camping adventures

We took Colton on his first camping adventure this weekend to Tomoka Springs National Park just north of Daytona, FL in Ormond Beach. To say he had a great time would be an understatement. Colton loves the great outdoors! He can't get enough of the backyard, park, and our evening walks. As soon as we got to the campsite, he found a "broom" to keep himself busy with as Billy and I set up the camp. He swept and swept the whole campsite. What a good little helper!



Colton loved the tent. He wanted to go inside of it or lay on top of it from the outside. He thought it was so funny when I got in the tent and peeked at him through the windows! He would smash his face on the screen and lean in to peek at me. Our sleeping situation was a family combo. We snuggled up really nicely together!

Billy made a nice big fire, and Cole was careful to listen to us and not get too close. Plus, it was raging hot! He did, however, want to put the wood in the "basket" and kept picking up pieces and taking them to the fire to throw in. What a good assistant to the fire maker he was!



Before dark, we went on a walk to the Halifax River. It was such a great evening to be outside! There was a nice breeze, and we really enjoyed walking around the park.








After our walk, we had dinner, and we enjoyed the fire a bit before we took Colton into the tent to get ready for bed. Colton enjoyed sitting by the fire and eating a little meal. He was a very good boy, and he stayed in our campsite the whole time!




Colton also got to try his first toasted marshmallow! He wasn't too sure at first, but he decided that a warm ball of sugar hit the spot and gobbled it up!




....... Colton cheesing at the camera .......

....... Playing around with Dad before bed .......

...... Such a big smile! .......

As soon as we put Colton down to sleep and stepped out of the tent, we heard a little voice ask, "Mommy? Mommy? Mommy? Daddy? Mommy?" There was some small whimpering and then ... silence ... we peeked into the tent to see Colton sprawled out in the middle of the bed, face down, sound asleep.

The middle of the night is another story. I wake up to the sound of Colton's voice yelling, "Plane!" I hear it, too. A plane flies over heading somewhere and the pilot having no idea that a small, 16-month old boy has roused from his sleep to announce to his parents that this plane is flying by ... and we should know about it! (I do have to mention that since I have been pregnant again, I can't go a night without getting up at least once, if not twice, to use the restroom. I did get up, unzip the tent, zip it again and head out into the night ... just to make all of that noise again getting back into the tent. I thought Colton had slept through it, but of course, a gaggle of girls, staying up late into the wee hours of the night raised their voices high into the night as they, also, headed to the bathroom. We stayed a little too close to the restrooms, for this is what finally got Colton to wake up ... his Mommy and the girl gaggle.) After he announced the flight of the airplane, Colton leaned on Daddy and peeked into his face to see if he was awake. No luck. So he patted his side and peeked again ... still no luck. I quickly closed my eyes as he headed toward me. Through a slice of opening in my eyelids, I see his head nearly smashed into mine to see if I am awake. After figuring no one was up, he stands up and yells, "PUPPY!" (I had to bring his puppy pillow camping.) "PUPPY, PUPPY!" And when that doesn't work, he flops down between us and says, "Blanket! Oh, blanket!" Finally, I hear Billy say, "Shhhh, Colton. Nigh-Night." Billy informed me that it was 2:47 a.m. I, finally, sat up and laid him down with his blanket. He laid there quietly for a while, but I could tell he wasn't sleeping. After what seemed like 30 minutes of me waiting for him to fall asleep again, so I could escape on another bathroom break, I hear him say, "Feet. Feeeeet. Feet." I just decided to quit waiting and left the tent. As I walked away, I could hear a small cry ... Colton didn't know where I was going. When I got back, he was still laying there, chewing on his blanket ... talking about his feet. I finally couldn't stay awake any longer, and I fell asleep. I thought he would be up for the rest of the morning, but sometime while it was still dark, I woke up and saw he was out like a light, so I scooted him close to Billy and went back to bed. The next morning, we woke up to Colton too excited to have Mommy and Daddy right there with him. He got us up around 7:45 a.m. Billy told me that Colton had been laying SO close to him that he had to roll him away, so he could use the blanket, and sometime during the night, Colton's head was on me, but his feet were on Billy ... kicking away with all his might into Billy's side. What a nut! Needless to say, he was exhausted all day long! But he enjoyed his breakfast outside and a morning walk to the park.



I think we'll be doing this again ... but as it's April and we're already having 92 degree days, it may have to be next camping season. Tomorrow, we're off to Tampa to visit friends for the day. No rest for the weary! :)

the woes of home ownership

Well ... it could be worse. I could be writing this while sitting in a foot of water, but I'm not--luckily, I am writing this with a brand new water heater installed yesterday morning. On Sunday, I went to start up a load of laundry. When I stepped on the rug in front of the washer, it was soaking wet! I thought 'oh, man! the washer is broken!'. It was not. In fact, I traced the puddle of water to the water heater ... just beside the washing machine. And there I saw it ... small streaks of dried water down the side of the heater ... and when I put my finger next to the lid, I could feel a slow, but steady, stream trickling down to the floor. I mopped up the small mess, and I called my Dad.
"Dad, how much do you know about water heaters?"
He cornily replies, "They supply your house with hot water." Thanks, Dad.
"Can I fix a small leak?" I ask.
"From the pipes?" he inquires.
"Uh ... no ... from the top," I reply.
"Looks like you'll have to get yourself a new water heater," he informs me. Ugh! Just what we need. Well, on the bright side of it all, the water heater didn't explode everywhere, and we were never without hot water. I also found a super nice plumber, and after checking around to many places, also found that he had the best price. So, he came and installed a new water heater ... and even replaced my copper piping with PVC for no extra charge. Although, we weren't planning on spending that money on a new water heater ... I guess, it could be worse. On the plus side, the whole thing made me clean up my entire laundry room ... under the washer and dryer, too. Wow! A lot of lint gets thrown around in there. Now, it's spic-and-span ... spring cleaning has hit the laundry room.



