Tent Camping 2009

This past weekend, we made a snap decision to spend a night out at Cedarmore as a family. In a lodge with beds and showers you ask? No. In a tent by the fishing lake. Scott and I had camped several times pre-Kilee, but never as a family of three. At first I was a little intimidated by the idea of taking a two-year-old tent camping, but it turned out to be a marvelous idea! Here are some pictures of what we did. Cedarmore, like Jonathan Creek is such a beautiful setting for camp and we just loved every minute of it.

The site

We got there around dinner time, so once we got things set up we decided to go ahead and let Kilee roast a hot dog. She didn't want to get too close to the fire!

A little bit after we got settled, Scott caught us some catfish in the Cedarmore fishing lake, filleted them, and then he and Kilee battered and fried them. Aren't they cute?

Catfish as fresh as it gets . . . does this make you hungry?

After awhile it got pretty dark and we decided to let Kilee roast some marshmallows before bed. She LOVED eating them but was a little bothered by the fact that they were somewhat brown after roasting. After that, we all snuggled into the tent and went to sleep after awhile. We were shocked that Kilee slept all night long with all of the wildlife noise in an unfamiliar place! It was great!

The next morning, we awoke to a beautiful scene on the lake. We are so blessed to be able to enjoy and work at such beautiful places like Cedarmore and Jonathan Creek.

Scott fishing

Kilee, still kind of sleepy, eating her eggs and bacon daddy made.

Cuddling in the tent!

Snug as a bug in a rug

Daddy finally broke down and put a bobber and a hook on Kilee's princess pole. (She had been casting the little rubber thing that comes with the pole up until that point.) He's teaching her how to cast in this pic.

How to reel

Pictures don't get much cuter than this one!

I got one!

Putting her finger in the blue gill's mouth to try to hold it. She got a little grossed out and didn't do it. Pretty brave, though!

We had a great time. It's so neat to be able to do things like this with Kilee now. We look forward to our next camping trip together. If it doesn't happen again this year, we'll plan one for next year for a family of four we hope!

Recent Water Adventures

Here are pictures from a couple of our recent adventures in Louisville -- the Oldham County Aquatic Center and the Zoo Splash Park. It looks like a good time, huh?

Kilee in her purple floatie

Kilee and Ellie

Swim buddies

Going down the slide at the Zoo Splash Park

Running through the sprinklers

We had a little swimsuit "mishap" and had to splash in a swim diaper the rest of the time.
It didn't stop Kilee, though!

I thought it was really sweet when she sat down and started talking to a little baby.

Getting lots of water in her face!

Our Funny Girl

Here are a few adorable things that I've witnessed our little 2 1/2 year old do and say this week:

The lyrics to the Farmer in the Dell, as sung by Kilee:

"The Farma inna Dell,"
"The Farma inna Dell,"
"Hey, wow, there we go"
"The Farma inna Dell"

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When playing a game of Memory with Kilee, she turned up a card that had a picture of a crab, but it kind of looked like a lobster, too. She looked at it funny and said, "Mom, you take the crabster."

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A conversation that I overheard Kilee and her friend Ellie having over lunch this week:

Kilee: The leaf blew and blew.
Ellie: Did it go, "whoosh?"
Kilee: No.
Ellie: Did it get stuck in the spiderweb?
Kilee: No, it blew and blew in the wind way up high and then it got stuck in the mud!
Ellie: Aww, poor leaf.

I really don't know how this conversation started, but it was pretty stinkin' cute!

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Our letter for the week was the letter "K", which was pretty special for Kilee since it's the first letter of her name. We were trying to think of things that start with the letter K. I was telling her a word that started with the letter K and she was saying it back to me. I said, "Kangaroo, Kite, Key, King . . ." and then Kilee's eyes got really big and she said, "COWBOY!" Well, she got the sound right! The English language is so confusing sometimes.

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Earlier this week, Kilee was helping me stir a marinade for our dinner. She was doing pretty well, but it was about time for me to take over. I reached for the whisk and Kilee stopped whisking, held her hand up and said, "You HAVE to be patient, mommy." :o)

6 years ago today . . .

6 years ago today, Scott Bidwell and Monica Tate were joined together in holy matrimony. Life has never been the same! God has blessed us so much in our marriage over the past 6 years as we have grown in our love for Him and for each other. We've experienced incredible ministry that we've gotten to do together, making a life together in new places, and the birth of a beautiful daughter (just to name a few incredible joys). Life hasn't been perfect, though. In fact, some of the time it's been really hard, but we know that the Lord's hand has been guiding this journey and we wouldn't have it any other way. We are so blessed to have one another, and so humbled and thankful that we serve such a mighty God. Can't wait to see what the next 6 years hold!