the party we also had tacos from our favorite taqueria. They went fast of course!

We had popcorn in a black kettle for our pot of gold

And a rainbow of fruit with fruit dip (marshmallow cream and cream cheese)
This tray got demolished multiple times by the kids so I'm glad I took a picture before the party really started! We also did a tray of veggies with colorful bell peppers, tomatoes, celery and carrots. 

Also had a rainbow plate that I found on sale at Pier 1 where I put a collection of dried fruit (lots of nice colors!). I found a rainbow of licorice from Sprouts, and jelly beans from Costco. We had pita chips and hummus. And of course a rainbow feather boa for decor!

I found some solid colored melamine bowls at Costco that were perfect! 

Then of course there were the cupcakes!

Callie trying so hard to be good! 

I'm ready mama! Cupcake me!

Callie showing us how big girls eat cupcakes: just eat the frosting! 

The top of the cupcake was covered in gorgeous glitter! They were amazing!  Seriously, if you need cakes, cupcakes or donuts check out Kathleen DeManti's  FB page. She did our wedding cake too! She creates the most beautiful goodies!!




The Outfits:)
I found Lucia's tutu and onesie on etsy in a shop called Chic Somethings. The tutu was nice and full. The onesie came with another tutu that we bought for the invitation picture from a shop called TickleMyTutu. She makes incredible tutu sets. But be warned, if you are going to order from her make sure you have lots of time! Her lead time was 4 weeks but I would definitely order from her again. Great stuff.

Lucia gets a little help from the Grandmas to model her new outfit!

Callie's sparkle rainbow shirt is from an etsy shop called Spunky Sparkles. It was $20 and Callie was SOO excited about it! Her St. Patrick's skirt was $12.

Decorations

I found a lot of rainbow decorations on Oriental Trading Company's website as well as at Party City. The great thing about doing it close to St. Patrick's Day is that not everything had to be rainbow. I found some inflatable balls and other decorations. I used black kettles with gold candies for centerpieces. The rainbow floral garland was one of my favorite pieces. 

We also did a lot of balloons! A cool trick I found on pinterest was to tie the strings around a golf tee and stick them in the ground. It looked very cool! 

For the tables we did a bunch of solid tablecloths with beads, mini hats and gold chocolate coins. The mini hats were a little bit of a let down, they were adult sized not kids sized, but I just tied a loop in it and they fit ok. 

Activities

We had lots of active possibilities for all of the toddlers at the party, so we had our slide

And of course the trampoline was a hit as always...

 a rainbow tunnel, 

a craft table and a pinata. 

The pinata was ridiculously huge. Thank god we had a bigger kid come to the party or it would've taken all day for the 3 year olds to pop it open! I filled it with bouncy balls, beads and other toys.

After what seemed an eternity, it was open! 

We also had a parachute, 

multi colored cones from Melissa and Doug (which were ridiculously popular! Who knew?) and twister. 

No one really played twister, but it sure looked good! Maybe next year:) 

Keeping lots of outdoor bikes and toys was helpful to keep all the kids entertained

For our craft the kids made rainbow crowns. 

Big sister Callie and her friend took it very seriously! 

They had a blast! Before the party we cut out the center of plain white paper plates. The kids used small glue sticks and attached tissue paper to the crown. 

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They were so colorful and some kids made more than one! 

Callie showing off her crown. Excuse the blood coming out of her nose, but that's Callie! Smacked her face into the bar on the trampoline!

I kept some fun items for the kids to play with like this hat and glasses. Found them in the dollar bin at Target. 

There were other things I had planned to do but they just didn't happen. I bought a white tablecloth and I was going to have the kids do potato stamping. Also planned to set up a photo background with St. patricks and/or rainbow fabric. But all in all, it was a huge success! The kids all had fun and so did the mamas and papas! 

Last but certainly not least...The Treat Bags

I had a blast ordering goodies from Oriental and Party City for the bags. There were clappers, rainbow sunglasses, head boppers, St. Patrick's activity/crayon packs, beaded necklaces with shamrocks (these also made great pinata filler). I put everything into tie dye bags. And what's more amazing? I actually remembered to pass them out this time!! Unfortunately I did not remember to take a picture of them, but they were super cute! 

So there you have it. Our rainbow party in its entirety! 

Grandpa Bunt

Last week we said goodbye to Bill's grandfather, Ray Bunt. He was an absolute one of a kind. I wanted to try to put into words what he meant to me. I am not the type of person that can get up and speak at a funeral, especially while I will be trying to keep two kids under 3 relatively quiet!

