Tory's First Fish! (and other weekend happenings)

Our friends Josh and Sarah came up to the cabin last weekend with their son, Charlie. Tory and Charlie are four months apart in age, so I was excited for the kids to have a lake buddy for the weekend. It's also nice having friends up at the cabin who are in the same place in life as we are. That factor makes nap times, meal routines and early mornings so much easier when guests are on a similar schedule and level of understanding.

Early Saturday morning before Josh and Sarah arrived, Andi and I awoke to the sound of Tory fussing from her pack-n-play in the next room, following by a screeching "Owbie! Owbie!" over the monitor. Somehow Tory managed to scale the side of her pack-n-play and came running toward our room at 5:00am. I fully expected to see the pack-n-play flipped on its side or a banged-up Tory, but there was no sign of either. She was quite startled, however, as were Andi and I. This newfound accomplishment made for a very tiring weekend for all of us. Once Tory figured out how to climb out of her bed, there was no stopping her from doing it again at future naps and bedtimes. The following night's escape time was 11:30pm and Tory ended up sleeping in bed with Andi and I which meant NOBODY slept very well.

I know all parents come to this crossroads in toddlerhood, but the move from crib life to big girl bed is a daunting one - really, what transition related to sleep isn't nail-biting? With the upcoming arrival of Baby Brother and Tory's two-year birthday looming, we knew the switch to a toddler bed was in our future, but Andi and I definitely weren't prepared for it to be so abrupt. This week, we're going to try putting a Sleep Sack back on Tory at naps/bedtime and if that doesn't help (and she figures out how to take it off, which I think she could probably do), then we're going to move her to the inflatable toddler travel bed at the cabin. This, of course, opens up an entirely new can of worms because Tory will be able to get out of bed, open the door and run loose in the cabin (unless we lock or gate the door, which - argh) so we'll see what happens. Step one = the return of the Sleep Sack, so let's hope that settles the issue for now.

Anyway, onto brighter things! Josh, Sarah and Charlie arrived late Saturday morning. Unfortunately, the weather was somewhat crappy on Saturday (cloudy and windy), so we ended up playing indoors with the kids for most of the day. We attempted a boat ride Saturday afternoon, but it was just too windy for the kiddos. Luckily, the bay by our cabin was the calmest place on the lake, so we were able to do some fishing off the dock and scooping in the sand later in the afternoon.

Andi broke out Tory's pink fishing pole for the first time. She was so excited to cast it into the water and perfected the skill over and over with the "practice" plastic fish on the end of the line. When the big fishing moment arrived, Andi threw the line into the water and immediately popped up a sunfish. We were are so excited!

Tory's first fish

The minute Andi unhooked the fish, Tory was shouting and signing "More! More!" Andi would cast out the line again and instantly another sunfish would bite her line. I think she caught five or six fish within the first fifteen minutes. In true Daddy form, Andi wanted Tory to touch the fish, but she was having none of that part of the adventure. I don't blame ya, Tory Girl. All week she's been talking about "bish" so I know she's anxious to get back to the lake and do more fishing with Daddy.

It was like an adventure of the great outdoors last weekend at the cabin. Between Tory's successes at fishing, the big bull frogs croaking, a deer trotting across our drive-way, a groundhog shuffling across the yard, a bald eagle soaring across the sky during our boat ride, the black bears Andi spotted nearby and this painted turtle we found by our beach, we were in awe. The kids loved the turtle, especially.

Good thing Charlie's man enough to wear Tory's pink life jacket!

Andi and Josh took the kids for a ride in the Ranger ATV on Saturday afternoon. Our dare-devil Tory Bean shouted "Go! Go!" while Sarah and I listened to poor Charlie wailing at the top of his lungs as they pulled down the road. Poor little guy! Andi said he calmed down after they got going.  

After the kids were in bed, Josh, Sarah, Andi and I ended our night with a bonfire. It felt so good to be outside by the lake, eating s'mores, drinking a non-alcoholic beer (if you're me) and laughing with friends. It's finally starting to feel like summer around here.

On Sunday, the weather was perfectly warm and sunny. Our friends left early, so Andi, Tory and I lounged by the lake. Tory is becoming quite adventurous swimming in the lake and was even wading in waist deep water (with Andi and I right beside her, of course). She also loved floating along with Andi on the raft. 

As relaxing as it is to have the cabin to ourselves on the weekends, it's also so great to be surrounded by good friends. Looking forward to many more weekends like this at the cabin this summer.