Word Play

Word play with Clay is his ability to unknowingly misuse or mispronounce a word that makes me have to hold back giggles! Here are some of my current favorites: Hangleburger with cheese please! (hamburger) Mommy, Can you do me a favorite? (favor) Coughing..."I've got drama' (This is what he says when he coughs after his father pointed out that his dramatic production of fake coughing was drama. Now he thinks that 'drama' is something you have to see the doctor for!)

Clayton Quotes

Clayton on pregnancy and labor: 'Baby brother is getting bigger and bigger and bigger, bigger and bigger. Yay, he's getting bigger, bigger, bigger and bigger, bigger.' I asked him what would happen next and he said, 'He gonna hatch out your belly egg.'

Making Mush

While I attacked the endless bag of paperwork to be shredded, Clay played with our newest batch of play dough. The noisy shredder was a constant distraction. Then when he saw the bag of shredded paper his dinosaurs had to jump in and out of it making a trail of paper shreds on the floor. Suddenly, I had an idea! We could take this play outside, add water to the paper and make mush for the dinosaurs to play in. (I was having flashbacks to making paper pulp for homemade paper.) Brilliant! Now here is what really happened: We took two buckets out to the front lawn with shredded paper and dinosaurs. I turned on the hose and he had already dumped the paper on the lawn. I rescued as many shreds as I could back into the buckets and added water. He proceeded to rescue the dinosaurs from the paper shreds, spreading more onto the lawn. The paper never broke down, mush was never created. However, Clayton was heavily involved with 'busy play'. I grabbed a chair and read the mail while he put dinosaurs in and out of the buckets, poured the water/paper mixture from one bucket to the other and paused momentarily to remove paper from his toes. I love 'busy play'. I describe it as play that uses active thinking, purpose and concentration even if as adults we can not identity the why or what of the play. When I taught preschool some of the best moments was looking out onto the play yard and seeing groups of children's involved in this busy play. My idea of making mush may of backfired, and still needs to cleaned up off the grass, but his play was wonderful!

Mud, Mud, Wonderful Mud

Pregnancy has gifted me many wonderful things. Not the least of which is the absence of my brain and memory. The other day I was watering the plantings out of reach of the drip system and forgot to turn off the hose. It ran all night and left quite a puddle by the garlic and newly planted tomato seedlings. Clay and I went out the next morning and he found the mud first. It was an irresistible muck of mud. He happily played all morning in it. I may need to dedicate a corner of the garden to mud.

Because It's Necessary

Today Clayton took off his diaper and went into the bathroom only to take off most of the animal stickers on his potty board and decorate his naked body. He then proceeded to his bedroom with his belly covered with stickers and a large lion sticker on his butt to take them off and put them on his bed sheet. I can only assume that he did this, because it was necessary. Moments like these are perhaps my favorite. I watch him baffled and amused as he does some of the most bewildering activities because it's necessary.

Cherry Picking

Riverdance Organic Farms in Livingston

Snow Day

We attempted making a snowman earlier in the day with little success. But we had great fun making a snow head on top on a snowy rock. Clay requested a nose, eyes, hat and eyebrows. He was very proud of his creation. We found a quiet area away from the snow pack and sleds where he happily played with snow. He made lots of snow balls and then became very determined to wipe away all the snow on top of the rocks as fast as he could. Giggles erupted. We went to Pinecrest Lake to play in the snow. It is a summer recreational area that closes in the winter but you are still able to drive into it. Free snow play! Clayton had not seen snow since he was 6 months old. He was a bit overwhelmed at first, having just woke from a car nap to be surrounded by cold white stuff and kids sledding down hills. I held him while he finished waking up and we watched the kids sled. He would point and say, 'I go down'. Next time we will have to bring a sled for him. As stylish and snow appropriate as my old Levi's, rain boots and corduroy jacket where Chris and I will be looking for powder pants on craigslist for next year! It was a wonderful day, I hope we go back again this winter.