Love and hugs were Grandpa's specialty!

Grandma and Grandpa Bunt (Ray and Ann) were the first members of Bill's family that I ever met. His parents lived (and still do) in southern california so I didn't meet them until several months later. I, of course, was a nervous wreck. But I didn't need to be. They were the most open, loving and genuine people I have ever met. It was St. Patrick's Day and poor Bill, who was a vegetarian at the time, ended up cutting the corned beef! There were endless offers of beer (that means Budweiser), wine and of course, Coffee Keokis. It was a lovely evening and I felt at ease. I felt like I belonged. There was no judgement. There were no feelings like I was being sized up. There was just fun and great food.

Then came my first Christmas at the Bunts. Christmas is an EVENT at the Bunt house. They had a big ranch style house that was jam packed with people. Family, friends, doctors, dentists, former co-workers, neighbors, and every type of person in between. To say I was overwhelmed would be a great understatement. I will never forget how Grandpa Bunt introduced me. He said "Everybody! Hey everybody! Listen up! This is Maria, Bill's ladyfriend. Maria, this is...this is..well, everybody!" Every christmas the train would be set up and he would dress up as Santa Claus for the kids. And for the adults too, I learned. All the ladies would get a turn on Santa's lap. It was not something I wanted to do, I think it was my second Bunt Christmas and I was still getting my bearings and getting to know the family. When it was my turn, I decided Bill was going to squirm too so I told Santa what I wanted. An engagement ring. Mission accomplished. Grandpa and several family members talked about that for years! It was even brought up at our wedding:) Grandpa Bunt got so much joy out of Christmas. I don't think I will ever not connect the ideas of that holiday with anyone else.
He loved having people over to his house; not just for holidays, but anytime. He was so proud of his home and his family. His family was everything to him. It was from him  that I learned just how important it is. And more importantly that family isn't necessarily just the people you are related to. Because sometimes those people are absent for whatever reason and family is what you make it. My family has always been welcome to mix with his and that is a great gift.

 Ray was the life of the party. He loved talking to anyone and everyone. He just really enjoyed hearing other people's experiences and trying to make sense of them. One of my all time favorite pictures from our wedding was a picture of him filling up one of my bridesmaid's champagne glass. It is Ray to a t. He always made sure people were having a good time; that they had enough to drink and eat. You weren't about to have a bad time if he was around anyway!

Now that is a family photo!

Being a history buff,  I loved all his stories about the Great Depression and his experiences in World War II. I mean who couldn't love a guy that had met Eleanor Roosevelt on his submarine in his boxer shorts because the captain wasn't going to let them take shoreleave? He was a member of the crew of the USS Sailfish.

That's him with the turtle shell

Seriously, look them up. They were involved with some crazy stuff during the war. He was proud of so many things, being a life guard, being in the war, working for John Hancock Insurance back east, his role in helping labor movements, helping political campaigns...the list goes on and on.
But if I was to choose one thing that he was most proud of, it was Ann.

His wife.

They knew each other so briefly before they got married, only a few months. But you would never know it. If there was ever a couple that was made for each other from the get go, it was these two. Ray was always the one with the crazy stories, Ann would reign him in and correct his numbers or places or times but always with a smile. They had the most amazing love, one that we can all aspire to. When we were going through Grandpa's things I found some letters that he had written to her in the weeks leading up to their wedding.

They were so sweet and so Ray. It was clear, even then how proud he was to be with her.

I will miss Grandpa pulling out the old photos and sharing stories, asking me about my work as a teacher, trying to figure out why I didn't make more money,  giving big hugs and kisses to my girls. I feel so blessed that I was a part of his family and continue to be. He opened his arms and his family to me and for that I can never repay him except to make sure that one day I do the same for someone who loves my daughters.

Rest Ray. Your family is strong, loved and we are together because of you. Thank you Grandpa. Please give Grandma a great, big kiss for me and the girls.

