Matthew Catching a Fish

Matt, Matthew and I went on a 3 night camping trip this weekend with our friends Bill and Candace and their 3 kids Billy (4), Sam (3), and Savanna (9 months). Matthew was in his glory being able to play outside with other kids plus 2 kid-friendly dogs. He was so hyper and excited the first night we slept in the tent that I wasn't sure if he would ever fall to sleep!

It was a zoo with 4 kids and two dogs running all over the place....we absolutely loved it!

We roasted marshmallows every night-although Matthew wouldn't eat one because he said they were "yucky".

The boys couldn't wait to go out in the canoe.

Bill and Candace had a huge cabin tent, I was so jealous at night while we were scrunched in our little 2-man tent that you couldn't even sit up straight in :). They were able fit 2 full-size air mattresses, a pack-n-play, huge cooler and a wooden chess inside, while still leaving room on the floor to play! It came in handy when we had a twenty-minute downpour. Matthew and Sam both loved to play with the Diego toys.

Boys will be Boys! They were all obsessed with catching salamanders and tadpoles. Mommy does not like anything slimy so I tried to stay as far away as possible while they played with them. Matthew would lightly touch one and get so happy and scream with excitement, it was fun to watch.

Matthew caught his very first fish on the trip. He wouldn't touch it or put it back into the water though.

Looking for slimy things.

Very quickly they discovered that it was great fun to stomp around in the water barefoot. The water was actually very warm which was nice.

Splash! Splash! Splash!

Matt and Bill caught some perch and crappie to eat for dinner and Matthew thought it was the coolest thing in the world to watch Bill clean and cut the fish. A couple of the fish decided to flop around on the trailer while they were waiting to be filleted and Matthew felt it was his job to hold the fish down.

Marshmallow/s'more time!

The bean turned into a little egg monster. He must have eaten more eggs than anyone! He would finish his plate and then go and stand patiently next to Bill saying "more eggs please".

I think it's safe to say that Matthew loves to camp and be outside.

All the boys went out on a canoe ride, although it was cut short due to the fact that Matthew kept wanting to stand up and rock the boat. They all had a fun time though.

While on a hike to hunt for owls, Candace was able to do what few people have been able to do.....put Matthew to sleep while holding him. She must have the magic touch.

Savanna and Matthew took a liking to each other.....I think Matthew might have a little crush. :)

Everyone had a blast on the camping trip. We were all sad it had to end, but none of us complained about getting to go home and take a nice, long shower. Matthew is already looking forward to the next time we all get to go camping again.

Believe it or not, this was Matthew's first time painting. He quickly discovered he could mix colors to make other colors. I'm sure he can't wait to paint again tomorrow!

Pots and Pans....Again

After months and months of ignoring the pots and pans, Matthew rediscovered them this morning. He had to stand in each pot one by one-needless to say, I had more dishes to do than normal today :).

The Zoo

Matthew took Mom and Dad to the zoo this afternoon and we all had a great time. Matthew's favorite animals were the monkeys, tigers, red pandas, and penguins.

The elephant decided to only let me get a picture of it's backside, she would even only walk backwards!

Random Piggies!

The Red Pandas, which Matthew had a lot of fun watching because they were so active and colorful.

I'm not sure who was more interested in looking at the birds more, Matt or Matthew.

Any animal that was lying down was actually going "night night" according to the Bean.

"Look, I'm a penguin!"

"Fish! Fish!". Matthew was a little confused and kept calling the penguins that would swim in the water 'fish'. I guess he figured if it were a bird it would've been flying not swimming. :)

My silly Monkey!

Matthew was the best at finding where all of the monkeys were in the exhibits. He would show us ones that we hadn't even noticed.

Fishes!

After spending a few hours on the boat we took Matthew to a newly discovered park. He normally likes to crawl through the tunnels, but he decided he wouldn't go into the ones here because there was a tiny bit of mulch on the bottom of them. He felt it was his job to take the mulch out and throw it back with the rest of the mulch....one piece at a time.

Peek-A-Boo.....we see you!

I was surprised that we were the only people on the playground-especially considering it was such a nice day out. Hopefully there will be other kids playing the next time we come. Matthew didn't mind being 'King' of the play ground though.

Matt found a new bouldering spot......who knew there was such good bouldering in Baldwinsville?! :)

I think I got more amusement out of going down the slide than Matthew did. I wasn't expecting to go down the slide so fast!

Matthew liked to be the leader in 'Follow the Leader'.

Matthew spent the afternoon on Papa's boat, having fun driving and fishing.

It's so nice to enjoy the sun with my little man.

Matt gets all serious looking while trying to find a good spot to anchor down and fish, it's amusing :).

Matthew being silly and trying to "eat wind" while we were moving fast.

Brittney and I relaxing and catching some rays while the boys fished.

The men fishing with Matthew rooting them on by saying "more fish, more fish".

He gets so down to business when fishing, like he is concentrating real hard to make sure he casts in the right area and then reel in the line properly.

Matthew was determined to catch a walleye-it's his favorite fish to talk about.

He loves going fast in the boat and really loves it when the boat jumps over other boat's wake.

The bean just loves Papa's new boat.

Craft Time With Diego