'He's Berry Hungry"

***Barefoot Books giveaway on mamasmiles ends December 10th*** Inspired by a post on Likely Classroom I set out to create a Hungry Caterpillar for Clay. I used an oatmeal box, construction paper, and a glue stick. To make him more durable I used clear laminating sheets because it is what I had but a brush on sealant like Modge Podge would of worked better. I had fun creating this hungry fellow. On my first attempt I decorated the caterpillar bum and used the lid as a removable face---not practical! I guess I got a little carried away with how cute the caterpillar bum was. For best results don't use the lid and cut the mouth hole out of the bottom. (Or just follow the orginal instructions at Likely Classroom!) Turns out this caterpillar was very hungry or as Clay would say, "He's berry hungry". He was just as hungry outside on a picnic as he was playing in Clay's room. Clay would load him up to the rim, lift up the caterpillar, dump out the food and feed him again. Play like this continued until Clay discovered the telescope effect of our new creation. He had the most fun looking through his caterpillar to see Mommy and Daddy. He even took it in the car to spy on trucks passing by. I see you!

Poop Cookies er...Pumpkin

Clayton: Oh look, poop Me: That's not poop, that's a cookie Clayton: It's kinda poop Me: Well...I guess it could kinda look like poop Clayton: It's big poop Me: It's a cookie! We made cookies this past weekend. Yummy pumpkin cookies from this recipe I found online. Soft Pumpkin Cookies 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour 1 teaspoon baking soda 1 teaspoon baking powder 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon 1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg 1/2 teaspoon salt 1 1/2 cups granulated sugar 1/2 cup butter (1 stick), softened 1 cup 100% Pure Pumpkin 1 large egg 1 teaspoon vanilla extract Glaze (recipe follows) Directions: PREHEAT oven to 350° F. Grease baking sheets. COMBINE flour, baking soda, baking powder, cinnamon, nutmeg and salt in medium bowl. Beat sugar and butter in large mixer bowl until well blended. Beat in pumpkin, egg and vanilla extract until smooth. Gradually beat in flour mixture. Drop by rounded tablespoon onto prepared baking sheets. BAKE for 15 to 18 minutes or until edges are firm. Cool on baking sheets for 2 minutes; remove to wire racks to cool completely. Drizzle Glaze over cookies. FOR GLAZE: COMBINE 2 cups sifted powdered sugar, 3 tablespoons milk, 1 tablespoon melted butter and 1 teaspoon vanilla extract in small bowl until smooth.

Wike

The mail carrier left our doorstep and I heard a thumping. It was a soft thumping coming from the mailbox. A package! With a somewhat shaky hand I lifted up the package. I heard a mumbled and gurgled voice say 'Play with me' coming from inside the package. My curiosity had a tight grip on me now! Clay and I decided that opening it outside would be best. Clay slowly reached in and then quickly pulled out a small muslin bag. The bag hurled against the sidewalk, clonk! 'A Rock!', Clay exclaimed. But that wasn't it at all. 'Itz a monster!', Clay said and he was right. Wike arrived at our home the other day from Columbia, Missouri. He is a beautiful er..frightening shade of blue-green with sharp teeth and red feline like eyes. We are very happy to welcome him to our home after participating in a giveaway from Mamaroots. Wike was originally created by her son on paper and then his sweet and talented mama transformed his creation into wood. Clay quickly introduced himself and got to know Wike on a more personal level. Wike likes cows, dirt, reading stories, playing in boxes and eating corn. I am confident that Wike will be happy here. He has already promised to eat any riff raff that may be coming out of Clay's closet or from under his bed when Clay is older. Hmm...What is it? 'Itz a monster!' Wike perched in laundry while Clay reads him a book. (He is a very good listener!)

