Vacation with the Taylors

We were lucky enough to spend a few days with the Taylor side of the family on our way back home from vacation and we had a blast!  Camden took so quickly to Papa and Grammie and all the Taylor cousins--it was great!  Here are a few fun things we did: 

We spent the mornings hanging out with Grammie and she treated us like royalty.  It was so fun to see
Camden play with her and love her to death.  We also went to lunch and to the park with cousins (although I am pictureless on this event). And Mat took Camden to a splash pad and to get ice cream as well. 

 All the cousins eating dinner together. The twins were so good to Camden!  He loved them!

 The adults at dinner. I tried sushi for the first time. Yum! Loved it!

 Who are these two weirdos?

 Cousin love. 

 We also did snow cones with the Taylor family--Camden is becoming a snow cone connoisseur. 

Swimming with the cousins (Cam took a second to warm up to everyone... but then there was no stopping him. As always.)

 On the way back home, we got to ride a car, a train, a trolley, and an airplane all in one day.  This was the first time that Cam had ridden on a train though, so it felt important to document. Needless to say he loved it!

It was so sad to come home after being with family.  We miss you all already!  Thanks again for a great vacation!  

A Month In Moscow, Part 3: "Life at the Cabin"

We spent a few weekends at the cabin while we were visiting and it was a blast.  I was so impressed at how fast Camden adjusted to new people and places during the time we were there.  We hardly had any problems, which is really saying something.  Here are a few of the things we did while there: 

Cam spent a lot of time with Grandma and Grandpa, both at home and at the cabin.  He absolutely adores them. He saddled up on Grandma's lap with this toy and played for like 30 minutes.  (Side note: I tried it with him the next day--lasted 1 minute with me.  Sad: my mother has always been cooler than me...)

 Camden's first ice cream cone.  Since then, he asks for one every time we get ice cream.  (I'm ashamed to admit that has been often recently...)

 Spending time with Grandpa.  Grandpa was my legs every once in a while--bless him.  He was so great to fill in while Mat was away as a male figure in Cam's life.  They really cracked me up from time to time--they'd get to laughing and playing pretty hard. 

 Someone gifted my parents a snow cone machine for the lake so we had a party with more flavors than I can think of.   14 Kids + straight sugar = pure madness. 

 Jessa became a favorite cousin while we were there.  She and Camden really hit it off right at the beginning and although there is a 3 year age difference, she was so sweet to mother him and teach him and play with him as often as she could.  

 Camden clearly learned the true meaning of relaxation at the lake. (He's supposed to be eating lunch).

 This picture may very well be sideways, but it was the weirdest thing that Camden did--I felt it deserved to be that way.  He curled up in this tiny kids chair with a blow-up frog around him and a towel over his face.  I asked him why he did it, and never could quite figure out what he was telling me.  But he did it several times. Weird. 

 All of the cousins, minus Teagan (we missed you T!) 

 All the original Richards women--we had a lot of good times together. 

 Blowing bubbles with a true bubble gun. 

 Reading books with Grandma

 We got really into playdough while in Moscow. At the cabin all of the kids got into it, even the 12 year olds. :) And of course, Cam's on Tiffy's lap. :) As always. 

We had a lot of fun at the lake just relaxing. I was so sad to see it end. Thanks, family for all the fun memories! 

P.S. While we were there Tyler flipped off his bike and broke both wrists.  Just needed to give a shout-out and picture to show the damage!  You're so tough Tyler!  Glad you're all better!

A Month In Moscow: Part 2 "Happy Birthday to Camden"

Camden celebrated his second birthday while we were in Moscow and my sister's and mom were nice enough to humor me and we had a party for Camden.  On his big day, we opened presents and let daddy watch on skype. 

 It was so fun to watch Camden hold things up to the computer so Daddy could see! 

 Camden even helped make his own cake. 

 But Grandma did the hard part. Isn't she good?

 The poor kid couldn't help stick his fingers in the blue frosting, and Grandma let him. 

 Digging in.

 We started prepping Cam for his birthday by teaching him to say that he was two well before he was actually two (we figured by the time he conquered saying one, it would confuse him to switch to two). He can't quite seem to get the gist of two fingers yet though.  His is what he usually looks like when we ask him to tell us how old he is. 

Happy Birthday Camden!  We're so glad that you're two! 

A Month in Moscow: Part 1

Mat had to take his first set of board examinations for medical school, so my parents offered to let Camden and I come out to visit for the entire month before he took them. We wouldn't have seen him anyways, so it was a great blessing to be with people and so well taken care of, especially as pregnant as I was/am. So from May 13th to June 16th, we went to Moscow to live there. 

The whole vacation seems like an amazing blur now that it has come and gone, but here are a few of the fun things that we did during our time there:

We spent a lot of time with my sisters, who both live within 20 minutes of my parents.  The each have 5 children and Camden absolutely LOVED being with them.  Every morning he woke up asking when we were going to see them.  Bless Tiffany and Tara for dedicating so much time to us while we were there--we definitely made a lot of memories, even with the little things, like going to the park. 

 Tiffany, Tara, Mom and I, and our youngests all went to costco one day. Tiffany thought it a good idea to teach Camden to drive.  She quickly became one of Camden's favorite people. 

 Camden gained a love for boxes and bins at Grandma's house.  Grandma is very organized so she has all sorts of things stored that are waiting for two year olds to dump out and put themselves inside. Exhibit A: 

 We went to visit my brother Shawn in Moses Lake while we were there and got to see his family.  We love them all!  Shawn thought he could out-do me on belly size. I think I win. 

 Camden came to love cooking with Grandma, especially when she made cookies.  They never seemed to last long enough to take a look at a FULL masterpiece. 

 Grandpa is a hard worker and often when he would disappear off to get something done, I would lose Camden, only to find him with Grandpa.  Here Camden is helping Grandpa test the quality of their air mattress for trek.  It doubles as a great slide apparently...

 We went swimming with the cousins one day--they all took swimming lessons and it was fun to watch them--in the few seconds my eyes were not glued to Camden the close to the water... (the kid has zero fear, and zero understanding of the drowning concept...)

 We went to the Pullman Science Center with Tara, where the kids could play in a "Sand" pit of Lentils (Pullman is the lentil capital of the nation, after all). Cam got really into it. :) 

 Camden has started singing a ton recently, and one day I found him at the piano singing twinkle, twinkle, little star.  The kid actually has relatively good pitch.  

 More time spent at Tiffy's house: 

 Camden watching Grandpa work

 On the last day of school we got ice cream with the cousins.  Camden is now obsessed with cones, which we had never tried before this trip (I won't admit how many he actually HAD in the time we were there...)

 Bonding with Sam--the closest cousin to his age.  Yes, they are watching Diego. Outside. At a park. It had been a long wait. 

We were also able to celebrate Camden's birthday and visit the cabin a couple times while we were there.  Stay tuned for more on these!  The fun has just begun!