Camping, 8 months pregnant, and 8 sweet years!

 Elsie snapped this lovely picture of my big belly and "the baby"

We've been wanting to take the girls camping and had something more adventurous in mind, but considering I'm 35 weeks pregnant and Jeff's busy schedule with work and studying for step 3 boards, we decided to have an adventure in our very own backyard. The girls helped me pack the cooler, which made the long haul from our kitchen to deck, and then Jeff grilled us some chicken, hotdogs, and steak for dinner. 

Then it was time to set up our tent! Annabelle was sure excited about our camping trip.

Once the tent was set up it was time to party in it!

Annabelle thought it was pretty neat to sleep in her own sleeping bag.

Jeff's been working his emergency medicine service this month, which has required some strange and long 12-hour shifts. In addition he is studying to take step 3 boards in a few weeks, therefore he doesn't have a lot of free time. He's done a great job balancing it all and we have soaked up the time we do have with him. This past week Jeff and I celebrated our 8-year wedding anniversary! We got a babysitter and went to dinner and played miniature golf. It was sure nice to get out and spend some time with him. We also treated ourselves to one of our favorite desserts, Cheesecake Factory's Oreo cheesecake. We probably indulged a little too much and bought a whole (mini) cheesecake, rather than just a slice. It was so worth it.

What's camping without making shadow puppets, star gazing, story telling, and eating peanut butter m&m's in the tent. Once it got late the girls were a little hesitant to sleep in the tent. Annabelle fell asleep but was awakened by Elsie's desire to go inside, and eventually we all ended up going inside to sleep. It was great having the camping experience and still being able to sleep in our beds. 

Annabelle has loved riding her bike with some of her neighbor friends. 

When Elsie falls asleep she has always been obsessed with twirling her hair. The damage is getting extreme and she wakes up with some very tangled knots these days.

The girls enjoy taking picture and we've discovered some pretty interesting ones on our camera. I thought this was a nice one Annabelle took of her cash register.