"We're women, honey, the strength finds us"

"Where do you find the strength? We're women, honey, the strength finds us."
Wise words come from strange places sometimes. This one was from an episode of what I'm sure Bill would call a ridiculously overdramatic hospital soap, Private Practice. And he probably wouldn't be wrong, but nonetheless when I heard the quote in the episode, I leapt over a pile of toys and stuffed animals (being careful to avoid the deadly legos) to write it down in my phone. It was one of those quotes that you hear and you go "Gawd! Amazing. So true."
I'm not saying men aren't strong, but the female brand of strength is different. Maybe because we take it for granted. A text conversation that I had recently had sprung to mind. We have been dealing with a chronic ear infection with Lucia on and off for the past two months. We have tried 4 different antibiotics, including injections when both ears became infected and she started vomitting. Yesterday she stopped eating after having a good couple of days, so I had assumed she was on the mend. But when she stopped eating and napping we headed back to the doctor who gave us one last antibiotic to try and a list of Ear, Nose and Throat Doctors because we can't keep pumping her full of different antibiotics. I was still hopeful but worried as well. That night, the strongest woman I know, said "I can't imagine what you're going through." I was taken aback because I realized I hadn't even thought about it. And that's what we do, as women and especially as mothers. Is it biological, the way we just react?  We do what needs to be done without thinking about it rationally. We get up 4 times a night (or more!) to feed and soothe. We nurse. We bleed. We birth. We get covered in all sorts of bodily fluids that in no way belong to us. We forgo showers. We are way too good at sweeping our fingers down our kids' throats to get whatever strange item they have decided to injest. We jump when they cry. We sacrafice without thinking about it. I thought about the night we took callie to the ER. In that moment I would have done anything to keep her from bleeding. To keep her from fear. And maybe that's where the real strength is. To adapt when everything goes sideways. So I think that quote is true. When the situation arises, the strength does indeed find us even if we never even considered it before.

The Mama Drama Reading Round Up: Halloween Edition

It is my favorite time of year! Halloween! And this year it meant stumbling into Hicklebees and dropping a serious dime on books for Callie. So here are some choice picks for your little pumpkin.

Ghosts in The House by Kazuno Kohara
A very cool book with unique illustrations. The use of orange and white has a lot of contrast so it would be good for itty bitty ones too, not just toddlers. It follows a little girl and her cat who enter a haunted house until you discover she is a witch and she knows exactly what to do with ghosts. She cleans them and turns them into useful items like tablecloths and blankets:)

Room on the Broom by Julia Donaldson
Great illlustrations, fun rhyme. And a good message of cooperation and how to help your friends.

The Little Old Lady Who Was Not Afraid of Anything by Linda Williams
This is one of my favorites!! Callie received this one from her Grandma Tere last year and we love it! This is a wonderful read aloud book about a little old lady who finds some creative uses for items that are chasing her on a spooky night.

Who's There on Halloween by Susan Nipp
This is a great board book. Callie loves this book all year long, especially now that she can label all the characters, owl, spider, ghost, witch etc.

Miss Nelson is Missing by Harry Allard
This one is probably better for a little bit older kids but it definitely has a good halloween feel to it when misbehaving students get a new teacher who is a witch:)

Bedtime for Boo by Mickie Matheis
This is a great bedtime book, maybe the perfect choice after a night of trick or treating with your own little boo. It is all about a mother getting her little ghost to fall asleep even though he is wide awake after a night of haunting.

Just a Minute by Yuyi Morales
This is the only book out of the bunch that I wasn't 100% on, but I am so glad I bought it! It has become Callie's favorite by far. The reason I had a little trepidation was because the story is basically about death coming to take Grandma Beetle to the afterlife, but I thought to myself "Is Callie going to get that? Mmm. Probably not. I'll give it a whirl." And she really doesn't, I think only a much older child would grasp that. It has some of the most beautiful illustrations and is a great counting book to introduce some spanish to your little one. As Callie has recently mastered counting to ten in spanish (more or less) she loves it. This book is a great tribute to Day of the Dead celebrations and folk art.

Hush Little Monster by Denis Markell
This one is silly and cute. Another good bedtime book as it can be sung along to Hush Little Baby.

So there you have it, there's my list. What is on yours? Add to the comments and have a wonderful halloween with your little pumpkins this year !

