At One With Nature

Friday afternoon, something happened here that's never happened before. Emma and Dakota left for a little daddy and daughter time, and they didn't come back until the next afternoon. Ashlyn and I held down the fort, while Emma and Dakota spent the night holding down a tent. Dakota took Emma down to his family's farm on Friday. The weather was supposed to be ideal for being outside and camping, so they decided to take advantage of it. In the evening Emma got to try out her Barbie fishing pole for the first time. (She let Grandpa take a turn with it too.) She was very curious to know what fish felt like, so she insisted on touching each fish that was caught.


Later on, Grandpa and Lindsey helped Dakota set up the tent, where Emma spent her first night camping.


I have to pause here and say that this isn't just any old tent. This is like a family heirloom, passed down from one generation to the next. From what I understand, this is the same tent I had my first camping experience in when I was around Emma's age. And this is the tent I grew up camping in with my dad until he bought a new one and gave this to me when I was in college. I helped Dakota practice setting it up before they left, and it still smelled like all the camping trips I took with my dad when I was a kid.

Ok... moving on from memory lane...

The sun woke Emma earlier than usual in the morning, but that was fine, as there was much to do. There were walks to take...


apples and flowers to pick and little frogs to catch...



and a trampoline to jump on.


I'm sure there was more that they did, but I haven't heard all the stories yet. I know they had a great time, and they had a great weekend for being outside.

As for Ashlyn and me, we had a nice time, just the two of us. I did a little baking and had a friend over for a long awaited chick flick night. I enjoyed some rare one-on-one time with Ashlyn, but we did miss our other halves. Friday evening, Ashlyn walked around the house calling, "Sis! Sis!" I think it's cute how much my girls like each other. And Ashlyn got so excited when Emma and Dakota walked in the door this afternoon. I'm glad Emma's first camping and fishing trip was so much fun, and I'm glad they're back home again safely now.