Choo, Choo

My dad, Papa, and his wife, Lita, recently took the train to Seattle and up to Canada. My son and I had the privilege of picking them up at the train station at the end of their trip. We got to the train station early armed with leche and an old fashioned unglazed donut. We promptly went outside to wait for trains. There was an older gentleman and his 4 year old grandson also waiting to see the trains. Apparently he has taken his grandson on a bike ride to the train station everyday since he was 2! Let me tell you, he was on to something! The boy showed Clayton and I the yellow line that we have to stand behind when the trains come. He stood watch and reported to us when he thought the train would be coming. His excitement was contagious for Clay. 'It coming, it coming. The train. It coming.' Then we could see it down the line, the first train was going to pass. The Grandfather and I took our positions with our little ones on the platform and braced for the train to pass. It was a loud surge of steel that created a continuous gust of wind from the power and speed of the engine. The wind rushed past us and we continued waving and yelling at the train as I held Clay. Train one had passed and another was coming from the other direction. We waved and waved, the engineer waved back and blew the whistle as he continued down the track. Next up was an Amtrak train that stopped at the station, doors opened and people walked off the train. Clay's eyes were wide with wonder. 'Mommy, open door, the train open door.' The train left the station and around 10 minutes later my father's train arrived. We waved the train in and the engineer opened the side window to stick out his arm to wave back! It was an exciting morning! He talked about the train all that day and into the next. It was obvious to me what needed to happen next, we were going to make a train station. I used masking tape for the tracks and grabbed some boxes to be the train cars. We made a sign for the train station. Then we gathered his stuffed animals and ...All Aboard! Our train went up and down the hallway all night and even managed to make a couple stops at the train station (his room). Chugga Chugga Choo Choo!

The Pumpkin Patch That Wasn't

My sister-in-laws invited us to a pumpkin patch on Saturday. I had already planned on taking Clay to a pumpkin patch with a Moms Club at a sweet place with a big red barn, story time in a corn field, and lots of local fall squash to drool over. But family time is important and we have not been together for a couple of months so I packed Clay in the car and drove an hour to meet them at the 'patch'. I came off the highway, made a right turn onto the street and was promptly flagged down four parking lots to an entry. Holy Crap! It was an amusement park disguising itself as a pumpkin patch. I took my sweet time getting Clay out of the car and into the wagon I had brought all the while repeating to myself how wonderful it was going to be for Clay to hang out with his cousins, aunts and uncle. The cousins blasted pumpkins from an air gun to hit staged cars, ran through a hay maze, and raced tricycles before heading to the pumpkins. I took Clay into the petting zoo. It was horrible. They were not regulating the amount of people they were letting into a semi enclosed space at the cost of $1. It was cramped with people who most likely had never been close to a farm animal before much less had the opportunity to shove food to one from the baggies of food they purchased at the entry. I then tried convincing myself that this place holds value to some city folk and perhaps older children. Clayton, who has a deep admiration of animals, had tunnel vision. He could only see the animals. He managed to point out every animal he could and sweetly lean in to say hello oblivious to the crowd of people around him. When he spotted the pen where you could go in with the animals he grabbed my hand and pulled me to the gate. The pen was not only crowed with people but animals as well. They were three times as many animals inside as there was space from them to move around. You could not walk two feet without bumping into an animal or person. The animals were crowded, hot and overtaxed. I wanted to run away. But Clayton was bursting with love at every piglet, goat, sheep, chicken and duck there. We keep to a corner were I stood to create space for him and some of the animals that huddled there. He calmly, gently stroked the animals taking time to look them in their face, smile and say hello. After almost five minutes we said our goodbyes to the animals and headed to the pumpkins. Ah, the 'patch'. It was rows of packed dirt from years of people stomping all over the pumpkin vines set in between a train ride and storage shed painted orange. Clay kept his tunnel vision and saw only the pumpkins in front of him. Large, orange pumpkins that he ran to. Odd that there were no little or medium ones, probably pumped the pumpkins with some growing agents. Again he was calm amongst the noise of the train and crowd. I should not of been to surprised at this, he always gravitates towards nature where ever he is. He tried picking up every large pumpkin could. He pulled, tugged and grunted to no avail and then tried the next one. He settled on laying across pumpkins to play in the dirt. He did finally find a white pumpkin that he could pick up thanks to his cousin, Morgan. We picked out three mini pumpkins at checkout time and he held them all the way home. So even though I feel defiled having been to this particular pumpkin patch he had fun with family, hugged a couple pumpkins and carried a few home. Here's Clayton tugging at a pumpkin and what's that next to him? Oh yeah, litter in the pumpkin patch! AGHH!

