Last night, Matthew and Hannah went camping for the first time. They were so excited that they were both running around, giggling, talking about camping... Ron had gone into work, so it was already past Hannah's bedtime when he got home, and then we headed out to the tent in the yard. The birds were so loud, there was no way they were going to go right to sleep. Ron went back into the house to have dinner and get ready for bed, and then it was my turn to get ready for bed. At that point, both of the kids decided that they had to go potty, so we brought them both back into the house...

The good things about camping were that when it finally got dark, we could see millions and millions of stars in our backyard. I don't think there are words for how spectacular it was. The kids got to help Ron put the tent up, so they learned about something new. We woke up to fresh air and birds chirping.

The bad things about camping were that the kids had to get up often to go potty (thank goodness we were in the yard so the bathroom was not far). The temperature dropped to the 60s overnight so the air was quite chilly in the tent. In the morning, there was condensation on the inside of the tent so the other thing that woke us up was water dripping on our heads. And, no one got enough sleep.

I think that next time, I would bring Matthew's cd player out so that we had a little white noise to help us all go to sleep, and we would get the kids to bed earlier. Next time, though, I think we need to finish blowing up the air mattress for the grownups...

Matthew and Hannah started swimming lessons this week. Even though Matthew is 5, he is taking parent and tot with Hannah. The first time he took it 2 years ago, he was terrified and wouldn't get his face wet. Last summer, I was "bad mommy" and got them signed up too late. Tonight, he was floating on the noodle, kicking with his feet, and scooping with his hands in some awkward doggy paddle/freestyle combination that was fun to watch. He did so well, that he is going to start level 1 lessons next week. He is growing up so quickly it is hard to believe.

Hannah loves to jump into the pool and be caught at the last possible moment before her head would go under the water. Just listening to her giggle made me smile. On the other hand, when she does her back floats, she bends in half like a taco, and it is hard to get her to put her head back, even with my hand underneath it. There is a slide there, and she got out of the water to go down the slide, then started to cry because she was so cold. She climbed the stairs, then shot out the bottom like a cannonball. I was worried that I wouldn't catch her, but I did. After that, she wanted to get out of the pool as fast as she could. She is not as bad as Matthew was with his first lessons, but I think that she will need at least one more year of parent and tot before she is ready for level 1. I suppose that is a good thing - Hannah is still my little bird.