Camping!

The Branz family went camping for the first time in TWO years last weekend! After our trip to Morrill hall last Friday, we headed out to Conestoga Lake (it's a State Park near Denton, NE) and  pitched our giant tent. Grandpa Mark and Grandma Dianne joined us with their camper and even Aunt Amy spent the night Friday night. We stayed until Sunday morning and the boys did really well. Luckily the pads were all gravel so all the boys needed to entertain themselves was an old coffee can and a dump truck and they spent hours moving gravel around that way.  I don't think it was Wyatt's favorite thing in the world, but he tolerated it OK. He was sure happy to go home though!!

Clayton playing catch with Daddy

Clayton and Reese getting wound up with Grandpa Mark

Wyatt snuggling with Daddy in the air conditioned camper

The boys cooling off/taking a bath Saturday night

Cold at the Lake!

So last weekend we were at the lake again but it was COLD for July, anyway.

So we had a BIG Fire!

Clayton warming up his hands

Reese trying to warm up too, first you rub them together

Then Hold them out to the fire!

We even (sort of) convinced them to take a picture with their Uncle Ty who is back from Ohio for 2 weeks

We still had fun even though it was a little chilly!

Reese Playing with a Big Ball

Reese ON the picnic table

Clayton playing the train tracks we found in the shed. He even collected some rocks to haul in the car!

Memorial Day Camping Trip

Camping on Memorial Day weekend with the Petersen side of the family has become a tradition (we didn't sleep over last year with baby Reese, but we did spend the day) and we've been doing it since I was pregnant with Clayton. (And probably before but I can't remember that far back!)

We got this huge tent to accommodate our family:

Daddy, proud of setting it up for the 1st time on our backyard a few weeks ago

Here are a few pictures documenting the fun times we had!

Yes, my boys need planned activities to go camping. Just exploring nature is not enough to keep them occupied 24/7, and you can forget eating and sleeping so we had to keep them busy and engaged. I had the idea of a sensory bin. I bought a 20 lb bag of rice and filled a plastic tub up with it and added small containers, measuring spoons (for digging and filling) Also the leaves and flowers from some fake flowers  (for "planting") and pipe cleaners. Reese enjoyed throwing it (he liked the sound it make when it landed on the tarp I think) and Clayton really got the hang of doing a lot of fun things. We buried cookie cutters and even poured "glasses of milk" to "drink." I have to admit that it was fun to just run your hands through the rice. I can't wait to try out more types Sensory Bins this summer!

Clayton is pouring "milk" into my cup

Mr. Smiley!

The best part about doing it on the tarp is that when we were done, we just dumped the rice right back into the bin. Clean up was a breeze!

There are no pictures from it but down the way from us there were a group of people camping with their horses. Clayton and Reese loved to go for walks to go see them! The first time we went to see them, as we approached, Clayton informed us that the "horses have big tails." So proud of him for observing and commenting on what he saw. Reese became a pro at imitating the sound of the horses' whinny.

Grandma Dianne was kind enough to supply a little blow up pool for the boys to splash in. It was a perfect place for them to cool off and a just big enough for Mommy (and Aunt Amy) to dip our feet in.

You can see our tent there in the back. Look at that water flying out!

Of course flinging the water out was the most fun

And of course the ever classy shot of a toddler riding a trike in a diaper

We had planned on staying 2 nights but ended up leaving on the second evening due to such a high chance of rain during the night and following morning, plus the boys were done. They slept slightly better than "bad" and had hardly eaten anything because apparently eating outside isn't an acceptable toddler activity. It was a good thing too because Grandpa Mark informed us later that when they woke up in the morning there was about an inch of standing water where our tent had been. It's a lot of work to take two small children camping, but when they were having fun they were having the time of their lives!

1st Time at the Lake

Another big weekend - both boys had their first time at the lake yesterday. We met up with my parents at their campsite at Pawnee Lake and then headed to the beach. At first Clayton was pretty apprehensive about the sand and he was a little scared of the waves. But he eventually warmed up to it (at about 97 degrees that didn't take too long, ha ha).

Reese with his Great Aunt Karen

Reese napping at the beach

Grandma watching Reese during his nap

Clayton checking out the sand and castle that his Dad and Grandpa built

Throwing the sand back into the water

Clayton's way cool life jacket

Reese waking up and peeking from his towel

So bright!

Both boys are pretty tired out (Mom and Dad too) but it was a fun time!

More from Johnson Lake

Well, I was going to post a video of Clayton swinging at the cabin this weekend, but there must have been a problem uploading it on You Tube, because now it is not there : ( We are spending the week in York with Darrel, so I can't get it off my computer until this weekend. But here are some great photos that Ann had on her camera:

Enjoying the swing in the tree

Clayton loved relaxing on the water

yeah! lake!

Hello Grandma!

Best Buds

Phone Pictures

Here are two rather random pictures that I had on my phone. Sorry they might be kind of low quality!

In the tub last night

And one that I forgot that I had taken while we were camping last weekend of Clayton trying out the big boy lawn chair in his lion PJs

I hope that this update satisfies "some people" : )

Happy Camper

Clayton had so much fun playing outside while we were camping at Fort Kearney. I think I will try to let him do that more at home now. This video is from Friday afternoon; Darrel had to be in Holdrege for rehearsal dinner (he was a groomsman in his childhood friend Kirby's wedding this weekend) so he dropped Clayton and I off at the campsite around three and set up the tent, then went back home to get ready. My parents came in their camper later that evening, so Clayton and I held down the fort in between.

My grandparents also came out for dinner on Sunday afternoon. We had hobo stew meals (onions, ground beef, potatoes and carrots cooked in a foil packet in hot coals and cherry cobbler (baked in our dutch oven in the fire) with ice cream for dessert. It was kind of misting all day and never got very warm, but I was glad that Clayton finally got to wear some cozy fleece lion PJs in a 6-9 month size that I was afraid he would never get to wear just because that size and the seasons didn't match up correctly. I know that my grandparents and my parents really enjoyed all the time with Clayton (and I think they like to visit with me and Darrel too!)

Clayton (in his lion PJs) & Great Grandma Erna

We bugged out early than originally planned on Sunday afternoon because of predicted high winds overnight, and we are glad that we did! It has been very windy last night and this morning it would have been really hard to pack up and for my parents to pull the camper (read: wind sail).

Clayton was a great camper and we can't wait to try it again sometime soon!!

Clayton's 1st Camping Trip

I'm calling it a success even though the weather didn't really want to cooperate!!

Clayton had a lot of  fun. More pictures to come!