Turning 3!

Meredith turned 3 this week!  It was a low-key family celebration day.  We made apple cinnamon muffins for Meredith to take to mother's morning out.  Meredith's teacher sent me a video of her class singing happy birthday to her.  In the video, Meredith looks less than enthusiastic about turning 3, but she was in a good mood all day which is unusual since giving up her afternoon nap.  She received lots of cute new outfits from her grandmothers.  I think she changed outfits at least 5 times!  Daddy surprised her with flowers and an Ole Miss cheerleader outfit.  Winn gave her a fun dentist play dough kit.  She had fun playing with new musical instruments, until she got smacked in the nose by Winn the next day with one of them!  Meredith helped me make mac and cheese for lunch and we had breakfast for supper, a favorite around here.  Her cake was pancakes and she insisted on 4 candles, so she had one to grow on.  3 is an easy birthday- no expectations and balloons are so magical and exciting.  I wish we could all turn 3 again.

January

Short days, but long afternoons, now that Meredith is skipping naps. Today she is taking one so I am able to sneak in a blog post.  We survived Christmas and now are back into a good routine which was rudely interrupted by the stomach virus last week, but now we are back on track.  Roberts and I head to Nashville tomorrow for a night of music and good food to see Steve Earl at the City Winery.  LaLa and Deda will keep children at the condo.  So excited for a much needed getaway!  These pictures were from last weekend, Sunday afternoon romp around Faulkner's.  It was 70 degrees if you can believe it!  Meredith is modeling her new haircut which was to cover the big chunk of hair she cut out during the Christmas holiday.  Her 3rd birthday is coming up!  She is getting so big and independent trying to keep up with big brother - they are great playmates these days.  They love to hunt for worms, make nests out of pine straw and cut onion grass in the backyard. It's a magical time in childhood. 

First Camping Trip

A couple of weeks ago, we finally bit the bullet and pack the car up to go on a one-night family camping adventure.  The destination was Lake Puskus, a little campground overlooking a lake in the Holly Springs National Forest, only 20 minutes from our house.  We figured if something really went south, we could pack up and go home quickly. It was beautiful early Autumn weather (it has been so dry that a fire ban is in effect, though there were lots of campers who had fires).  We arrived at our campsite around 4 pm and got settled in, did a little fishing and exploring.  We had pb&j for supper (easier thing to prepare and clean up) and s'mores for dessert.  Marshmallows roasted on our coleman camp stove.  Before retiring to the tent, we star gazed at the milky way.  No shooting stars but we saw bats swooping down above our heads.  The night was a restless one and cold.  I left Roberts and my sleeping bag at home thinking the down comforter I brought would cover us both, but the kids were between us and the comforter did not stretch that far.  Kids were warm as toast, but I was freezing on the margins and thermarest are not that much padding.  I have since purchased an air-bed from REI.  Also some kids were blasting "every rose has it's thorn" through the campsite and campfire smoke was infiltrating our tent and it had a burnt plastic smell to it.  Nonetheless, it was wonderful to wake up before the sunrise and hike around the shore of the lake watching the day emerge and the mist rolling on the lake's surface.  After a warm breakfast of oatmeal, Winn and Daddy went fishing.  They caught 3 fish.  Winn is hooked on fishing after this trip.  We went for a short hike through the woods before we went home around 11am.  All in all, our first camping adventure was a success.  I would love to go for a longer, further afield excursion.  This weekend we are headed to LaLa and DeDa's treehouse and may do some porch camping.

Fall Hike with MereBear

I spent a lovely Friday morning hiking in Bailey's Woods near Rowan Oak.  It was so nice to plod along at a 2 year old's pace and not have anywhere I needed to be, except for 10 o'clock storytime at the library.  It was a nice, cool morning.  Not really cold enough to need a vest, but Meredith wanted to wear her warm clothes.  I am playing around with my 50mm f/1.4 lens.  I'd love to have the 35mm one but I'll just have to make do with what I have for now.