Taking Toddlers and Babies Camping

This post is long overdue, but I felt it was important to get it down eventually! But let me say this right off the bat. If you are someone that can't handle your kids getting dirty, stop reading right now and go do something else. Anyhoo...
Last month we took the girls camping for the first time. To say I was intimidated was a bit of an understatement. I am not much of an outdoorsy type, unlike my husband who would be totally happy going all John Muir. We didn't camp all that much when we were kids, mostly because my dad wasn't that into it. But of the few times we did go, I have wonderful memories of those experiences.
As I prepared to take my girls, I discovered a lot of those memories hovered around the campsite experience itself. The cooking, the eating, the camp fire. When our friends who have a little boy about 9 months old invited us to camp with them at Big Basin in their tent cabin I was definitely interested, especially since Big Basin was exactly the place I had camped with my family as a child.
I started emailing friends that had taken their kids camping and doing a bit of internet research on camping with toddlers. The friends I talked to had a mixed experience. The first night was terrible for most of them with very little sleep happening. So I decided that we should do two nights when initally we were only going to do one. And after all, why do all that packing and planning for one night?! And well, I thought to myself, we can deal with one night of little sleep. Been there done that! (In the end, sleep ending up being fine. Took her a while to go down but once she did she was out! So don't let the sleep question deter you!)
 So the packing list began. And oh my. What a list! And here it is for you, kind reader.
-Camera!!
-Jeans: seriously, why would you deal with anything else?
-long sleeved and short sleeved shirts: the days started out quite cool but by the time the afternoon rolled around it was quite warm so definitely plan on layers. Bring extra clothes for diaper mishaps or if the dirt is out of control. Onesies for babies, and extra jeans and shirts for toddlers. This camping is dirty business.
-Fleece sweatshirts and PJs. We ended up not sleeping in the cabin with our friends, mostly because I had zero idea what callie's sleep would look like and I didn't want to wake up their little man too much! I was very glad I was able to find some fleece pjs in early september since we were sleeping outside in the tent and it obviously got a little chilly! But I admit it felt funny buying fleece when we were dealing with 90 degree weather in september in California!
-Shoes with good tread. This was my biggest challenge! Callie has a lot of shoes, some of them even athletic type shoes but they all were geared towards urban living not hiking in the woods! After a great deal of searching I settled on a pair of merrel shoes  that had a good solid tread on it. They were a little more expensive than I usually spend on shoes for Callie, but I figured it was worth it if she could keep her footing. I ended being very thankful for that because she ended up taking quite a few tumbles while we were there.
-Socks: bring extra. You never know where toddlers will find water sources! REI and other stores like that sell special socks for hiking/kids but really you don't need them. Just use your normal socks. Carters and Target brands are just fine.
-Towel: our campsite was directly across from the bathrooms and showers. This was part of the reason I was open to this camping experience in the first place! The funny thing is I never used the showers. Everytime I tried, one of the girls was flipping out and it was either shower or risk not being able to go hiking before naptime nightmare began. Any anyway, it's camping. If there is one time to be stinky this is it! So in retrospect, this item isn't a necessity, but if you think you will use showers then obviously bring one.
-Hats: bring warm ones for the morning/cold and sun hats for the afternoon/hikes. One of my favorite pictures of the trip was one of me and Lucia in our matching Sharks' hats:)

-Books/Toys/Stuffed Animals: if any of these items are part of your bedtime routine, for the love of all that's holy don't leave home without them! Don't think to yourself, we will be camping they won't want to do the normal stuff. Wrongo Dongo. Routine is crucial for kids, much more than for you and I. They are going to be pretty out of their element anyway so bringing anything familiar is key. I actually wish I had brought more toys for Callie. There was a lot of downtime when we needed to clean up meals or get cleaned up to go hiking and it was hard to keep her entertained.
Tent and Beds: DUH. Unless you are staying in a cabin, bring a dang tent. When you think your tent is big enough when it was just you and your sweetie. THINK AGAIN. No really. Think again. And find a tent that is at least twice as big. The amount of shit that you will have in your tent is unreal. For little beings they come with so much stuff!! We ended up finding a nice roomy tent at Mel Cottons that was used as their rental tent, so it was a smokin deal! $50!

And yes, that is a lot of timbuk2 bags. But they are amazing!! 

If you are doing car camping like we were/are, you really don't need a backpacking style tent. They are a lot more expensive. The backpacking tents that would have been about the same size were going to cost us around $550-$600. Now, if you really want to save space in your car and don't want to lug a heavy tent around, then go ahead and get a backpacking tent. One of the things that really helped us was to have a little light hanging from the top of the tent to work as a night light for Callie. If you don't have a battery powered lamp, you can use glow sticks. They have a nice little loop that is perfect for hanging and it lasted most of the night. Yes, you don't NEED 25 of them, but you will be surprised at how entertaining they are to a toddler especially around the campfire when you just want to enjoy your hot chocolate and smores. Plus you can use them for Halloween. We used an inflatable toddler bed that has "rails" on it for callie to sleep in. It is great for traveling!