On another note, Colton has been LOVING a pink stroller that Rosie left for him when she visited a few weeks ago. He's really into pushing things around right now. He wants to push his stroller when we go on walks ... no riding in it ... just pushing it along the trail. Anyway, he loves this little stroller, because it's so light-weight. He can turn it and move it with ease. He's been putting everything in it to push around ... his milk cup, water cup, toys, books ... Billy even "misplaced" the TV remote--only to find out that Colton had decided that it was a good thing to push around in the stroller. We found it tucked neatly in the chair for a go around the house. I guess he's ready for a baby brother or sister.

baby moments

Last night, my niece, Elettra Rae, was born to my sister-in-law and brother-in-law. She is 4 lbs. 4 oz. Mother had some pregnancy complications and she was born at 34 weeks. Please keep Mother and baby in your prayers as they are recovering and getting healthy enough to go home. Elettra should be in the hospital for 10-14 days, so it will be hard on the mom and dad to have to visit their baby. Colton is excited about his new cousin, and we all can't wait to meet her in May!

Beaching It Up ... Sabbath Family Time

This Sabbath, we decided to head out to the beach. We haven't been as a family yet this year ... since the Philippines, so we packed up a Sabbath lunch, towels, sunblock, beach chairs, toys, and little Colton and set out for our favorite beach--New Smyrna. I wasn't worried about the weather being bad. It's super sunny and 91 degrees! But I was a little worried that early April would hold freezing cold ocean water rolling in wave by wave, so we wouldn't want to venture into the blue sea. When we got there, we could see many people had the same idea as we did ... I even think the people who sat in front of us were Adventist, too ... as they were eating vegelinks out of a can.

As soon as we got there, we set up and Colton surveyed the water. Luckily, the water was chilly, but it wasn't too cold. Once you were in the water, it felt really nice!

He decided that it was time to head down to the water right away. So Daddy took his hand, and I followed them down to the water.

Colton loved dancing in the water and splashing. He spent a long time playing with us in the sand. This kid loves to throw sand!





We packed a good lunch of sandwiches and oranges. Colton had some yummy snacks, too!



After lunch, we played in the water and sand for a while longer, and then Daddy and Colton took a walk. It was such a beautiful day at the beach! The weather was hot but not humid. Just how I like it!

While the boys were gone, I got some much needed relaxation in ... I layed out and rested while I listened to the ocean.




Then Daddy took a swim in the ocean for a bit while Colton and I played in the sand ... digging and throwing it all around. It was a great day! I'm so happy we decided to head out to New Smyrna. I think we'll have to do it more often ... even if we bring half the beach back with us in the car!

march-ed into spring

March was a full month! We were pretty busy around the Heinrich house. We spent a couple of weekends in Tampa with our good friends, the Adams. We had great times with them ... baseball games, the zoo, shopping, a water park, the aquarium, and the park. We also went down one weeknight to catch a hockey game with them--box seats! We have missed them so much since they left, and March felt like we still lived 10 minutes away. Luckily, they're only just about an hour and a half away, so it's still not too bad.





The boys had a lot of fun at the water park together. Mason and Colton are good buds.

They played so hard ... this is what happened on the walk home.

I was SO thrilled to have the Murrills here at the end of March. They stayed with us for nearly a week, and it was one of the happiest weeks I have had in a long time. I have really missed my dear friends. Steph is one of my closest and best friends, and it was so good to chat with her and spend time together. I absolutely LOVE Rosie! She has grown into one sweet, little toddler. I enjoyed watching her and Colton play together. They had a great time of it, and they really learned from each other. Mark and Billy stayed up and partied 'like it was 1999' every night until the wee hours of the morning. I think it was great for them to watch sports together and play games. It was like reoccurring Saturday nights even though both of them worked each day! I found that I really miss having the Murrills here in FL, but I know God has a plan for both of our families. I just hope that someday he places us back together wherever that may be. Here are some pictures from our great week:




I truly love this girl! How can you not absolutely love that face!?! She's such a doll!

I have missed our family togetherness times ... oh, Tijuana Flats ... it hasn't been that same without the Murrills, but this week, it was ... and it was fabulous ... twice!

And of course, the love between the two kiddies!

So, all in all, March was a great month! I have been feeling SO much better. The second trimester has blown in and the nausea has subsided. I still have waves of exhaustion, but nothing like the first trimester. Exercise is becoming a daily routine again and that feels great! My resolution for April: exercise is 7-8 am every day of the week. I always have a more energetic and better day when I do this. So, I just have to go to bed at a decent hour. My body seriously needs like 10 hours of sleep (or more), so I can't be seeing midnight every night anymore. I know Billy loves that I stay up that late now, but I just can't ... because I can't tear myself out of bed at 7 am like I need to.

Another sleep and exercise resolution ... will have to follow up on this one.

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