Barrette Family Camping Trip

Oh where, oh where to begin! 

We got some camping equipment for Christmas and have been wanting to go camping since but with the weather being cold and Ian working in Orlando it's been a little tough. Well this past weekend we decided to go. We knew the weather was going to be gorgeous and we didn't want to pass it up. We didn't go far. Knowing that it was our first time going out and we weren't sure how Brayden was going to be sleeping at night we went to Tomoka State Park. It was a near place for my parents to pick Brayden up if need be!

On Friday we checked in at 3:00. My dad was able to go there with me and set the tent up which was a huge help. Ian wouldn't have been able to get there until 6:00 and with it getting dark we would have been crunched on time and it being the first time setting up the tent, it wouldn't have been pretty either! Friday night went great. Brayden went to bed at 8:00 and slept all night! We didn't hear a peep out of him, it must have been the fresh air or should I say freezing air! We weren't able to get a fire on the first night because the wood they sold us at the ranger station was wet! Ian and I went to bed a little after Ian and woke up around 3:00 with raccoons ravishing through our bins of food. After Ian scared them away we moved all the food into the car. When we woke up we were freezing...I mean freezing! I didn't bring the best of blankets so the next day we went out and grabbed some sleeping bags. It was awful. I'm glad I had enough on Brayden.

Saturday morning we got up and had breakfast and then headed out on a three hour adventure. We brought Brayden's wagon with us. He enjoyed being pulled around. We headed to the playground where he swung and went down the slides. Then we headed off on some trails to look at the water and the scenery. Then our path led us to the camp store where we stopped to get Brayden an ice cream sandwich and adventure of more trails. On our way back we made Brayden's wagon into a bed (thanks to the diaper bag and a towel) and he fell right to sleep. Once we got back to the campsite he continued to sleep in it for two hours, again must be the fresh air! One he woke up we ate lunch and then ventured out to get some dry wood and it was a success we ended the night with a great fire playing Yahtzee Hands Down!

Sunday morning, we wrapped it all up. Cleaned and put everything away for next weekend! Yes we are going again next weekend! It was so nice to spend the whole weekend together in the outdoors!

Valentine's Day

Today, I spent the day with my sweet little, very energetic Valentine! We started our day off by making Valentine cupcakes for our moms group party and of course we had to try one right away! We both got dressed in our red apparel and then headed over to WaterFront park for some fun. We made a cute Valentine for Daddy, ate some sweets and played on the park. The weather was beautiful out today. After nap we went outside and played more. We're going to soak up all this beautiful weather before it gets too hot to step outside again! We hope you all had a great Valentine's Day too! :)

Grandpa's 50th Birthday

Last Friday, the 11th was my Dad's 50th Birthday! In the morning I had Brayden write a birthday message to Grandpa. After we took a picture of it and emailed it to him. The picture below is a little blurry. It was hard to get one of Brayden actually standing still. The message reads, "Happy Birthday Grandpa, <3 Moner. I love you". Moner, is my dads nickname for Brayden and its stuck so it's what we call him most of the time. It's somewhat short for Monster! We also celebrated by having dinner and cake at my parents house.

Speedweeks 2011

With Ian being in classes all weekend, Brayden and I decided to go with my parents to Daytona International Speedway to check out the qualifying on Sunday. It ended up being a beautiful day and it felt great to be outside. This was Brayden's first visit to the track. We stopped by one the first stores and bought him a Tony Stewart shirt (he had to be dressed in race gear)!. After that we walked around the trailers and was able to see Kasey Kahne giving autographs. Shortly after that and right before we got into the infield, Brayden fell asleep. He has a tendency to fall asleep right before the action! We were able to walk around the fanzone and check out the garages and see pit row. We went to check out the inspections and one of the cars started up and it scared Brayden so he was up to see all the action. It was a short nap! He loved watching the cars go around the track. I was nervous at first that it would be too loud for hi but with just one car going around at a time it wasn't that bad. At the end we took the tram back to the parking lot. I think that was the best part of Brayden's trip. He loved the tram. While on the tram, Carl Edwards was riding in a golf cart behind us. I couldn't get my camera out quick enough to get a picture!

Rainy Monday

A place where the sun shines 340 days or so a year, we were quite excited to wake up and see that it was going to be a gloomy wet day, which means PJ day! We didn't get out of our PJ's all day except when Brayden took a bath just to put a fresh pair on. I tried to take pictures throughout the day of some of the fun things we did inside today, although I am glad that the weather is going to clear up today we'll be able to play outside!

We started our day coloring on our new table with our new Color Wonder Markers. We colored throughout the day until we had our masterpiece finished and ready to hang on the refrigerator!

Brayden played with Play-doh! Just one container, one small container. I'm not brave enough to play with more than one in the house. Play-doh will be an outside thing in the future.

Cleaning. His new favorite thing to do! Lately he'll want a wipe, paper towel, or Kleenex and he'll go around dusting the furniture. He's a big help, today he tackled the refrigerator!

Read books, lots of books. Loved it! This is also one of his new favorite things to do throughout the day. He'll being me a book and sit right on my lap and let me read it to him. Sometimes he makes me read the same book five times in a row. I will also ask him to go and get a new book and he will bring me a new one right away!

Muffin tin Monday. I decided to give it a shot and it was much success. I think he ate more and definitely more of a variety. His lunch consisted of a juice box, cheese its, a PB&J sandwich, broccoli with ranch (ranch makes everything taste a little better), grapes and cheese. We'll definitely make Muffin Tin Monday a regular Monday lunch routine.

Trains. What kind of day would it be without playing with our trains!

Watching the rain outside. For the most part it was just a steady rainfall all day. Around 3:00 it turned dark and windy but it moved fast, fifteen minutes later it had pasted us by.

We sang and danced around to the Brayden CD. It's a CD that says his name over fifty times in nine songs. He loves when he hears his name!

We learned to use a coaster. You can see the excitement on his face! :)

Watched cartoons! Yo Gabba Gabba, Mickey Mouse Clubhouse & some Sesame Street!

Until the next Rainy Day......

Picasso in the making

Brayden has just started having an interest in coloring, which I love. He knows exactly which drawer in the kitchen I keep the crayons and coloring book. I give him one crayon at a time and I make sure he doesn't go anywhere with it except the table. He likes to try to sneak around with the crayon and walk around with it and I'm not willing to have artwork on my walls! We decided to get him some of the crayola color wonder markers. There awesome! They only color on certain paper which makes coloring alot less stressful! This morning was his first time putting his coloring talents to use.I think we may have a Picasso in the making, I mean look how beautiful this artwork is!