This may just hold the record for the most picture heavy post I have ever shared. But honestly guys - we had so much fun camping and I can't wait to share these with you! 

I grew up camping with my parents and I have so many wonderful memories of those times. We camped on the shores of the Oka River many times and there was a time we camped in the Carpathian Mountains in Romania where my parent's mattress deflated during the night! We had some awful times too, many "crisis" situations, but looking back the stories just make us laugh and we mostly remember the good stuff. That's the thing about camping - it's unpredictable, not remotely glamorous and "bare bones" but it's very unifying and detoxifying too. So needless to say I've been dying to take the kiddos on their first camping trip and make some of our own memories, now as a family of four. 

I'll go into more detail regarding what we brought and cooked and how we slept in another post so for now just enjoy these snaps we caught while in the great outdoors with our family of four!

I found this darling hooded sweater for Teddy at a thrift store for just $5! I'm pretty sure it's handmade too. It has a handy zipper down the back which makes it very easy to zip him in and out of. It was also perfect for night time as it kept his head warm. Lord knows he would have ripped off a hat in two seconds. 

Three times a day for three days straight Birdie would help papa build the fire. She took her job so seriously. She would forage around for kindling and I once overheard her say to herself under her breath "this one's perfect!" Also, when we got home I asked her what her favorite part of camping was and she said, without missing a beat: "fire with papa." My little outdoors girl! Makes my heart burst!

During the day time we would remove the rain cover from the tent and it would turn into a fun house for the kids. The loved playing in there and Kevin and I loved those times to just be together and talk. 

Only when I downloaded the photos to my laptop did I realize how much this looks like an ad for Kodiak Cakes, lol. Which honestly I would be perfectly fine with because we LOVE them at our house. We just started making the protein packed ones and it's incredible how full they make you and for how long! Perfect for camping!

We camped in the Cloudland Canyon State park and the views were just breathtaking. We came back to this overlooked many times. 

It was nice to have exercise be a part of our daily routine. We went on many, many hikes and I couldn't be more proud of this girl that would walk for almost a mile without ever complaining! Also, a little tip we learned - pack lots and lots of snacks. She would get super hungry from all the exercise. 

Not the best photo but just wanted to share what our campfire set up looked like at night. 

Another part of camping Birdie relished - getting to help with the dishes. I may just have to put her to work at home too :).

After hiking half a mile downhill!! Vicotry!!

My sweet, sweet boys. Having Teddy with us definitely made things a little tricky as he doesn't walk confidently yet and would resort to crawling a lot but by the end we worked out a good system where we could keep him occupied and pretty happy. Besides that we felt like the trip really revved up his mental development. He started pointing and grunting a lot, especially at animals and gets really excited any time we go outside now. Here's to hoping we're raising two nature lovers!

I'll be working on a "how to" post of sorts this week so if you have any questions you would like answered shoot me an email or let me know on IG! 

I always love reading other people's posts about what their days are like and I feel like I take away some helpful nugget on how to manage it all (especially since having Teddy). So I figured I would take some time this week to share with you guys what an average day looks like at our house as well as some tips I've picked up along the way. 

The kids usually wake up around 8 or 8:30, about an hour after Kevin leaves for work. Birdie has been coming into our bed around 3 or 4 am every night for the past couple of weeks and since we both feel like our baby girl is growing up way too fast we've been allowing it. In the morning she will hear Teddy on the baby monitor and tell me to "go get Teddy." Once awake they like to play together in the nursery for a half hour which is wonderful because it gives me a few minutes of quiet to get dressed and brush my teeth. I should mention that Teddy gets his first morning bottle around 6 am but goes back to sleep after that. 

Around 9:00 we'll all head downstairs where I prepare the kids breakfast. I'll put Teddy in his highchair and he'll munch on some cheerios while he waits for his breakfast porridge and Birdie has her daily banana :). I don't spend too much time on breakfast. We love the Earth's Best pancakes or mini waffles. For Birdie I'll spread some almond butter on them and she will have that with a side of fruit. Teddy just likes them plain, for now. Some mornings when I'm extra lazy I'll just make us all a huge batch of a smoothie and breakfast is taken care of in five minutes! My favorite quick smoothie is - 2 cups of coconut water, handful of fresh pineapple, 1 banana, handful of kale and a handful of frozen mango. It's perfect and the kids love it too!

