4th of July at the Cabin

We went to my grandparents cabin for the 4th of July weekend again this year and, like always, had a blast! Unfortunately my parents and Granky couldn't be there this year and it was really weird not having them!

We did a lot of hanging out, napping, reading, chatting, and let's be honest - kid watching. Justin wanted to get a hike in, but unfortunately I didn't know that before we left and didn't bring the carrier :( Nolan loved being outside, swinging, throwing rocks into the stream, and 'driving' great grandpas rhino.

The others did some fishing (of course) and even Beck got in on the action. He went out to a lake with his dad, Uncle BJ, and Uncle Andy one night and - get this - he caught TWO fish!! It was absolutely adorable how excited he was to tell all of us. I don't fish a lot, never have (I guess I'm mostly my father's daughter), but I'll probably have to make an exception in a few years if Nolan wants to go!

Speaking of Beck, he and Nolan were SO cute together. Rhett is still kind of quiet and likes to do his own thing, but Nolan and Beck seemed to enjoy playing together. In fact, Beck was one of the very few (maybe the only one!) that got a willing goodbye hug from Nolan ☺

Also, it was during this trip that I came to the realization that I am failing. 

I was dressing Nolan one day and started putting a shirt on him. He kept pointing behind me and saying something. He repeated it a few times and then started saying it a little louder. It sounded kind of like 'Steelers' so I looked behind me, saw his Steelers shirt (that his dad had packed), and picked it up. I asked him, "is this what you want to wear?" "Ya," he responded. Oey, seriously?! I put it on and he was happy as a clam so that's definitely what he wanted. You should have seen the smile on Justin's face.

I went downstairs to ashamedly explain to my family why my son was wearing a Steelers jersey and how I'm obviously failing as a mother and 49ers fan. They chastised me for not trying hard enough while Justin sat next to his Steelers shirt wearing son and beamed with pride.

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I stayed up late Thursday night and made these patriotic sugar cookies. I'm glad to report that everyone loved them. In fact they were so loved that the last one may have been hidden by Andy to avoid anyone else claiming it ☺

Beck all ready to ride the Green Machine + Justin and Nolan

BJ and Kirsten brought a bow and arrow and we had a blast trying it out!

Not bad for first timers! Mine is on the left, Justin's on the right

Once again, Nolan and the other boys loved the swing set and spent lots of time on it. Nolan and Rhett even fell asleep swinging!

Towards the end of the trip Nolan started acting a little sick. It started one night when he woke up coughing a bit. We thought he might be getting a cold, but since he acted mostly like his normal self during the day we didn't think too much of it. 

Each night though he would wake up coughing and gasping until we sat him up and got him some milk. He'd have similar trouble right after naps and he'd be really snuggly and uninterested in playing for 30-45 min after each sleep. After that hour though he'd act fine, he didn't have a fever, and only coughed maybe once an hour, so we still weren't sure if he was really sick or not.

(The day after we got home we took him to the doctor and it turns out he has croup! Poor little guy. He's been a trooper though!).

Also, notice the shiner on his left eye? Poor guy fell against the wooden corner of a window sill. He's pretty tough though!

I kind of felt bad because my poor family didn't get to hold him much or see him at his best and silliest because he wasn't feeling well, plus the fact that he just hasn't been going to other people as easily lately as he once did. He was obviously still super cute though, everyone agreed on that. 

There was definitely a lot of napping that went on

The last day, while Nolan was napping, Justin and I went on a long quad ride together (my favorite!) and asked my grandma (GG) to watch him. When we got back she said he had woken up, but "lost his marbles" when either she or Andy went in to try to pick him up. So they got him his binky and bottle and let him be haha. Sure enough, when we went in the room he was wide awake, just hanging out.

Preston was one of the few who lucked out and got some Nolan snuggles. Devin is convinced Nolan only let Preston hold him because he's my twin ☺

BJ did also finally win him over a little bit when he played legos with him (I think BJ enjoyed it too). BJ made a gun and made shooting noises, then Nolan took it and copied him! haha so cute.

Another favorite cabin activity of Nolan's is collecting rocks and throwing them in the stream.

He and the other boys loved getting in Great Grandpa's Rhino and 'driving.'

They all climbed in like this. I think all of them wanted to 'drive.' I'm surprised there actually wasn't any crying haha.

Look at all those blonde heads! With these new babies we're wondering how long the blonde streak will last or if it will be broken this time around ☺

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This cute picture also reminded me that Nolan got a haircut from his Aunt Devin (and me!) at the cabin. I've been wanting to get a set of clippers to save some money on haircuts and hoped to get a lesson from Devin. Nolan is still pretty good while getting his hair cut, but he HATES to have itchy hair all over him.

The Bailey family heading out for a ride! The Rhino is perfect for taking little ones out on rides and is much safer than taking them on the quads.

We found this fun little pond and waterfall on one of our rides 

The crew making dutch oven chicken for dinner (mmmm!!) BJ loves cooking dutch oven, and we're oh so happy to eat it (he's really getting good at it!). Uncle Andy is a pro and always a big help, and of course, grandpa is always there to supervise. Apparently GG has been requesting less pepper on the potatoes for 60 years, but to her everlasting annoyance, grandpa never listens haha ☺

 My friend Carli gave me this old framed picture of George Washington several years ago. She found it at a sale and was told that it used to hang in an old schoolhouse (my grandma says all the old schoolhouses had this picture on the wall). I liked the picture, but just never had a place for it so it collected dust under my bed for a long time. Then last year I had a light bulb go off and asked my grandma if she would like it. She loves George Washington (and knows a lot about him) so she was pretty excited and said she already knew the perfect place at the cabin for it. I think it looks great!

The BEST part of the trip though, without contest, is the surprise we got from BJ and Kirsten. One afternoon they came down the stairs and BJ said Kirsten had seen these cute pregnancy shirts on pinterest and decided to make one for Devin and I. "Aww, that's so nice! And they're so cute!" I said, thinking nothing of it. "We should definitely put them on and get a picture" (still clueless). Then Kirsten grabbed the zipper on her hoody and said, "Well I was hoping we could all wear them TOGETHER!!" and pulled down the zipper to reveal she was wearing a pregnancy shirt too!!

I seriously jumped up and down from excitement! How fun is it that we are all pregnant at the same time and that these THREE babies will be only 4 months apart?! My parents grandbaby brood is doubling by early next year!