Not the greatest shot of the bed, but you get the idea...

We have used it twice since and it is perfect! We bring sheets from home to put over it for a little more security for her.
For the baby, we brought the pack and play but quickly realized it was pretty silly. I would try to get out of bed as fast as possible to get her into bed with me to nurse so she wouldn't wake up Callie which is a little like trying to do ballet on a waterbed. A pack and play is useful if you have a non-mobile kid for in the campsite. It is nice to just stick them in there with a few toys and prep dinner.
Camping Chairs: one for everyone! We actually ended up buying Callie one at the store at the camp headquarters. She loved having a cup holder for her water/milk/hot chocolate.

Special cup: I bought a special camping cup for Callie. She is still talking about it!
Diapers and wipes. Again. DUH. But what might not be duh, is when you think you have enough wipes. Pack more. Trust me. If you are not at a campsite where there is a place to dispose of your trash, bring a container/wet bag like these from planet wise.
Toiletry items: bring your normal stuff, but just the basics, because the car is getting pretty full at this point! Comb, toothpaste, hair products, etc. Within reason. No need for makeup or anything crazy. It's camping people!
Hiking backpack/baby carrier. We brought the Ergo for Lucia which was invaluable as always.

Our friends brought a pack for their little man and I sorely wished we had brought one for Callie! 

But we did not bring a hiking backpack for Callie and I really wish we had. We had some VERY long (in time not distance) hikes on this trip.
Waterproof blanket: Like this one is a nice idea. It was nice to be able to plop Lucia down and let her play there. I'm not sure you need it with an active toddler who will just crumple it up anyway!

Screen House: again, not really a necessity unless you have problems with bugs like I do. That is why I don't usually camp:) We used an old one we had which we promptly left in a trash can before we left. We had gotten decent use out of it, but this one looks pretty good.

The screen house was the perfect place to feed daddy some smores

And to watch your toddler smoosh her face into it and laugh hysterically! 

First Aid items: I almost didn't bring anything. I thought "She'll be fine. She won't get hurt." Then I looked at her and remembered, oh yeah. This is Callie we're talking about! The number one item: foaming neosporin. This stuff is amazing! I keep it in my diaper bag now. I am sad to say that we had to use it the first day. Callie was climbing a tree stump and slid down scraping up her belly pretty badly.

 Poor thing was so upset! Other items to include would be bandaids, compresses, sunscreen, bug spray and venom kits/epi pens if you are allergic to bees like me.

Food
This was where I focused a lot of my energy, because I think the fun of camping is the time around the campfire and a lot of that time involves food! And like I kept telling my camp mates when they were shocked by the types of things that I had stashed away in the cooler, "I don't rough it!" I scoured the internet for recipes that would be easy to prepare while camping but that didn't involve freeze dried beef stew! That did mean, however, that it took a bit more prep time on the day before we left, but it was definitely worth it while we were camping. For your toddler, bring lots of snacks that you already know they like. You will just be annoyed if you spend valuable car space hauling a snack they won't eat. For us that meant, triscuit minis, rice cakes, bunnies and dried fruit. Also bring some backups for dinners if they are picky. A box of mac and cheese went a long way to cheer up a grumpy girl.

The first night, I wanted something we could just reheat and eat since I knew we would be spending a good amount of time getting the tent set up and getting Callie adjusted to her new surroundings. So the night before we left I made a batch of my minestrone and put it in a gallon ziplock bag. All we had to do was heat and serve. Sliced up some bread and got out a bottle of wine and voila! Awesome dinner.

Here's me. Roughing it. 

For breakfast, it was your typical fare, eggs, potatoes and sausage. I found this lovely little contraption at REI to hold the eggs. It was genius! No worries about your styrofoam egg container falling apart in your cooler. I even dropped the damn thing and no broken eggs. The breakfast plan was lumberjack foil packets. We learned that this would work beautifully over a campfire/bbq but on a campstove the bottom got too hot too fast. But it was still pretty tasty! When I think of campfire breakfast, I'm pretty sure this is the image that will always come to mind for the rest of my life.

