Camping

The Stutelberg's had their family camping debut this weekend! We went camping for the first time as a family. It was a great time! Our friends, the Schneiders, go camping every year with another family and they invited us along. In our 3 families their were 6 kids all under age 5!! We went to Carpinteria Beach (15 miles south of Santa Barbara) on Saturday morning. The other families spent two nights and arrived on Friday but since Karl works late and we were unsure how the kids would do we decided to go for only one night. The slide show below is a little out of order but you can get the basic idea of what we did! We spent most of the day on Saturday at the beach. The kids had a great time digging, building sand castles and burring Bill! After playing for a couple hours the younger kids were getting tired so we loaded them up in the jogging strollers and the 3 moms, Dawn, Michelle, and I went for a run while the kids napped. After running/napping we walked down the beach a bit and checked out tide pools. The kids thought it was really cool to (gently) stick there fingers in the sea urchins! We then went back to camp and got everyone showered and in pjs, which is no easy feat!! Following a great dinner we made smores. The kids were so tired they all went to sleep without too much protest around 8:00! I was really worried how Micah would sleep but he did pretty good. Other than wanting to party from 4:00-5:00am the night went pretty good. Matt was so excited about this whole adventure! Sunday morning we had breakfast and took turns borrowing bikes and taking the kids on bike rides. We then packed everything up and went to the Santa Barbara Zoo for a couple hours. Matt got to feed a giraffe and we rode on a little train around the zoo. Both boys really love zoos and had good time even though they were SOOO tired!! We all had so much fun I think we are up to a longer camping trip in the spring! Although I feel like I need a vacation after our little vacation! It is a whole different ball game camping with 2 kids! It was great that our first trip was with seasoned campers! Our friends were so helpful! Enjoy the pictures!

Homecoming at CLU

It was homecoming weekend at Cal Lutheran. We went to my sister's house early on Sat morning and let the boys play. After a morning at the park and getting bagels we put them down for early naps before heading off to CLU. We met up with my parents and brother at the football game. My brother plays in the pep band and Matt thought it was pretty cool to see him playing his clarinet. After the football game we went across campus to the new athletic facilities for the festival. There was a free festival with bouncers and a petting zoo for the kids. We also got dinner, ice cream, popcorn and coffee. It was a ton of fun. Jon, Louise and Luke met us there and the boys had a blast bouncing and petting the animals. Matt thought it was fun to hug and kiss the goats, pigs, rabbits, and sheep. Yuck Yuck Yuck!! The boys were so tired last night! It was fun to see old classmates. Karl and I went to the homecoming dance on one of our first dates when we were at CLU. That was 10 years ago!! Where has the time gone! Ten years ago when we went to the homecoming dance and carnival I never dreamed that someday I would be married and have 2 beautiful kids with Karl!! Micah is starting to walk more. He can stand and take 4-5 steps before falling. He does better if he is holding a toy and not concentrating on walking! Karl took this video last week. Micah is a little sloppy because he is about ready for bed!

The Number of the Day

The number of the day is 5!!! The theme at Mommy and Me class on Monday was the number 5. We did all our crafts and songs about the number 5. Micah slept a little longer than Matt yesterday so Matt and I did more "5" crafts! We decorated the numbers and hung them on the back of the couch then made 5 different colored play-doh snakes for Matt to carry around on his shoulders! We attempted to "teach" Daddy about the number 5 when he got home last night but Matt was too excited and silly!
Karl had a nice trip to Arizona for his grandpa's funeral. Karl said it was a very special time with family. The service was beautiful and everyone shared good memories and just enjoyed being together. The boys and I missed him and are happy to have him home.
Micah took his first 2 steps today! I am going to count them even though it was more like stumbling into my arms!! Micah has a few "words." Da da means Daddy and doggie! Ba ba is Matt. While feeding ducks at the park on Sunday Micah said "quack quack!" No Mama yet!! I'm not holding my breath for it!
Have a great remainder of the week!
I am super mom...I have single handedly gotten Matt, Micah, and Luke all down for naps at the same time!! The house is so quiet. It doesn't feel right!