Camping Fun

This weekend Keith & I surprised Miles. It is a crazy amount of fun surprising your children once they are old enough to understand what a surprise is!

First we packed up everything under the nose of our very intrigued almost 4 year old. He caught us a couple times, and I sheepishly waved him off. (And one time I even lied. Which I apologized for later. It's tough teaching your son NOT to lie... when you, yourself have just lied to him. Even though it was for a good cause.)

I told Miles we had to drop "something" off at Marie's house and asked if he wanted to come along- which I KNEW he would. He was excited to see his buddies Ed and Caitlin who he affectionately calls "Eddie and Caitefin." :)

When we got to my friends we told Miles that the "thing" we had to drop off was Maxwell and that Mommy and Daddy and Miles were going out for lunch to celebrate his birthday! Then we had to remind him that his birthday actually isn't until next week. But we were going to celebrate it today. He was excited.

We made it to Rainforest Cafe and he was LOVING every second. I actually think that JUST taking him to lunch would have been enough for him. He was all smiles and loved being out with just Mom and Dad. Although, he did say a couple times that he wishes Maxwell was with us. (SHOCK!) If Max was actually there, I don't think he would have felt as special. But he doesn't know that yet.

Please don't mind my lovely husbands closed eyes. Doesn't Miles just look adorable! He was loving it all so much! He had no idea what we had in store for him next! VOLCANO CAKE!!!!!

Here is my Milesy bub blowing out the candle to his volcano cake! This cake was TASTY! It was actually brownie, vanilla ice cream, chocolate and caramel syrup and whipped topping. It was delicious.

When we were done eating we headed to the car, and once we go there we told him we had one. more. surprise.

Here's kind of how this conversation went:

Keith: Miles... guess what were doing next?

Miles: What?

Keith: Were going camping!

Miles: Right now?

Keith: Yes! Isn't that exciting!

Miles: What about Maxwell? Is he staying with Marie?

(Me, watching this interaction getting a little choked up over the fact that he's thinking about his brother on HIS surprise birthday weekend.)

Keith: Yep, he's going to stay with Marie over night so Mommy, Daddy and you can camp!

Miles: (BIG SMILE) Right now??????

Keith: YES!

Miles: That makes me happy!

So, we were off.

Miles learned a few fun things this weekend. Let me exhibit said "fun" things.

Exhibit A: Keith taught Miles how to use a knife (a very sharp one that could take off a finger or toe... or something!) He needs to learn sometime right? Right? RIGHT???

Exhibit B: Keith taught Miles how to build a fire... and let him place the logs... into the hot fire which could scorch his precious little hands...
Exhibit C: Miles learns how to build a tent. Which isn't so bad until you realize we forgot our hammer for the stakes, so Miles finds a big rock to use in hammering the stakes into the ground, which could crush his sweet little fingers.

Ok- It wasn't all that bad. Keith had a close eye on him at all times. But it didn't change the fact that it made me feel a little nervous about it all. Miles did an awesome job and really listened well to Keith's instructions on these very practical "man" things to learn.

The first evening after we set up camp, we went to the water front which was about a 1 mile easy hike and beautiful evening!

And Miles was having a blast!

After checking out the beach we went back to camp and grilled up some hot dogs! Camp Fire hot dogs are just so much better then normal hot dogs!

The next morning I woke up to this face... literally

And the excitement continued as we made eggs and bacon over the fire.

Later that morning we packed up our site and headed back to beach. We got some great shots at the beach! All in all, we had a wonderful time! I am happy I got to experience camping with my little guy! We had such a blast!