My happy camper enjoying her breakfast

The plan for lunch was to make chicken tacos, but we really didn't need a full lunch. We had some cheese and crackers and that was really all we needed until dinner. For dinner I made my Veggie Chili which is an adaption of this recipe. Again, a really easy one for camping. I chopped up my garlic, peppers, onions and put them in a sandwich sized ziplock. Another one for the spices. Packed up the cans and beer. Then you basically just toss everything into a pot and let it cook! We added some soyrizo since it was on hand. I had made some cornbread muffins ahead of time to go with the chili but they got smooshed in the car, but it worked when we just crumbled them up and put it in the chili. That night I got to try out my platypus wine preserver. Worked like a charm and so easy to pack! If you are "roughing it", more so than we did anyway, this would work great! No bottle to worry about breaking and it lays pretty flat. 

Breakfast I brought a shake and go bottle of pancake mix. We got out the griddle and made our pancakes and finished off the bacon and frozen hashbrowns. Again, no real need for lunch. About then it was time to pack up and head home. 

Make sure you have lots choices for snacks/beverages. We had packets of hot cider, hot chocolate, beer and wine for the mommies and daddies, marshmallows, fixings for smores, etc. Don't forget a container of milk for your little ones. I put some milk in a tupperware so we didn't have to worry about it taking up too much room or cardboard leaking milk everywhere. We are serious coffee drinkers so we brought some ground coffee from our favorite coffee shop and this coffee system. It was a little tricky getting the ratios right, but it was so nice to have good coffee in the morning!

Preparation
Besides getting all of this CRAP together, the big thing you need to do is to get your toddler excited/prepared to go camping! We talked a lot about what camping meant: sleep in a tent, go hiking, collect rocks/sticks, see lots of trees, carry a back pack, smores. I picked up a couple of books about camping including Callie's favorite character, Maisy. Some other possibilities are Olivia, Caillou and George. There are some lovely picture books as well. I opted for S is for Smores by Helen James. There are gorgeous pictures for kids Callie's age and there is a bunch of text about each letter for older kids. Another popular title is When We Go Camping. Also, try to involve your toddler in the preparations. We all went to Mel Cottons to find a tent and a sleeping bag for Callie. While it was the equivalent of herding cats, trying to get everything done there, she had a blast checking out tents, climbing in kayaks and when it came time to get in her sleeping bag, she knew it was hers and was already excited about it. I also bought her a special pillow. In our case it was a sharkie pillow pet. I think it is helpful, like with any trip, to bring out something new/special to keep them interested.

Hiking
We did "hike" both days. I'm not sure a lot of people would call what we did hiking, but come on! Two year olds have little legs:)

Don't underestimate what has entertainment value to toddlers while hiking. I bought her a backpack that you can see in the picture above. She loved collecting fallen pinecones and a few rocks. We also found an old disposable camera that should have been developed before 2000 in our camping box, but we gave it to Callie and she had a blast!

A word of caution. Be wary of naptime. Both days, by the time we got done with breakfast and cleaned up we were getting dangerously close to naptime. Next time I might just say screw it to cleaning and just get our butts on the trail! 

Changes for Next time
I will most defintiely take the girls camping again! 1 month later and Callie is still talking about going camping. Next time I will bring some sort of hiking pack to carry Callie in. Taking her hiking was really fun and it was awesome to see the joy of discovery on her face but when she got tired she was a total pill! It would be great to toss her in a pack and head back to camp. I will also probably bring more things like toys to keep her occupied when we are trying to clean up and get going. I will bring a bug box for her to examine her treasuries more closely. Luckily Grandma Tere has already gotten her one for our next adventure. Next time, I know that we won't need the pack and play for the tent. Lucia just ended up sleeping with me/nursing anyway.

Final Thoughts
This is one of the happiest memories I have of us as a family.

This is by far the happiest I have seen my husband with my daughters. 

He is most serene and at peace when he is in nature, so for him to be able to share that with all of us was an amazing experience. Camping is an experience. Don't let all the preparation and shit that you have to bring dissuade you from this adventure. It was amazing and I would do it again in a heartbeat. To hear your child squeal with delight about trees and birds and the sky and the stars is priceless. She still every now and then talks about how "I go camping! I sleep in a tent!" 

The Reading Round Up Part 1

For a while I have been telling myself "I should make a list of all of Callie's favorite books thus far," because there definitely have been some surprises along the way. I have definitely been surprised how long we needed to do board books versus picture books. And some of the books that I was so excited about, she could care less about.  I think when I found out I was pregnant with her I automatically started thinking about what books we would enjoy together. Books were the most common item on our baby registry. Reading is always something that has been crucial in my life. I remember very fondly spending summers reading with our whole family together in the living room and I hope to do the same for my girls. I do find that times when I am not able to read as much as I would like, like...say...now, when I am balancing a toddler and a baby, I feel a little out of whack. But I do get to read a lot with Callie during the day. The books that I thought she would be into she isn't necessarily. And some books. Oh my dear god. Kill me if I have to read them one more time. So here you go. Here is the list in no particular order.