Morgan and Clayton with the magic pumpkin we took home. Next year we are going to try growing our own pumpkins again. I promise not to let the tomato plants beat up the pumpkin vine. Now I am off to crop the photos and write a letter to the family that owns the patch about the condition of the animals in their petting zoo. I hope your pumpkin experiences are more humble than mine and filled with notes of Autumn instead of yells from a crowd.

Look Mom!

The other day I turned to hear, "Look Mom, poop!" Clayton proudly exclaimed this with his hand stretched out to show me the nugget of poop he was holding. I managed to say, "Yes, that's poop" as I stoically shuddered inside and grasped the situation. Poop nugget in hand, diaper off, missing rest of poop. Then I said, "Show Mommy the poop" and we were off in search of the missing deposit. He lead me into the living where it lay on the carpet in a neat pile next to the discarded diaper. He beamed, there was poop. After cleaning up I smiled as I realized this was a 'Mommy Moment'. One of those quirky, out of nowhere, disturbing and yet proud moments that mommies totally relate to. His pride in showing me that nugget of poop will make it one of my favorites. Any favorite 'Mommy Moments' you'd like to share?

Garden Invaders

Some sneaky things have been happening in our garden lately. Not the cute sneaky gnomes that you would hope to see but pests, poison and mold oh my! The garden and flowerbeds are admittedly overgrown. It just breaks my heart to pull out or cut down a full grown plant. I usually come up with a grooming plan during the summer and then try and remember it once all the blooming has stopped. But I have had some new 'volunteers' this year that I did not recognize. I figured the birds helped to plant them and let the plants do there thing. That was until one particular volunteer vine was climbing all over my rose plant. The rose was not getting enough sunlight and powdery mildew was growing. Ugh! I can't stand powdery mildew, it even attacked my lilac tree. Enough was enough I pulled the plants out! Afterwards my father and all around garden guru came by for a visit (and to add to my recycling can). He identified the plant as Night Shade, a cousin to the Morning Glory. Any then proceeded to tell me the plant was poisonous! To make it even more tempting for my toddler, Night Shade has small, dark, poisonous berries that can be picked and digested. Night Shade Be Gone! And stop trying to sneak your way back into the flower beds, I am onto you. My son and I made the pest discovery when picking tomatoes. You may of already guessed, it was a tomato worm. I have around 8 tomatoe plants scattered around my back yard. I was curious if I would get them as visitors being in town instead of the country. I don't know how they found me, but they did. A big, fat, juicy tomato worm just waiting to urinate on me as I picked it up to show Clayton. Truthfully, I like them. They are strangely cute. They have amazing camouflage. When my brother and I were little our grandfather's neighbor, Mr. Cory, would pay my brother a nickel for every tomato worm he caught. Sometimes he would even pay a dime for the fat ones. Mr. Cory swore on tomato worm for fish bait. My brother happily kept him in full supply. I would go out to the garden as try my best to find them with minimal luck. My brother could spot them a mile away. I guess a nickel can do that to you...Anyway, back to Clayton's introduction to a tomato worm. I put it on a broken branch and we sat on the lawn looking at it. It did not move and that was puzzling to him. What the heck was he looking at? I told him it was a tomato worm and showed him he could pet it. His curiosity welled up and he touched it. Then he grabbed the branch from me and marched around the yard. That tomato worm was hanging on for dear life! I enjoyed watching him study the tomato worm, a creature that had always fascinated me when I was younger.

