Camping at Gooseberry

We got home late last night from a FABULOUS camping trip to Gooseberry Falls State Park with my brother and his family. The weather was perfect (70's during the day and 50's at night), our site was great, and the time spent with Micah and his crew was priceless.
We headed out Monday in the late afternoon. We met up with Micah & Missy in Duluth for dinner at Grandma's (a mandatory stop in Duluth, in my opinion). The kids had fun watching the boats go under the bridge, playing with flowers, and riding the motorcycle & horse while we waited to be seated.




We didn't get to our campsites until after dark, so it was a late night for both kiddos and parents alike. Thankfully, our family woke up to a nice, quiet morning. But poor Micah and Missy woke up to the sound of backhoes and earth movers at 7:00 am! Apparently there was construction happening on a bike trail right next to their site. The noise continued ALL DAY LONG and into supper time every day. Unfortunately, the whole campground was pretty packed and there was no good opportunity for them to switch to another site. Micah and Missy made the best of it and enjoyed their trip nonetheless.
Later that day we took the kids to the falls, and they absolutely LOVED it! We spent most of the afternoon splashing in the water. After their naps we took them to Lake Superior for more splashing and rock throwing.
Tuesday night was really cool -- JP and I were sitting around our camp fire enjoying the coolness of the evening when I noticed a shooting star. Then, maybe 20 seconds later, I saw another one! Turns out the Perseids Meteor Shower is just getting started, and it will peak on the morning of August 12th. I ended up seeing 13 meteors in a span of maybe 45 minutes, and JP saw some others that I didn't catch. It was amazing.
Wednesday we took the kids back to the falls for more splashing, but midway through our picnic lunch it started sprinkling. It was no big deal, and we continued to eat and play in the water until Micah and Missy realized they didn't have a rain fly on their tent! We raced back to the camp site to find their sleeping bags were soaked. We had to make a trip to the Two Harbors laundromat to dry them out.
Our family had to come home Wednesday night. We would have loved to stay another couple days. The time we spent with Micah, Missy, Malachi and Zach was absolutely precious, as well as the time we spent together as a family. It was one of the most relaxing camping trips we've ever taken.

Updates

Sorry it has been so long since the last post! The last couple of weeks have been busy. On Saturday we attended the third out of six weddings scheduled five weeks in a row. 'Tis the season, I suppose. I don't have pictures from any of them, so I won't elaborate much other than to say they've all been very lovely and it is great to be a part of them! The only difficult part is figuring out a practical rotation for the three maternity dresses I have in my possession (only one of which is mine, the other two are borrowed).
Speaking of maternity, I am 32 weeks along this week and all is going well. Ruby's due date is September 24th. I'm getting big, but not overly uncomfortable. Rae LOVES babies and I know she is going to be excited to have Ruby around.
We are going camping today through Thursday with my brother Micah and his family. For those of you who don't know, my brother has joined the Army Special Forces and is leaving for training on the 14th. He'll be gone for 6 months (his prego wife and two sons will stay here), then he'll come back, get his family and move them all down to N. Carolina in February. We are looking forward to a very special camping trip with them. We'll be at Gooseberry Falls State Park.
Stay tuned for pictures when we get home!

Peeeease?

Mieko

I couldn't stop the tears when I found out this morning that 4-year-old Mieko Johnson had died. She's the daughter of one of my former co-workers, WCCO reporter Maya Nishikawa. Maya and I sat right next to each other at WCCO.
Mieko was born with a disorder called trisomy 18, which is the presence of an extra 18th chromosome. Most trisomy 18 babies only make it a few months. Only 10% make it past one year. Mieko, the champion, was 4 years old and loved life -- she had even learned to walk with a walker.
My heart aches for Maya & her husband. Even though they knew this day would come, I'm sure that doesn't help ease the pain one bit. We will all miss Mieko and her sweet smile.
Please keep Maya & her husband in your prayers.