Anything and everything Maisy. But especially Maisy Goes Camping. We definitely need a new copy since the cover has completely come off. Sadly, we haven't even taken Callie camping yet! But hopefully we will rectify that soon. Haha. In finding the link for Maisy for you, sweet reader, I came across a new one for our collection, Maisy Goes to Preschool. Thank you Amazon Prime!

Click Clack Moo. This is a recent favorite and I couldn't be happier! One of my favorites. And to hear hear exclaim "Quick Quack Moo!" is pretty darn adorable.

Little Helpers. This is a nice one. Callie loves it because it has birds, butterflies and other things she can name. Good book on being "green."

Awake to Nap by Nikki McClure.  Very cool illustrations in this partial alphabet book. I wish it went through all the letters, but it is beautiful for what it is. Apparently the author made these block prints while her son napped. Guess he didn't nap quite long enough!

Chicka Chicka Boom Boom by Bill Martin. I love love love reading this with Callie. She loves to reply with Boom Boom when I say Chicka Chicka.

Anything by Eric Carle. These books are wonderful for little ones. The pictures are engaging and beautiful. There are a lot of titles to choose from but Callie's favorites are The Hungry Caterpillar, Brown Bear, From Head to Toe, TheVery Busy Spider, and 1,2,3 To The Zoo.

Ten Little Monkeys by Eileen Christalow: I will admit it. I hide this book all the time. We got it from a friend and Callie loves it. But after reading it a gazillion times, good god. Kill me. I want to tie those monkeys to the bed. No more jumping! Oh well. At least it isn't ten little monkeys. It's only five.

Where is Baby's Belly Button by Karen Katz. There is a whole series of these books. Where is baby's puppy, where is baby's mommy, etc. They are great books! Especially for the early stuff. The flaps are easy to grab for little hands and can stand up to a fair amount of abuse.

On The Night That You Were Born by Nancy Tillman. This is a GORGEOUS book. Buy it. If you know someone having a baby. Buy it. I was in the Santa Cruz Bookshop with Callie when she was teeny tiny and I was looking at it, most likely not going to buy it when a random mom came up to me and said "You HAVE to buy that book. You will love it. If you don't buy I'm going to buy it for you." That was enough for me, to have a complete stranger offer to buy you a book. That's a keeper. There is also On the Day That You Were Born, but I like this one better.

Peek a Who by Nina Laden. This is another recent favorite since Callie is pretty obsessed with owls at the moment. But this would be a great early book as well.

Tickle Monster by Josie Bisset. Yes that Josie Bissett, of Melrose Place fame. But don't let that stop you. It is awesome!  We LOVE this book. Bill's cousins gave it to Callie for her first Christmas. It is awesome! Make sure you buy the set with the tickle monster gloves. It is worthless without them, in my opinion. We have had so many fun tickle fests because of this book. This is another great one for gifts.

Press Here by Herve Tullet. We have bought this book for pretty much every birthday party we have gone to for the last year. It's at the point where I can't remember who I've given it to we love it so so much. It is wonderful! It is vibrant and colorful, interactive and tactile. Kids get to shake the book, blow on it and clap to make that wonderful little yellow dot do some amazing things. This is one book where I don't think you need the board book. The hardcover has a very sturdy cover and the pages aren't very fragile either.

The Napping House by Audrey and Don Wood. I am so glad Callie got into this one recently. I have always had a special place in my heart for the incredible illustrations of this team of author and illustrator.

Goodnight Gorilla by Peggy Rathmann. Callie really likes this one. This is a good beginning book as it is very visual and not too dependent on words.

Doggies by Sandra Boynton. Another good early one since it depends on counting and funny noises.

A Lot of Otters by Barbara Berger. I bought this for Callie the first time we took her to the Monterey Aquarium. Absolutely gorgeous. This is another one that she wasn't into for quite a while but is now.