What's this?

Clayton feeding the tomato worm.

Happy Birthday!

Happy Birthday to you, Happy Birthday to you, Happy Birthday Dear Clayton, Happy Birthday to you! Today is the day, it's Clayton's 2nd birthday! Today we had a Mommy and Clay day. I asked him what he wanted to do and he said, 'Eat pasta and cheese. Go to da zoo. See animals' And so we did! This past weekend we had a BBQ in the park with Chris's family and close family friends. Tomorrow he is going to a Children's Discovery Museum with a buddy. And this weekend we will be celebrating Great Grandma Ella, Cousin/Uncle Tyson and Clayton's birthdays with a family BBQ at my Dad's. A busy week, but one filled with family and friends to share in our celebration. As with his first birthday I am looking back on his past year in pure wonder. So much happens in these first years. His abilities have changed immensely in this last year. This time last year he was not walking and only said a couple of single words. Now I am greeted by a young boy walking, running, climbing, talking, singing songs, reciting nursery rhymes, helping to make his food, cleaning his messes, and very aware of his own likes and dislikes. As his independence, curiosity and communication build I have come to realize that he is beginning to embark on his own journey. I now also understand that his first year or so of life was my journey. I was his provider, protector, nurturer. It was my journey to learn how to be a mother. Thank you Clayton for guiding me. I strive to nurture him in all the ways that he needs as he takes his first steps on his journey. I treasure everyday we have together and enjoy the moments as they happen. I am excited to see where his journey will take him tomorrow, next month, next year and in twenty years.

Mmm...tastes good mommy

On a heat scorched day this summer, Clay and I were resting in a darkened house, fans blasting and AC spurting moments of cool air while watching Caliou. On this episode he helps his Grandma make juice with oranges, lemons and grapefruit and the secret ingredient of sugar. Clay was so excited to watch this. He kept turning and saying 'Juice Mama'. Which was strange because he had never had juice. Watching them hand juice the fruit it reminded me of a glass juicer my Grandma Helen had given me years ago. I went to the cupboard and there it was; simple, beautiful and shamefully never used by me. I searched the refrigerator and found four lemons and a couple of clementine oranges. I then gathered a pitcher and cutting board. I cut the fruit in half and set 'my project' on the floor. Clayton quickly ran over and I told him we were going to make juice. We squeezed the lemons and the pathetically small clementine oranges. (On a side note, clementine oranges are by no means ideal for squeezing but it was what we had.) By the end we were covered in sticky sweetness and had managed to get an inch or so of fresh squeezed juice in the pitcher. I was building Clay up for the secret ingredient of sugar like in the show when he grabbed the pitcher and chugged. I mean chugged, his head was back and the pitcher was up! He finished his gulp and put the pitcher down. His face scrunched up. Through puckered lips he squeaked out, "Mmm...tastes good mommy." What a sweetheart! I am going to teach him the word sour.

In the morning I wake up...

Clayton constantly surprises me by what he says or does first thing in the morning. Some of it really catches me off guard and I have to imagine he is sharing his dreams with me. Today he woke up saying, "Tiny poop. Mouse tiny poop. Elephant tiny poop. Clayton poops." You might recognize the wording from Everyone Poops. It is a book that is definitely one of his favorites. But it was not read to him the night before and for that matter I have not read it in almost a week. Yesterday he woke up on a mission. He hopped out of bed and grabbed his boots. He kept repeating 'Papa boot, Papa boot'. He went on to tell me about the animals he could see at Papa's. Oh if only he get on his papa boots! There have been other mornings where he wakes up singing a song. Lately he has been making his own songs up. "Sing Baby. Sing. Sing up high." And I have to laugh when he tries prying me awake by pulling at my nostrils and yelling 'Mama up, Mama up'. I open my eyes and he sits back with the sweetest expression on face and simply says, "Oh! Hi Mama!" as if he had been patiently waiting for me to wake up the whole time.

