Birthday Party #2 and Camping (sorta)

Ok I'm a little behind but just bear with me....on Sammie's actual birthday (Aug.27th)we went to her favorite park and met with her good friend, Claire. Claire is Mark and Tanya Bolton's daughter in case any of you remember them from Germany. They were in 1-7 with us. Anyway, the girls had fun and got to eat sprinkle doughnuts and drink milk from little milk containers. How fun! Anyway, Jim and I aren't big party people so playing with Claire was the extent of Sammie's wild and crazy 2nd birthday. But they had a great time as usual and that's what it's all about! Here are a few cute pictures of the park....


Sammie got to open presents from us and from her grandparents later on that evening. Here she is wearing her fireman's hat while playing with some play pizza! Jim and I got her a little play kitchen and Grandma Sue bought her some food to go along with it, and my parents bought her the fireman's hat because she likes firetrucks. See how happy she is playing with both things?

On Labor Day weekend we decided to go camping. Jim and I hadn't been camping since Germany and we thought it would be fun to be outside and let Sammie enjoy nature. I picked the place which was Crater of Diamonds State Park in Arkansas. It's the only place you can go and dig for diamonds and other gems and then keep what you find. Cool eh? And yes, people find diamonds there all the time. In fact, the day before we went digging 4 diamonds were found. I had wanted to go there and dig in the dirt for a long time so I was excited to finally get to go. It was a 6 hour drive away, but I figured that Lawton was the closest we would ever get to Arkansas. The first night we took off after work and drove halfway. Since Sammie sleeps in a bed at home, I thought we would try her in a regular bed in the hotel. Not a good plan. First of all we had Ani with us too which made the evening extra fun and exciting for Sammie who would not stay in her bed but would not sleep with us in our bed either. The cars outside the window were too fun, Ani in the same room was too fun, and the tv was too fun. We knew she was tired, but she wouldn't relax. After a couple of sleepless hours she finally told us she wanted to go home. Great. Isnt' she supposed to be 16 when she starts saying stuff like that? Two is just too young!

Ok, so that was the first night. The next day we get to the State Park and get to our assigned camping spot only to discover that it was worst one there. The facilities and camp sites were great, but our particular site was not. It was small and right next to the bathrooms (not too bad since I'm pregnant and have to pee all the time) and it was right at a fork in the road which meant that there was a road really close to us on three sides. So, out goes our ideal camping situation of having room for Sammie to run around and play! Instead we had to worry about keeping her out of the road! We tried to switch sites, but we couldn't. Oh well. It was also really hot and muggy. Jim and I were used to California camping where it gets nice and cool in the evening. Well, not in Arkansas! So that was yucky. After we made it through that first hot day mixed with Sammie crankiness, evening rolls around and Jim has to drive her around in the Durango so that she will fall asleep because heaven forbid she fall asleep on her own in the tent. Oh well. The second day we went out to dig in the park. After one poopy diaper with no mat to change her on (oops, my fault) and Sammie getting grumpy again (shouldn't digging in the dirt be fun for a 2 year old?) Jim took her back to the campsite so that I could dig until my heart's content. My heart was content after about another hour or so, (no I didn't find any diamonds) and I hiked back to the campsite with the Ani girl. And there was poor frazzled Jim trying to get Sammie to relax and take a nap in the stifling tent. He was doing a good job, she was calm and quiet, but then he came out to talk to me and said "I think we should go home right now. As in today". Apparently Sammie threw a fit because Jim got water out of the ice chest in a way that she didn't like and wouldn't stop screaming no matter what Jim tried! He took her on a walk, they went on a drive, etc., but nothing worked. He knew that if we stayed it would just be more of the same. So, we packed on up and came home a day early and were actually able to enjoy the last day of the Labor Day weekend! We were all much calmer and happier in our own beds with our airconditioning.
Jim and Sammie eating breakfast on our one day of camping.
Hmm, is this a diamond?

So we learned our lesson about camping with a two year old. Next time we try camping it will be in beautiful and cool California to a place we are familiar with and we will do our best to drag one set of grandparents along with us for our own sanity!