Goodnight Moon by Margaret Wise Brown. I love reading this with Callie. She wouldn't go to bed without reading it for a good long while. And I was happy to oblige. I read it so much that I noticed on one of the pages where you can see a picture hanging on the wall. That picture is from one of her other books, Runaway Bunny. Unfortunately I can't seem to get Callie into that one yet. But seriously, it would be a crime if you child's reading library didn't include this gorgeous classic.

Time for Bed by Mem Fox. This is another one that makes a great gift, especially for a new baby. The pictures are beautiful and they all show parents with their babies. For whatever reason when we get to the page with the fish Callie points to one and says "mama fish" and points to the other and says "callie fish."

Eating the Alphabet by Lois Ehlert. This is especially great for when your little one starts eating solid food. Callie always gets very excited when we get to W. And I think you know why!

Elmo. Ugh. The red devil himself. These are another series that I tend to hide every now and then. Callie loves them so I bring them back out occassionally. See. I didn't even give you the link. There. That should tell you something. And yes, it was a gift.

Bark, George. We discovered this one at a storytime day at the Rosegarden library and we both love it! Callie loves most books with dogs:)  Like...

One Pups Up by Marsha Chall. Another counting book. Very cute illustrations.

Knuffle Bunny by Mo Williams. All his books are really cute and clever. This is a great one! A good, cautionary tale (especially for daddies) about taking good care of lovies! He has some other great ones like Don't Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus and There is a Bird on your Head. And no, I am not making these up.

Guess How Much I Love You by Sam McBratney. I love love love this book and I so glad that Callie finally got into it!

Alexander and the Terrible, No Good, Very Bad Day by Judith Viorst. I have no idea why Callie likes this book (it's very words which normally doesn't fly with her!) but she does. Go figure.

Dr. Seuss. Get these for the early stages. In my opinion, the window of enjoyment for these is fairly small. Callie is way over them. With the exception of The Cat in the Hat and Go Dog Go. She never gets tired of that one. And of course the one that I liked the best, she could care less about. My poor sneetches with stars upon thars.

Hugs All Day. This is a random one. There isn't really even an author listed. We got it as a gift for Callie's first birthday. Callie loved loved loved this book for months. This is another really great early book. The pages are very sturdy and the pictures are great.

I'm a Big Sister by Joanna Cole. This is a must if there is a sibling on the way. We received 4 copies! But Callie loves it. Don't ask me why but the only version available on amazon is the one is spanish. But apparently this book is everywhere! Well, except on the internet.

I Kissed the Baby by Mary Murphy. This is a great one for babies since it is black and white so the high contrast is easy for them to see. Callie still digs it.

The Paper bag Princess by Robert Munsch. I love this book. Callie is sort of into it and seems to be even more so everytime we read it.

Dog Dreams. Another one with very cool illustrations.

Z is for Zamboni. Come one. You saw that one coming didn't you? Pretty sure we'd have to kick Callie out of the CG clan if she didn't like this one. The best part is at the end she jumps up with her hands in the air and yells "GO SHARKS!" That's my girl.


Misses:
These are books that I love and thought Callie would to, but she doesn't. At least not yet. I am going to keep trying!

The Carrot Seed by Ruth Krauss. This is a very simple book, it has been described as "zen like" so I thought Callie would be into it. But not yet.

Stella Luna. I even tried getting this for her in a board book and nada. Crushed. Totally crushed.

Runaway Bunny by Margaret Wise Brown

Love You Forever by Robert Munsch. This one is all me. I fully admit it. I remember loving it because of the way my mom read it to me. But when I read it as an adult the ending kinda creeped me out. I should probably get over it.

Books by Kevin Henkes. I registered for at least 4 of his books for Callie and she isn't really into them. Although I haven't brought them out in a while. Might be time to try again! My favorites are Wemberly Worried, Julius Baby of the World and any of the Lily Books.

Oh and here is one just for the mommies and daddies. Seriously dude. Don't read it to your kid. It will help you get through some tough nights with a little laughter! If they ever go to sleep that is!  Go The F**k To Sleep by Adam Mansbach. The illustrations are surprisingly gorgeous too. I haven't heard it, but Samuel L. Jackson also does the voice for the audio book:)

Oop. here is another one. I forgot about this one! We got this as a gift and we still love it:) Baby Mix Me a Drink by Lisa Brown. There is also Baby Fix My Car, Baby Make My Breakfast and Baby Do My Banking.

That's it for now! I'm sure there are a gazillion I am missing, especially from the early stages. Parents, Teachers: what are your favorites? For the early early stuff, you can't go wrong with high contrast or tactile like touch and feel.