The Ploegs: August 2013

My baby is growing up. He figured out how to escape the confines of the crib a few weeks ago and has lost all fear of the fall. After posing the question on Facebook, I was persuaded that a toddler bed was at least a safer alternative. A quick Craigslist search, a few quick emails, and a shove and a push into the van later -- we have a new bed for Lukie.

He loves it ... until it's time for bed. To be honest, I think he's a little scared. Plus, I got out the old baby gate and put it in his door frame so he doesn't like that he can't get out. That said, if it's too high in the door jam, he squeezes under. If it's too low, he climbs over. He's a determined little fella. And he's determined to grow up!

The last picture of my baby in his crib.

Helping take down the crib.

Lukie's new bed.

Official Camp Portrait

Camp VLugt 2013 was at Little Blue Lake (part of the Lincoln Lake chain of lakes near Rockford/ Greenville) at a huge house that (per the Craigslist posting) could sleep 35. The house was literally built for family reunions like ours -- five very large bedrooms filled with beds and bunk beds, two kitchens, large deck (seen in photo above), beach area, slide and diving board off the dock, and lots of green grass for baseball games. The only issue this year ... was the weather. Unfortunately, we really only had 2 nice days out of the 6. There was a lot more jeans and sweatshirts, fishing in drizzle, and indoor craziness than in previous years. But besides the weather, we had a fabulous week. You may recall our "vacation" from last year - with ridiculously crabby kids, no sleep, and boo-boos. While I can't say that I got a lot of sleep still this year (comes with the territory of sleeping in the same room as the kids), they all did MUCH better at playing and just simply having fun.

There were many hours spent on the dock fishing -- and I mean MANY hours (particularly by Josh, Caleb and Will). On the rainy days, Sam and Tyler both liked feeding the fishies with bread (There were so many little fishies right by the dock it was perfect for the kids. One small piece of bread was fought over by like 20 fish.). We had our own version of Camp Games: an Easter Egg hunt, Pin the Tail on the Elephant, a treasure hunt, water balloons (which was really just a "try to chuck them at Aunt Amy" game). On the nice days, we spent all day on the beach and in the water. Sam and Tyler both loved it and on the crummy days, Tyler kept asking me "what time will it be warm enough to go in the water?" They had kayaks there for us to use and both twins had lots of fun going on the "boat" with mommy. Lukie had a lot of fun too just keeping up with all the kids -- playing in the sand and water, running around, and taking serious naps.

All in all, Camp 2013 was night and day different than 2012 (at least for me). I read part of a book (never even dreamt that would be possible for years), got to talk to my siblings a little, and actually had fun!