Ashlyn's First Labor Day Camping

When I was pregnant last year, we thought Labor Day camping at Shaver Lake would be Ashlyn's first camping trip.  Then we had this crazy idea to take her backpacking last month.

So this was actually her second time sleeping in a tent.  AND, thankfully, it went much better!  (Meaning, she could breathe the whole time.  Ha).

Tim's Delta 4 Heavy rocket launched Wednesday, so he got Thursday off, so we drove to Daniel and Maria's not as early as we would like, but didn't get there at like 11pm as we are in a habit of doing.

Friday morning Ashlyn got to play with her cousins!  James and Bekah told us it was time to do Zumba, and so even Ashlyn participated (with the help of Daddy)!

Zumba time!

Friday evening we drove up to Camp Edison and paid our due to get in.  We knew exactly how much it was going to cost, thanks to Dan Helms and The Manual.  

That evening was filled with doggy time at the beach, setting up tents, eating delicious taco soup prepared by Esther; hearing how The Taco Van broke down and now Cary and Kathy with Samuel, Samantha, and Freddy were now coming in two cars; teasing Katie for arriving waaaaay after "dusk", and figuring out that the pac n' play does not fit in our new tent (thank you, Tim, for being so tall).

A Girl and her Dogs

While I was pregnant, we joked that this baby was the third child.  Cole, Kensi, Baby.  

My 3 babies cuddling while Ashlyn was still in tummy

We also called "it" the "Mancub".  

Ashlyn sitting with Kensi

Ashlyn sitting with Cole

Ashlyn at 4 Months

4 months.  That's a third of a year.  That's weird.

It's not weird that Ashlyn is bigger or growing or 4 months old.  It's that 4 months is a third of a year. And in October when she's 6 months, we'll go to Yosemite and she'll pick out her first pumpkin.  Then it'll be December and she'll pick out her first Christmas tree.  And then it'll be Valentine's Day, and Easter and her first egg hunt.  And then her birthday, where she'll eat chocolate cake and get it all over herself.  Or maybe we'll give her vanilla cake so we don't have to give her a bath..."doggies! Lick!"..."oh yes, Mommy, that's what we're best at!"

But right now, she's 4 months old.  And little.  And cute.  And smiley.  And still in 3 month old clothes.  

.....aaaaaand this month she chose her baseball team!

Ashlyn's First Backpacking Trip

This past weekend we did something most people would call crazy:  we took a 3.5month old backpacking.

And we thought
it was awesome!
(except the part where she decided to get congested the second night and was up screaming because she couldn't breathe, or the part where we all came home with colds, but, whatever).  

It was awesome.  She loved it.

I got the idea to take a baby backpacking from the Hungry Runner Girl blog, she took her daughter at about 7months and wore her in a front pack.  Tim had been all sad we would not get to go backpacking together this summer (due to breastfeeding...or last summer due to me being pregnant).  I showed him the blog post on backpacking with a baby, and he started to plan.

For Christmas I had gotten him a subscription of Backpacker magazine (which he loves) and so he started finding different trips we could take.  They were short and did not have much elevation gain.  After our 9mile hike in Tahoe, the potential length of the trip became a little longer knowing Ashlyn could handle it and we could carry her.

The trip Tim ended up choosing was to Chain Lakes in Yosemite National Park (starting in the Sierra National Forest...out a 15mile long dirt road.  Ha).  It was a 5 mile hike in to the middle lake, where we would spend two nights, and the second day we would do a day hike up to the upper lake.  The trail started at about 8,000ft in elevation and the middle lake was at 9,200ft*.

The Paulsen's at Oceanside

And less than a week after we got home from Tahoe, we went off to Oceanside with alllllllll of Tim's family!!!  (Which means that between Tahoe and Oceanside, I pretty much did laundry and packed).

Thursday evening saw us driving down to Andrew and Charlotte's (with a stop at Taco Grande in there).  Ashlyn slept all the way from Carp to Menifee, and then continued to sleep in her carseat until morning.  Yea! I'm pretty sure Elijah and Nathan woke up before she did...

That afternoon we all caravaned down to Oceanside.  We had heard Nathan loved the Kung Fu Panda song, so we made a window message to Andrew and Charlotte to tune to the radio station we were on and we played the song from Tim's iPod.  It was SOOOO fun to watch a little silhouette in the back of the car punching it's arms around and dancing!  (We found out later that that was Elijah, and Nathan missed it all because he was sleeping)!

