Big Boy Bed Blues

While in Vegas, Michelle did a great job of preventing Teagan from teaching Cam how to climb out of his crib.  Despite all her efforts, however, the first night we were back, he FELL out! There was no turning back for him--he got out every single time after that. Time for a big bed. 

Mat and Cam put it together and Cam had a blast.  

 Then he realized he'd have to sleep in it. How did the first night go, you might ask?  About like this: 

Fortunately, there's no where to go but up, right? 

A Visit to Vegas

My best friend got married last weekend, so Cam and I flew out to Vegas for the wedding, and to spend some time with Brandon and Michelle (and of course, Teagan!) Camden and Teagan are 7 months apart, and it was just far enough apart that they had a great time together!  Here are a few of the highlights:

 Bonding over a movie

 Reading books with Aunt Michelle.  We actually went and did a library story time, too, which Camden LOVED! He is all about singing and dancing right now. 

 Playing together at the park

 Enjoying lunch at the splash pad (wouldn't it be nice if it were 70 degrees here too?)

 Doing some homework. :)

 Having a laugh at each other

 Reading with Aunt Michelle

 Oops!  Fell over...

 Oops... Ran so hard my diaper's coming off...

 My friend Kyrsten's wedding. She looked beautiful! 

 Brandon and Teagan took us to this giant fish tank where mermaids come to visit.  They were actually pretty good (the mermaids, I mean). They blew kisses at the kids, and waved and did flips.  Camden was mesmerized!

 "Wait! Come back!"

 Playing at the park

 Saying good-bye.  Camden asked for Teagan and to go to Teagan's house for days after we left.  I don't think he quite understood how long he'd be in his carseat to fulfill that request.  

We had such a fun time and were so sad to see our visit end!  Hopefully we'll see them soon!  Isn't family great!?

Expelliarmus!

Mat and I hate paying for babysitters, so we often to "Home Date Night" and just put Camden to bed.  A few weeks ago, we did a Harry Potter themed date, and made our own wands.  

Take a look: 

We followed up a week later by taking a quiz to see what house we were in. Alas, both Hufflepuff.  No bravery in this household.  :( Just Honor. (That's not so bad I guess. :) ) We painted the wands black and have had a good time with them.  We even made one for Cam (you know, just in case I can convince him to be Draco Malfoy for Halloween...)

Spring Break in Gatlinburg

Since this is the last year that Mat gets a spring break, my parents wanted to come out and visit us.  They decided it would be more fun if we all met in Gatlinburg, TN and they were right!  Mat got out of school on Friday and we drove down, picked them up at the airport, and spent the week in a resort down there.  We didn't quite know what to expect because everyone had told us that the whole town was fun, but ghetto. We were super pleased with our stay though.  Cam had tons of room, and Mom and Dad were so accomodating to let him come home to take a nap every day (truth be told, at least one adult fell asleep during nap time every day, if not all four of us). It was a relaxing week, and so needed!  

Camden took to Grandma and Grandpa really quickly. (I'll not mention the copious amounts of gifts and candy that came with them, but I like to think that part of it was just his nature--at least that's what I tell myself so I can sleep better at night.)  

Mom winning Camden over with new toys....

And again buying him candy on the first day.  (This was actually one of the funniest experiences we had there. You know the phrase "Kid in a Candy Store"?  That phrase now has new meaning for me.  I've never seen someone so giddy. 

Shooting hoops with Daddy and Grandpa. 

We ate TONS of yummy food all week long!  Camden enjoyed dessert the most I think. :) 

Every once in a while we did more "adult" oriented activities, and Camden usually ended up like this.  He didn't seem to mind hanging out with Diego and the Bubble Guppies though. 

One day, Mom took me shopping, so the boys went to a playland to ride rides.  Camden apparently threw a fit on all of the big rides, but got a kick out of the kiddie ones that cost only a quarter. Just goes to show, you don't have to pay a lot to entertain kids. :) Bless my father for his patience that day. 

The best thing we did, by far, in my opinion, was the Aquarium.  It was so amazing!  Camden got a kick out of everything!  

 Checking out the fish

Mat and Camden Inside one of the fish tanks--I think they were talking to Dory and Nemo at this point. 

There was this cool glass tunnel to walk through the shark tank. While we went through the scuba divers were cleaning the tank.  Camden was mesmerized by them. He kept looking up at them and saying, "flying!" maybe when he was older we'll try and explain that people don't fly... then, again, perhaps that's a lesson all boys with bunkbeds learn... 

Inside the Penguin tank.  Cam's on a penguin kick right now. 

Trying to catch a sting ray at the sting ray petting tank.  No luck.  Boo. 

All in all, it was an awesome vacation.  We felt so loved and rejuvenated by it.  Thanks, Mom and Dad for all the memories!