Night in the Igloo

When you've got Alaskan blood running through your veins it's not enough to simply build an igloo, 

you've got to sleep in it too. 

So on January 24th, when the weather had warmed up to the low 20's, Taber and the girls bundled up for a night in their snowy fortress. 

 It's not every night you get to put on snow pants to go to bed!

 Taber made sure the girls were as bundled up as they could be.

Despite the whipping winds outside they were snug as a bug in the igloo.

They FaceTimed me to say goodnight and assured me they were plenty warm. 

 With their winter hats, sub zero mummy sleeping bags, and down comforter how could they not be?

The night went pretty well as far as winter camping goes. Taber didn't sleep much because he kept checking on the girls to make sure they were warm and still breathing…At one point Teya had to go to the bathroom but no one wanted to leave the igloo so she peed in a plastic bag which turned into a yellow slushy by morning. (sorry no pictures… ;) It was pretty adventurous. 

The next day they woke up bright and smiley!

 Daddy made them oatmeal and hot chocolate and they ate their breakfast in bed. 

 All in all it was a huge success! These girls made their Alaskan papa proud.

Camp Joseph with our FWLLFs!

You know what's awesome? Going to Camp Joseph up in Sharon Vermont with our friends from church.

We went last year and LOVED it so much we've been looking forward to going again all year.

You know what's extra awesome? Going to camp Joseph with our FWLLFs (friends we love like family) The Draschils, who were once our exceptionally awesome house guests but are now officially Boston residents and will be here for 2 years while Joseph's in grad school! We're so pumped that they're on the East coast and are already planning many future rendezvous between our families. : )

We went up there last weekend and the girls were super excited about their camping braids, their tinkerbell headlamps (modeled by Teya) and the GIANT marshmallows (clutched tightly under Brinley's arm) that we brought for roasting.

 When we got there we realized that after 6 hours of packing half our household for this trip, we had somehow forgotten to pack matches! Taber bravely snagged a burning stick from someone else's fire pit to try and get ours going but transferring it proved a little dangerous. Luckily our neighbors had an extra lighter and loaned it to us for the weekend.

With the fire burning the S'more fest could begin. Pretty sure I ate enough of those babies to hit the double digits. Definitely a highlight of the weekend for me.

We opted for a cabin instead of a tent this year since I'm not brave enough to sleep in a tent with a 7 month old.

Even in the cabin with his pack and play Cam struggled the first night.  He was cutting yet another tooth and it kept him up all night. Luckily the 2nd night was TONS better. He only woke up once and slept in till 8.  

He was a very popular attraction amongst all the kids. Who can resist a camping baby?

 The kids ran themselves ragged,  playing, exploring, swimming, catching frogs, lizards, caterpillars and all sorts of fun creatures.

 The grown ups had fun too playing hard at the waterfront (see post below), frisbee, volleyball, and laughing and talking around the fire late into the night. We also had a talent show but I totally FAILED and didn't take any pictures! (So unlike me).  I blame it on the fact that both Taber and I were dancing and I couldn't find my music and got a little flustered before it all started. 

Anyway, forget to take pics but here's one of Taber practicing the day before. He did the hoop, which he hasn't done in years but still totally rocked it, I danced a hula to Palehua, the girls sang original compositions, and we even convinced Joseph to do one of his hilarious pantomime scenes with Melinda. It was tons of fun and they decided to make it a Camp Joseph tradition because everyone liked it so much.

Here's a little 15 second clip Taber took of my hula so you can kind of get an idea of the atmosphere.

After two days I think Taber was seriously ready to move our family out into the wilderness and live off the land. I really think it's his dream to either live in a cabin or an igloo.  While that probably won't happen any time soon (or ever, sorry babe) We'll always be big fans of camping, especially at the beautiful, fun and very awesome, Camp Joseph.