Here is more information on Mieko from WCCO.COM.
-Video Obituary
-A slideshow of Mieko's life.
-A report Maya did about Mieko's condition around her first birthday

Potty Time...for real this time?

This morning after Israel's bath I set her on the "big girl" potty and to my great surprise and delight -- she used it! I was so thrilled! I made a huge fuss over her, then decided to leave her diaper off for the rest of the morning. She proceeded to potty on the floor three times. :)
Nevertheless, I think we are going to really get started on this potty training thing after all. We went to Target and bought a bunch of pretty undies (sesame street, dora, disney princess, my little pony, and curious george), and after her nap I'm going to put her in one of them. I have some stickers ready for rewards. We'll take it slow and let her get used to the idea -- I don't want to frustrate her. I think with patience and persistence, she'll be able to get it by the time the new baby arrives.
Be praying! :)
Here is a super cute picture my mom took of Rae last week -- I could just eat her up!

Happy Belated 4th

I hope you all had a wonderful 4th of July. We spent the day at the lake with JP's family. Israel was so brave -- she was even jumping off the dock into our arms! At the beginning of the summer she wouldn't even go on the sand...much less the water...very much less the dock. She's come a long way! She's also going down the slide on her bottom now, instead of her stomach.
We shot off a few fireworks. If you ask Israel what a firework says, she'll say "Boom!" Here she is shooting off Roman Candles with daddy.

Lisa, Scott & the twins are doing great and are hoping to go home today. Keep the prayers coming for a smooth transition home!

More Pictures

Vincent and Florence

We got to hold them today! Grampies & Gammy Charlebois

Ava was running around singing "I'm a big sister! Yes I am!"

Papa & Nana Charlebois (great-grandparents)

Vincent

Florence

The Twins Are Here!!!!!

I am VERY proud and excited to announce the arrival of our nephew and niece TWINS!

Vincent (Vinnie) King Bottolene was born at 1:26 pm weighing in at 6lbs, 10oz. His sister, Florence (Florie) James Bottolene was born two minutes later, a tiny 4lbs, 11oz.











Lisa was induced just before 8:00 am. Once she was fully dialated, she only pushed THREE TIMES before Vinnie came out, followed by little Florie! The babies spent the first few hours of their life in the NICU for monitoring, which is standard procedure.

Thanks to all of you who have been praying for the Bottolenes through the entire pregnancy, bed rest, and now the births. The miracle of TWO BABIES in one day is overwhelming. They are so cute and so tiny! Please keep the prayers coming as they head home and adjust to life as a family of five.

Here are some more pictures I snapped today -- enjoy the cuteness!

Vinnie

Florie

Both of them in the NICU

Proud daddy Scott with son Vincent

Florence gets worked up

Daddy knows how to calm her down

Florie

26 years and 27 weeks

Yesterday was my 26th birthday -- thanks to all of you who sent all the birthday wishes! I had a great day. JP worked from home most of the day, so we got to spend a lot of time together as a family. My sister stopped by with flowers, a card and strawberry concrete mixers from Culvers (my favorite!), and Margie and Ava dropped off some balloons, some toys for Rae, and some YUMMY desserts!!!!! So it was a fattening day. :) I'll just blame it on the baby.
Speaking of the baby, I also had another check-up yesterday. Everything continues to go well. I am 27 weeks along now, and everybody commented on how I had "really popped" this month. :) Yes, it's true -- I am looking (and feeling) more and more pregnant every day. But I will not complain -- my sister-in-law, Lisa, is now 35 weeks along with the twins. Starting Monday she will be considered full-term and they will take her off of bed rest and her meds. At that point it could be babies at any time, but if they're not here by the 3rd, they're going to induce. So stay tuned!!!!!!
We also got the good news yesterday that Israel is clear to hang out with other kids again! My sister-in-law's pediatrician said we just need to make sure she's not sharing cups or sucking on toys that other kids are using. We'll be so happy to get back to playing with our friends again! I think Rae was starting to get a little bored of me.
Here are some pictures of what we've been up to in the meantime.

