Back to school time has once again arrived and it’s a joy when kids are at the age where they LOVE going to school.  I think Heather and I love it more because it gives us a little break from Mrs. Chatterbox! (j/k, we do miss her when she’s at school).

Just because school has started, doesn’t mean our camping season is done though.  On our last trip to the Dell’s area, Savannah was so excited because we picked her up from school with the trailer and left right from there.  The trip was a bit of an experience, we had a tire blow out on the way up to the campground.  A short little delay to change the tire and we were back on our way.  The kids had a great time camping in the fall.  Fall camping is the best!  The crowds are gone, the prices are cut in half, and the fall colors are beautiful.

We have one more trip for sure on the schedule, but if the weather holds out, we might try to go in early November before we close up the camper for the winter (boo!)

After a much needed vacation away from work, Heather, Savannah, Trenton and I are glad to be back home after taking a 9 day trip out to the Black Hills area of South Dakota.  We camped the entire trip and had a great time doing so.  We took three days to get out there so Savannah & Trenton (and us) weren’t suffering through marathon driving days.  We camped in Welcome MN, Oacoma SD on the way out to the Black Hills.  We camped 4 days in Custer just outside of Custer State Park, and then took three days go get back home.  Stays included Mitchell SD and Winona MN.  We took a ton of photos of our trip and have them posted in the photo section.  Below are some highlights of the trip and places we visited.

Kids enjoying their toys in the car

Wild animals at Custer State Park

Mt Rushmore

Crazyhorse Monument

Wall Drug…yeah I know..ya gotta stop there at least once in your life

The Badlands

Corn Palace in Mitchell SD

All four of us had a great time, we saw some pretty amazing things, and had a great chance to focus on being a family again and let the worries of work fall to the wayside.

So a lot has changed since our last update.  Trenton’s first birthday came and went, Savannah’s 4th birthday is just about here, and we’re gearing up for another busy summer of fun and camping trips.

But when every weekend of the summer was pretty much booked up with some sort of event, it’s hard to get to get yourself to make a posting.  I guess I’ll just post up a list of what’s changed since my last post.

Let’s see…

Trenton is growing like a horse, he’s got his two bottom teeth, and one upper tooth.  He’s been doing much better with the teething thing than Savannah did.  He’s crawling like crazy and is pulling up on anything and everything.

He’s started eating solid foods as well.  Heather and I being “kinda crunchy” parents are making Trenton’s food like we did with Savannah.  Not only does it save us a few bucks, but we know what he’s eating.  So far he’s digging the butternut squash, sweet potatoes, banana’s, apples, and pears.  However he’s not too keen on the carrots.

In keeping with our crunchy theme, we’ve also been doing the cloth diaper thing since June and after a couple weeks of getting used to it, we’re well in the groove of things and like not having to throw away $$ to disposable diapers.

Savannah is continuing to amaze us everyday as she grows and gets smarter.  This summer she took it upon herself to show us how she can write her own name.  She’s even written a few “letters” to her preschool teachers.

Which reminds me, since Labor day, she’s been attending preschool two days a week at Cary Methodist Preschool and she absolutely loves it.  She’s made a bunch of new friends and has really opened up in social situations.

We’ve managed to get out on a few camping trips this season as well.  And most recently we came across a deal on a new camper that we couldn’t pass up.  So we moved up from our 1985 Palomino Stallion pop up camper to a 2002 Palomino Stempede hybrid camper.  We now have our own bathroom, and shower!  Savannah and Trenton love it (not to mention so do mom and dad)

Since Trenton has started taking an interest in the foods we’re eating and he just rolled past the 6 month mark last week, we decided to start introducing some solid foods to his diet.  We opted to skip the nasty looking rice cereal and give single grain oatmeal a shot.  Our first two days were a huge success, he took to it like he’d been eating for months already.  I think now is when God puts odor into the poo poo!

So at almost 6 months, Trenton’s pushing 20+ pounds.  He’s quite the little man and is growing and learning so much everyday.  His latest trick is sitting up all by himself!  Heather and I are doing our part for going green.  We’re taking the cloth diaper plunge with Trenton and by our calculations, we should be breaking even with diaper costs within 6-8 months and the diapers we got should last us until Trenton is potty trained.  So we can reallocate the diaper funds to the gas fund!

Savannah is continuing to amaze us everyday as well.  She’s being such a big helper with her little brother.  And thanks to some great birthday present books she got from Grandma Doris, she’s already writing her name in her books and on her magna-doodle

The other day she wrote her first, middle, and last name all by herself!  We’re so proud of our lil girl!