Turtle Adventures

On the way to James's therapy today, we pulled over to carry a turtle to the other side of the road. I decided to let Caleb see it before I dropped him into the grass, and then I asked, "Hey, wanna take him to Hope Landing with us?"

What 3-yr-old boy would say no??

Caleb wanted to name him...well, Caleb...but we settled on Caleb the Turtle, or C.T. for short.

C.T. was pretty traumatized by the time we got there, and C.B. (Caleb the Boy) was carrying him up-side-down, putting him in the playtent inside Hope Landing, stomping all around him...poor turtle.

We eventually got him outside, where it took awhile to get him to come out of his shell (ha ha). While we waited, we found a feisty little caterpillar who refused to be picked up. So, we decided to bring the turtle to him. We didn't know if turtles ate caterpillars, but we soon found out!



Definitely eat caterpillars!

We went inside to pick James up (who did not have nearly the fun we had!), and by the time we got back, C.T. was gone. I'm sure we'll be looking for him every time we go!

Caleb's First Real Camping Trip

Jon took some of the youth guys camping for two nights one weekend. Caleb got to go along--his first real camping trip!

Jon tells me that right after this picture, Caleb went end-over-end the rest of the way down the hill. He thought for a moment that it was the end of the adventure, and he'd be taking Caleb to the ER, but Caleb walked away from it, just fine!

I was a little nervous because it was *real* camping trip, with no bathrooms nearby or anything. But, the campsite was less than 30 minutes away, and I could come rescue Caleb if things went south.

Serious fisherman

Little Missouri River

The day before the trip, the bottom fell out of the sky and flooded the campsite. Campsite #2 was 3 hours away. Thankfully, it had a bathroom, but I let it be known that 3 hours was not too far for me to drive to come save my firstborn if needed.

Caught one!

Caleb had a blast. He caught "five trout fish!" in his words, with his little Spiderman fishing pole. He had his froggy boots on the entire time, and splashed in puddles and ate s'mores and enjoyed himself. It did rain, and the tent he and Jon were using was flooded out the first night, so they had to evacuate to another tent. And Caleb had bumps and bruises all over him when he got home, but it was worth it.

This photo makes my heart melt.

We're now scouting out a larger tent that will hold all four of us!

It's in the genes

Some people got it. Some people don't.

Jon can. I can't.

Caleb can!

Can you?

Family Bed

Several months ago, we started reading The Chronicles of Narnia as a family. We all pile on our bed, Jon reads, and I give James his bottle before bed. Caleb bounces all over the bed, but he really does listen.

We call it the Family Bed, and it has become a sweet ending to our day most nights, and we love it.

Caleb is so active during reading time, we wondered if he was listening at all. One day, Jon was reading from The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe (LWW), and he described a drink that "stung the throat, but warmed the body." He looked at me and said, knowingly, "I know what drink that is!" And Caleb chimed in, "Coffee!" So, sure enough, he was listening.

We have read three of the books so far, and now we are on to Prince Caspian. The book reintroduces the four children from LWW, who are easy to love and remember, so Caleb is enjoying this book.

Both Jon and I remember being read to as kids, and I love that our own kids will have similar memories. I love that they love it! I love seeing Caleb's face light up when he understands what's about to happen, or the way he bursts into laughter at a silly joke in the story. I love how James wants to see the pictures in the book, and how he reaches out to snuggle with Caleb.

These are sweet memories for this mama.