It was a dark and scary night. The wind was howling, the coyotes singing, the leaves rustling, and the sound of twigs breaking in the forest was all too apparent. Everyone was gathered around the crackling campfire, making small talk, relaxing, listening to the night's surroundings.
Brianne was picking up twigs and stones and tossing them at the fire. She watched it intently, letting its glow fascinate her and the crackles entertain her. She paced from one side to the next, being sure to not stay on one side of the fire for too long. Occasionally she would sit down in her chair and start a few pieces of small talk; you know, the kind a three year old is entertained by.... yeah, we have no idea either...
If you haven't guessed by now, we went camping. Mommy's siblings all wanted to do a retreat, so we decided to go to Hocking Hills and rent a cabin for the weekend. To say Brianne had a blast would be an understatement. She loved it. From hiking Old Man's Cave and Cedar Falls, to spending time at the Cabin with the rest of the family. All of her aunts and uncles got a quick glimpse into the life of parenthood (I bet all of them felt exhausted after that weekend!).
During the camping trip, our picky little eater ate meat! Chicken to be exact, but nonetheless she ate meat. We think she ate it because it was grilled on a stick (and by her Auntie Amber. We were impressed as she at the entire stick worth of chicken (5 or 6 good size pieces). Later that evening Brianne got to roast her first marshmallow on an open fire, let's just say she was really excited and thoroughly enjoyed it.
To end our trip, we stopped at Logan Lake and man oh man did Brianne love that. It took her a bit, but she quickly realized just how much fun the water could be. She was splashing, building moats, digging in the sand, and just overall having a good time. Afterwards, we ate lunch and then headed back home. The retreat was a success, and I can't wait to do a similar one with the siblings (and neither can Brianne).
Auntie Amber obviously didn't have enough time with Brianne whilst camping because she later on took Brianne for 2 nights and 3 days all on her own. Brianne was thrilled and very sad when she was eventually returned to her parents. Disappointed may be a better term, she wasn't ready to leave and wanted to stay for a while longer. It seems Kris (Auntie Amber's husband) felt the same way; "shhh, don't tell him we said that!" We heard through the grapevine that after Brianne left, he just had to buy her a hat, as it was "perfect" for her.
Back to the city life, this past month was filled with going to the splash pads around Columbus, the Zoo with friends and family, and visiting family in Findlay and North Baltimore. During one of the visits to family, Brianne stated she needed to go potty. Mommy took her to the bathroom where Brianne quickly exclaimed "Mommy the water is blue!", "Yes it is" replied Mommy to which Brianne responded "I'm going to make it green" without missing a beat. I guess Brianne has been paying attention when we paint at home and mix a few of the primary colors together to get the secondary colors.
With that, we end another month that seemed to pass by in a breeze, but it was a fun month with a lot of new experiences that will definitely need to be repeated.
Love,
Matt, Kami, Brianne, and Keaten