School, Camping and Work

So I haven't posted in a while. Too much has been going on. First, Ciara started school. Wahoo!! I think she was more excited than me to go back. She had such a big grin on her face when I dropped her off. Caden's school doesn't start until September, but that is OK. Since he is younger, I like to keep him around for a bit longer. Soon enough, they will both be at school all day. What will I do with myself? Hmmmmm . . .

Here is Ciara outside her school:

Here she is playing outside with a new friend (either Abby or Katherine).

On another topic, we went camping. Now, some of you may not know, but I do NOT like camping. I hate not having showers, beds, clean floors, etc. As I mentioned in a previous post, I am a city mouse. But my dear hubby likes to camp and fish and hunt and all sorts of other things, so I occasionally have to go along with it. It was the first time we have taken the kids camping. They were pretty good, but we did leave a day earlier than planned. We went to Strawberry Reservoir, so Rocky could do some fishing. It was freezing! Friday night we were so cold, and the kids were so cold as well. At one point during the night, Caden was sleeping completely on his pillow with no covers, and his butt sticking up in the air. We got him back into the bag, and the next morning he was so far in the sleeping bag that we couldn't see any part of him, just a big lump somewhere near the bottom of the bag. Ciara slept ok, but she was also freezing. She woke up crying at one point during the night, and when I asked her why, she said, "Because my nose is cold and I don't want it to be." So I let her come into my sleeping bag with me, which of course meant that I got no more sleep. Another thing I learned about Ciara is that she talks in her sleep. Most of the night she just mumbles nonsensical things, but I do remember one sentence she said very clearly: "OK, I will have a pancake after." I really thought she was awake when she said this, because it was so loud. We survived the first night, and I was ready to go home. But Rocky wanted to do more fishing. We did have poles for the kids to use, but they got distracted. And can I blame them? Casting out and just sitting there until something bites? Not my idea of a good time. Caden made up a new game for himself: he stood by edge of the lake, grabbed rocks in each of his hands, and would yell, "Ready, set, GO!" and throw the rock in the lake (or reservoir as Rocky keeps reminding me). I don't think that it helped with the fishing. We finally decided to leave that evening (no one wanted to sleep in the freezing cold again) so we got to come home and clean up. I have to ask, does everyone take so much stuff camping? Rocky's parents brought a LOT of stuff. Most of it food. It looked as if we were moving up there. A sample menu: breakfast was french toast, eggs, bacon, hash browns, sausage. Lunch was taco salad. Who makes taco salad while camping? I know I don't camp often, but I thought that sandwiches were as sophisticated as it got while camping. Oh well. She tries. I have pictures, but they are on a different camera, and I don't know how to get the pictures off of it. I also started work yesterday, but there is not much to report. Everything was great, but most was training, so I don't many stories.