The Zoo



The Beach



Discovering The Hose

Hand, Foot and Mouth Disease

On Sunday, Israel was diagnosed with the coxsakie virus, also known as hand, foot and mouth disease. It's a fairly common child virus that causes children to break out in a rash/sores on their hands, feet, and mouth. Thankfully, Rae does not have the rash in her mouth, but she does have blistery-looking things on her feet and thumbs. They don't seem to bother her much. She is contagious, though, so we are keeping ourselves confined for the time being.
Because of this, we had to miss all of our planned Fathers Day activities. I hope all of the dads in our life know how much we love them and wish we could have been with them on that day.
JP still had a special Fathers Day, though, playing with his daughter in the backyard. I'm so thankful that he's the daddy of my babies -- we love you, daddy!

Family Camping Trip, Spring 2008

Sorry it has taken me until now to find time to post some pictures and stories from our camping trip. The trip as a whole was good, yet challenging! I've camped pregnant. I've camped with a baby.  I've camped in the rain. I've camped with mosquitoes. But never in my life have I camped pregnant, with a baby, in the rain, surrounded by swarms of mosquitoes! 

We arrived on Thursday evening in the rain. My parents and my sister and her husband and kids were already there with their tents set up in the parking lot because of the wind and rain. JP and Pete set up our tent, which got drenched in the process, and the rain continued to come down harder and harder. Finally we decided to get in the cars and drive to Brainerd for dinner, since we couldn't really unload our food and cook in those conditions. 

By the time our food arrived, we were in the middle of a full-blown thunderstorm with lightning, tornado watches and all. JP made the executive decision that we would spend our first night camping at the AmericInn Hotel. It was a good thing he did, too, because when we got back to the campsite to pick up the terrified dogs (they were in the tent the whole time), part of our tent had given out under the wind. So instead of braving those conditions like the rest of my family did, we slept in a two-room suite with cable and a sleep number bed. :) 

Friday was still a little drizzly and cool through the afternoon, but we were still able to enjoy time outside. And thank you Jesus, Saturday and Sunday were BEAUTIFUL and warm and sunny! 

On Saturday, JP, Rae and I hopped in the car and went searching for the house that JP's grandparents used to live in on Round Lake in Brainerd. JP and his family used to go visit there all the time until they moved when he was about 12 years old. We did end up finding it, which was very special to JP. We also drove into the small, quaint town of Nisswa where they used to visit when he was a kid. We looked through some of the old shops and got ice cream at the candy store -- it was a lot of fun. 

I mentioned the mosquitoes: our site was very nice, large and spread out, but it was right between the Mississippi River and a swamp. So the bugs were horrendous. Thankfully, both dad & JP brought their bug foggers! My poor nephew Elijah had bug bites ALL over his face, legs, back and even on his bottom! Somehow Israel made it out with only one bug bite the whole time -- I have NO idea how. 

The other funny part about our campsite was that it was right across the river from Fort Ripley. From 8 am to sundown we could hear gun fire and tank blasts of all sorts. We found shells to some sort of small missile on the river bank and heard tanks or trucks of some sort so close we thought they'd plow through the trees and onto our campsite. 

In all, the trip was a lot of fun. The kids had SO much fun playing with each other and being outside 24/7. Israel did GREAT sleeping in the tent, too. The only complaint I could offer about the trip was that it was hard to get out and "do" anything. With 5 kids under the age of 3, it was nearly impossible to find a time when all of them were awake, fed, and happy enough to go for a hike or anything. Then by the end of the day, we parents were all so tired that instead of staying up late by the campfire (my favorite part about camping), we all went to bed early knowing we'd be up with the kids again first thing in the morning. Camping with kids is very different from what camping used to be -- in both wonderful and somewhat disappointing ways. 

Here are a few of my favorite pictures from the weekend: