Smile!

Owen and Paxton were reasonably cooperative participants in a little photo shoot this week.
Owen is 2 years/9 months, and Paxton is 6.5 months. Big brother did his best to keep the little lady smiling, but there were a few moments of limited success.

She's a Maniac!

As Michael Jackson turns 50, Paxton sports her little 80's look. Who wants to dance...or do aerobics?

Little Lady; Big Personality

With the newfound ability to get around a room, it's like someone unlocked the door to a laughing, cooing, smiling little lady with a ton of personality. Every day Paxton is testing herself more and more. Whether crawling further across a room to be near the rest of us, or taking one of Owen's toys to test her big brother's patience, or babbling endlessly to fine tune those vocal cords, a unique personality is emerging.Our challenge is simply to keep up with her. Here she seems to be saying, "Hey dad, try to do a few of these push ups." Meanwhile, Brecken can be heard mumbling, "It looks like you could use them." Whoa...I'm right here...I can hear you. Maybe we can go back to the quiet, sleeping, little lady and none of this ganging up on dad routine.Tonight, in a changing of the guard, Owen relinquished his traditional spot at the table, and Paxton willingly took over, assuming her spot in the high chair from great grandma Shirley. Dinner time, and every other moment of the day is now more and more animated in our household. Watch out for this little lady.

7 Dads, 9 Kids --> Camping Adventure

What happens when you take 7 dads and stick them with 9 kids out in the wilderness for 24 hours? You get a lot of questions from bystanders wondering where the mothers have gone, and you get 16 people all behaving like kids. Owen and I joined the rest of the crew last weekend for what is certain to be an annual excursion to Kettle Morain, WI.

Upon arrival, we took time to setup camp and get settled into our home away from home. Thankfully, the weather was perfect for the big event.

We then packed up and headed over to the lake for some swimming and fishing. Eli and Master P joined Owen and I for the drive over.
Back at the campsite, we fed the kids and used long sleeves and long pants to fend off the salivating population of mosquitos that loved seeing us roll into town.

Teamwork helped find firewood. Let's face it, the dads were scraping for anything to keep the 9 kids focused on fun activities rather than fighting or crying, and 15 minutes with this tree was picture perfect.As the night came to a close, the glowsticks came out. One last effort to burn off some energy and the sugar high from way too many smores.
Some of the kids were even willing to play around with us while we tested the settings on our cameras. Owen is in the middle with the yellow glowstick, while three other kids successfully drew circles.
The trip wouldn't be complete without a 6:00 AM wakeup and Owen itching to go see all of his friends in their nearby tents.

Until next year!

Move it! Move it!

While the boys were lost in the woods, the girls were busy shopping, gossiping, and ah..um...crawling. Paxton has become more and more proficient at moving around a room, and in the past two days, she has started to lift herself up on hands and toes. Looks like we'll be dusting off the child gates for the stairs sooner rather than later.

Our challenge at the moment appears to be keeping Paxton from hiding under the furniture.

Camping Pre-work

In preparation for our big father-kid camping event in Wisconsin, Owen and I have been gathering equipment and talking about the big event ad nauseam. I must admit that the idea of camping with a 2.5 year old is a mix of excitement and uncertainty.

To round out our equipment, Owen got to walk around at REI and pick out his first sleeping bag. He got a kick out of laying down in different bags and begging to buy every one of them. The tell-tale moment of the week was the test run in the backyard. Nothing screams "you don't live downtown anymore" like setting up a tent in the yard.

Before it got too dark, Owen invited Brecken and little sister Paxton out to see his new "house" in the backyard.

The little guy made it through the entire evening, sleeping like a champ. We'll see how it all goes when there are half-a-dozen of his little buddies in nearby tents this weekend.

Where, oh where, are Owen and Paxton?

We're back. Not like we really went anywhere, but the blog would seem to suggest otherwise. Chalk it up to fun summer days and a lack of having the camera around to capture the moments.