Most mornings we gently wake up together and snuggle play for a bit before getting up. We tickle each other, give kisses, hide under the sheet, and talk about breakfast choices. We also sing our morning song, an idea passed to me by MamaRose. Good Morning, Good Morning. Good Morning to you. Then we pick different people or things to sing our song to. Daddy, Mama, Sun, Tree, and Cow have all been sung to. I treasure our first 5-10 minutes in the morning. When he wakes up refreshed and smiling I feel like he is saying, 'Thank you Mama'. What are your favorite things to do in the morning?

Pros and Cons of Holiday Camping

This past 4th of July weekend our family enjoyed a camping trip with Uncle F (owner of previously mentioned Chuck Wagon) and MamaRose's family. Clay is now almost 2 and Tyler is 2 1/2. It was their first time camping together. There were moments that I felt like I might need a t-shirt that said, "I went camping with a 2 year old and survived". Clay and Tyler ran, climbed, played with trucks, rode in the sidecar of a bicycle, slept on a hike to a waterfall, blew bubbles, sang songs and tracked down squirrels. Everyone had a great time, including Baby Zoe who received a lot of kisses from Clay. It was my first time camping on a holiday or busy weekend for that matter. I have come to the conclusion that your expectations for holiday camping need to be different from mid week or low season. Laying down with Clay in the tent for his nap I came up with some pros and some cons. First the cons so that I can end on a good note.

• Traffic, traffic coming and going and at the site. Expect it when traveling on a holiday. The drive for us was fairly steady until the last 7 miles where the road was closed due to construction and the detour was a one lane road where a trailer had got stuck and was waiting for a tow truck. By this time Clay was done with sitting in the car seat, so we turned back and walked around the nearest town for awhile (not all was lost).
• The place is busy, the trails are full of people, the bathroom has a line, you have to do a people shuffle for popular scenic sites. I thought nature was an escape from the hustle and bustle.
• It's work! I constantly felt like we were policing the campsite edge near the road for cars, the back of the site for the steep edge that lead to a creek and the grumpy dog next to us that was not friendly but of course the wee ones constantly wanted to say "Hi" to him.
• Is the holiday a drinking holiday? Loud, obnoxious campers who holler into the night are a real possibility. Thankfully we did not experience this! We did have a drunken group parade into our site and demand to know who had built the Chuck Wagon. Uncle F got a high five for his work. The next morning at the restroom unveiled that someone had sung to the porcelain god and missed! Hmm, wonder who that could of been?
• Last but not least the noise level is to loud to hear the wind in the trees. I had been so busy that it did not strike me until night fell and the noise level fell with it, at least 5 decimals. I really noticed it when I lay down for that nap with Clay and could not escape the noise!

Now, with every gray cloud there is a silver lining so here is my list of pros for holiday camping:

• Families first! We were surrounded by families. In fact in our campground there were two different large family groups of campers spread out in the sites. So, I may of not been able to enjoy a relaxing nap in the middle of the day but I also did not have to stifle any part of my son's experience. He could be a toddler in all his toddler glory and it would not infringe on someone else's camping experience. In fact I did not have to worry that he would wake up and cry in the middle of the night because other children did the same. We were all families with children.
• It was packed! Which meant lots of different nationalities, languages, faces and food smells! I did not expect camping to be such a cultural experience. Our ears were filled with laughter and languages, and our eyes meet other smiling that differ from the ones in our own mirror.
• Small town celebrations were happening all around. So the campground was full and trails were sluggish with people and the auto traffic could be heard from them. Embrace it! There were many community celebrations happening around the area. Pet parades, 50's carnival games, parades with floats and a marching horn band, midnight hikes, community picnics, petting farm and music everywhere. Going out of town on a holiday means you get to join other celebrations, see what else is out there!

