t h e . r i d i c u l o u s . p a n d a

sam, silas, b-rad and i packed up and headed north for the weekend. silas camped twice last summer when he was barely crawling. we wanted to see what the toddler that we now have on our hands would make of the whole outdoor living situation.

sam and silas build their first joint fire.

hard at work saturday morning on the beach. sam found this dump truck for silas weeks ago at a garage sale. we kept it hidden in the closet waiting for the perfect time to unveil it.

waiting for brad to throw the twenty pound waterlogged football.

finally, we convinced silas to take a break from sand relocation and have a swim with us. he was walking around with the water up to his armpits. crazy.

back at site 311, having a snack while keeping an ear out for thunder rumbling.

the storms cleared up just long enough for brad and sam to build a large fire before bed. silas is fast asleep in the tent, mama has a few glasses of wine. ah, camping.

baby doesn't care how late his parents were up the night before. six thirty am & he's thrilled to wake up to the sound of geese flying overhead and ready to bust out of the tent.

well, well, well. looks who's finally rolled out his sleeping bag.

sam in wisconsin.

one of the best things about camping with brad is that silas would pretty much always prefer to be sitting in his lap.

we're just happy we didn't blow away in any tornadoes.

because hanging out in the woods wasn't cool enough, the park also had a family nature faire on sunday afternoon. we ate some chips, watched kids making birdhouses, painted with rubber fish and b-rad fell in love with a salamander.

silas and papa stay sheltered from the rain.

learning about fox snakes and bearded lizards.

the snapping turtle that will eat your baby's face. we saw one of these bad boys on the road just the night before.

our fearless captain takes us back to the city.

dreaming of mud, starry skies, sticks, rocks, campfires and rainstorms.