Adventure Girl: Tahoe 2013

At Tahoe, we started calling Ashlyn our little Adventure Girl! She was such a trooper (slept through the night all week) and did everything we did and didn't cry! It was awesome!

Friday evening when Tim got home we headed north and dropped Cole and Kensi off with Mimi and Pappy. Cole didn't want to let Ashlyn go. So presh.

Then we drove up to Grandma Alice and Pa Jack's arriving just before midnight. Saturday was a hang around the house day (and some Volcom & Quicksilver outlets, Costco, and a WOD). 

Shooting Pa Jack and Ben's pellet guns

Bocci ball across the creek

Sunday morning we drove up to Tahoe. We stopped to kayak on south shore at Baldwin Beach. It was really windy and choppy= not fun kayak experience. BUT, it was definitely a rowing WOD! That evening we met everyone at the cabin at Northstar and had tritip.

Driving down 50 to the lake, following Dad's truck with
two kayaks on top :)

I think this was the first time Tim and I left Ashlyn...Haha.

Monday morning we left to drive out to Gold Lake and Round Lakes Loop to do a "Five Miles, Five Lakes" loop (which was, according to Tom, stroller accessible...false...and according to Bryan had chocolate dipped ice cream cones with sprinkles at the end). 

 Shelby, Ashlyn, Tim, Bridget, Courtney, Lorna, Larry, Patty, Bryan, Randy

After a couple of lakes, we all decided to go the "long way" around Long Lake...and not so sure we were all happy with that decision halfway through... switchbacks+hiking in a bikini= not fun. I think we all survived because ofthe leftover steak we ate, the Kettlechips, and Powerberries. 

Panorama courtesy of Courtney

 It was Ashlyn's first time in her backpack, and she loved it! Okay, she slept through most of it, but she never cried (she would eat or get her diaper changed while we were stopped at a lake), and she was awake, smiley, and talkative to her Gigi and Patty in the last 3/4 mile.

FINALLY back at the trailhead
And calculating how many miles we went:  NINE!!!

Family!

And since Bryan promised, we had to go get ice cream. No chocolate dipped or sprinkles but swirl soft serve. And curly fries. 

Tuesday was bike day. And BridgeTender Day. We drove down to Tahoe City, where we rented a little bike trailer for Ashlyn. We had to get creative to fit her carseat in, but with a couple bungee cords it stayed right in place and she could watch her cow and pink dog toys swing in front of her. We rode south past Sunnyside (and it's big hill), and then rode back to the Bridge Tender for lunch. It's become a tradition. The burgers are sooooo good! I got bacon bleu cheese and I don't know what Tim got, but he ate his and 3 other leftovers (so he sampled 3 flavors I believe).

Ashlyn being towed by her Papa

Then we got back on our bikes and rode along the Truckee River until we found a swimming spot. Dad, Lorna, and Larry rode back so Larry could drive home for work, but Tim and Bryan floated in the river in circles thanks to the current. 

Going "shuttling"...mountain bike riding down
Northstar-At-Tahoe

Oh and by the way, the games of the trip were LCR and The Dice Game (aka 10,000). The first night Mom kicked butt...she won every.single.time. #nojoke #serious (yes this deserves hash tags).  Oh and Dad and Tim won some ladder ball.

Wednesday was beach day.  Since we didn't get there last year, we drove over to Nevada to Sand Harbor because we had heard it was a good beach.  It was AWESOME!!!  We spent the day kayaking, swimming, playing frisbee, reading magazines, snacking, and jumping off rocks.  

Ashlyn's first dip in the water for the day

Tim and Bryan stand-up kayaking

So then that made Thursday ride around the lake day (at least for Dad and Bryan). They got up early and Mom dropped them off in Incline so they could meet us at Sand Harbor again. 

Bryan and Dad at the start of their ride around the lake

Rock jumping

Dad and I hid in the kayak underneath the rock so Tim &
Bryan could jump over us

Kayak date!

Cooling off in the lake with Gigi so she
could fall asleep

"Ugh ok fine we'll smile and pretend we like each other!"

Ashlyn's first ride in the kayak!

Ashlyn the Baby Boxer

Friday morning was cleaning and time to head home. We all came home with SO much food...when will we ever learn. The drive home felt so much longer, and maybe that's because Ashlyn was awake and so we had to stop and feed her. But we made it. And our doggies went ballistic when we got home.