Chances are with my husband's work schedule we will go camping again on a holiday. I will not expect a relaxing union with nature. However, I will look forward to being with family and friends. I have accepted that holiday camping is not exactly camping. But rather a family experience to share with the ones you love where you just happen to sleep in a tent and share a bathroom with a lot of other families. I can do that!

The 'Loves You' list is back!

The 'Loves You' list is something we started to help calm Clay down when he was a newborn. We would cradle him close and start down the list. Mama loves you, Daddy loves you, Grandma loves you, Grandpa loves you, GG loves you. The list goes on to include aunts, uncles, cousins and friends. When I would tell Clay that I love him I always felt like I was leaving so many out. He is loved by many people. And so started the 'Loves You' list. It was a wonderful list of family and friends that I would whisper as I cradled him. Saying the list also helped to center me when I was exhausted, drained and emotional from recently giving birth. At some point the list was put aside for back patting, book reading and singing lullabies. But the other night Clay was on the verge of sleep. However, he looked as if he still needed something. I started the 'Loves You' list. His body relaxed and he drifted off into sweet sleep. It warms my heart that the 'Loves You' list is back. Thank you to everyone on the list for all of your love. We truly appreciate it.

Camping with a toddler (part 2)

Part Deux: I completely over packed. We had spent the weekend before horseback riding with Uncle and I had barely unpacked from that trip. We packed for the entire camping trip the night before and shoved it into the car the morning of. I had a bag of toiletries for the family, including Clay's emergency bag. I packed a backpack of board books, scratch paper, crayons, bubbles, one soft animal that I could throw in the washing machine, a soccer ball, and plastic dinosaurs that I had purchased at garage sale the day before. I also brought along two big trucks to share with the 4 yr old and a pop up tent to put the toys in. Then there was a large bag of Clay's clothes and an even larger one from my husband and I. We were expecting warm weather but the forecast had changed to include light showers. I packed for warm and cold weather. We also brought our 'camping ala tub' plastic tub. All of our camping essentials are in it. When we pack it up I keep the linens separate to wash and take all the batteries out of the gizmos and put them into a ziploc bag. At home we wash the dishes and linens and it all goes back in the tub for the next trip. The tub works for us. Clay ended up only getting a few pieces of clothing dirty compared to all that I packed for him. Don't get me wrong he was filthy almost every moment of the day. But it was to cold for the creek so we never got wet and as filthy as he was there was no point in putting him in clean clothes until pajama time. His hands, face and clothes were covered in dirt. His nail beds were black. He would make dirt angels, scoot down the hills on his bottom and dipped most of his food into the dirt. He was happy. We went on many short hikes and one long one. He saw many big trees and banana slugs. Everytime he picked up a pinecone he proudly proclaimed, "Porcupine!' I kindly labeled them as pinecones and was imediately corrected by him. They were porcupines. We were also lucky enough to have met another family with a young child. They had a daughter who was wonderful with younger children. Clay followed her from the moment he saw her. In fact that is how we met! She showed him the trees she had been playing in. They had been through a fire and had hollowed out trucks that made great tee pees and caves. She used a flashlight and showed Clay how to look up into the tree. She climbed on the trees and invited him along. He was amazed with everything she did.

The next day she came over and brought different types of moss that she had collected. The two older children used it to make beards and mustaches. Then all three played in the trees next to our camping site. It was wonderful play full of castles, tree spirits, fire building for the tee pee tree and what ever else their imagination lead to next. Clay tagged along as best as he could and settled for making dirt angels again. The other big hit was the bicycle with side car that Frank built. (Yes he is pretty incredible) Clay and the 4 year old would take turns getting rides in the side car while aunts and uncles pedaled the bike. At night I read stories huddled in the pop up tent with a lantern. At night we put the pop up tent inside of the gigantic one. We folded a sleeping bag to fit inside for a mat and blanket for Clay. He was very cosy. We are looking forward to camping again in July.