If I'm not lazy I'll make myself a bowl of oatmeal with fruit and a cup of coffee. Always coffee. 

I eat my breakfast and sip my coffee while the kids play. Sometimes they like to be in the living room next to me and other times they will play happily in the playroom. Around ten months Teddy began to get much more involved in playtime which was wonderful for us all. Now the kids play together almost all day long!

My mum also likes to facetime with the kids for a few minutes every morning. Obviously it's Birdie's favorite time of day :). It's so wonderful that she takes the time to do this because it keeps Birdie very connected. When we visit there is no awkwardness because they talk every day. 

Depending on what time Teddy wakes up in the morning he will go down for a nap either at 11:30 or noon. Since Birdie doesn't really nap anymore this is the only time I have for myself to get any work done or cleanup. When Teddy was a baby putting him down for naps used to be so stressful for me as Birdie would follow me and talk loudly or whine. I finally realized that if I just give her a show she will stay on the first floor and allow me to nurse in peace and put Teddy down. Even though I don't nurse Teddy anymore I kept the tv trick. It gives me a few minutes of one-on-one time with Teddy before his nap and after some peace and quiet to get work done. She gets anywhere from half an hour to an hour (depending on how much work I have) and she is only allowed Daniel Tiger's Neighborhood since that is the only show that seems to be educational and doesn't get her all riled up. 

Teddy's morning nap is his long one ranging from an hour and half to two hours so once I get my work done Birdie and I usually do some sort of "mummy and me" activity. This fall we have been loving the crafting sets from Target. They are only $5 and provide so much fun! They are labeled by age group too which is super helpful too. 

Once Teddy wakes up Birdie will request that they play in the nursery and lately she's been asking me to "pweez close the doow." LOL. This gives me some time to prepare lunch for all of us. 

I've been trying to introduce Birdie to foods outside of her comfort zone (i.e., mac & cheese and quesadillas) and this easy and quick dish is a hit! It's just quinoa, canned or frozen corn and a little bit of shredded cheese!

Teddy is obsessed with these Ella's pouches and they sure do make lunchtime easy :). 

By the afternoon we're all feeling a little stir crazy so we'll had outside until papa comes home. Birdie loves to water all of our plants and then they play together at the water tower for a good half hour. 

And then the best part of our day - papa's home!!

Once Kevin gets home he takes over and I have some time to run errands or start prepping dinner. The kids will eat around 6:30 or 7 and head upstairs for baths around 7:30. Since starting to share a room at night we learned that we have to put Teddy down early and make sure he is asleep before we send Birdie in. So he will go down around 8 or 8:15. While we wait for him to fall asleep we'll do story time with Birdie in our bed. Birdie's routine changes (sometimes she drags out bedtime as long as possible) but she will be in bed by 9:00, latest. And then it's finally time for peace and quite in our house :). And to look at photos and videos of the kids obsessively!

I hope you enjoyed taking a peek into our day and send any tips you have my way! I'm always learning something new!

As a child this book was such a fun read and of course I adored the movie. Reading it again as an adult it's so hauntingly beautiful with lines will just break your heart. Some I still can't get out of my mind... Barrie so perfectly captures the heartbreak that is growing up.

“All the world is made of faith, and trust, and pixie dust.”

“Never say goodbye because goodbye means going away and going away means forgetting.”

“Dreams do come true, if only we wish hard enough. You can have anything in life if you will sacrifice everything else for it.”

“The moment you doubt whether you can fly, you cease for ever to be able to do it.”

“When the first baby laughed for the first time, its laugh broke into a thousand pieces, and they all went skipping about, and that was the beginning of fairies.”

“All children, except one, grow up. They soon know that they will grow up, and the way Wendy knew was this. One day when she was two years old she was playing in a garden, and she plucked another flower and ran with it to her mother. I suppose she must have looked rather delightful, for Mrs Darling put her hand to her heart and cried, ‘Oh, why can’t you remain like this for ever!’ This was all that passed between them on the subject, but henceforth Wendy knew that she must grow up. You always know after you are two. Two is the beginning of the end.”

“It is not in doing what you like, but in liking what you do that is the secret of happiness.”

“You know that place between sleep and awake, that place where you still remember dreaming? That’s where I’ll always love you. That’s where I’ll be waiting.”

“No matter how hard we try to be mature, we will always be a kid when we all get hurt and cry”

J. M. Barrie