Gavin Michael Curt

It was a great weekend. Mom & Dad had some alone time when Alea watched the boys Saturday night. We played with Mack & Owen at the park on Sunday. Then we went out to Folsom Lake on the boat. My how quickly the water temp drops. A month ago it was over 80 but yesterday it was barely 70. Gavin was dying to swim but as soon as he got in, he screamed to get out because unlike his warm blooded brother, he gets cold fast. In fact, his lips started turning blue immediately so we got him out quickly. He loves just being bundled up in a towel and laying on the boat so it was a really relaxing afternoon for everyone. After that, we visited Papa Curt where he gave the boys a TMX Elmo surprise present which they were so thrilled with. After all the excitement, we were starving so went to the Chili's in Natomas. There was a 20 minute wait but they had a huge fountain and benches out front so we didn't mind. This fountain was obviously a kid magnet. First Gavin lay over the edge on his tummy to stick his hands in. But when another mommy chastised her kid playing next to Gavin for doing the same thing, we felt compelled to tell Gavin not to do it either. Then Tyler decided to run around the fountain's ledge like walking on a balance beam. Suddenly, about 10 kids are up on the ledge all going around and around the fountain. Gavin tried going the wrong way and almost fell in. This ledge was a good 15" wide or so but the longer we watched, the closer to the edge Gavin's feet were getting. So we threw out the usual reminders to be careful and go slowly. Suddenly, splash, bam Shawn was up & running so I turned to see Gavin on his bottom, feet up in the air, trying to lift his head out of the water screaming and hollering. Yep our little Gavin fell in the fountain at Chili's. We'll never let him forget that. Lucky for all of us, he was wearing his swimsuit and rash guard shirt from being on the boat earlier. Even luckier, we had a change of clothes in the car. All the other parents were so sweet, snickering and telling us they wished we could have gotten a picture of that it was so funny. Thanks. We proudly strutted back not 5 minutes later, changed head to toe and dried off (thankfully we also had beach towels to dry off) so ha! I wonder how he'll be the next time he gets near a fountain.

Gavin really hearts dirt. He digs, pours, plays, lays, sifts and yes, even eats it. On day two of our four day camping trip, I freaked out about how filthy dirty everything and mostly everybody was. Dirt under our fingernails, all over the kids' faces, on our clothes, beds, food, coolers, table, yech I couldn't get away from it. Gavin would trip over a rock, fall on the dirt, cry, wipe his tears with his dirty hands, and get up to do it all over again, only dirtier this time. It was a really vicious cycle we were stuck in. I mean, when you're living outside in dirt, is there a good time to take a shower and be clean for even just five minutes? I pondered this question the entire time. The only answer I could come up with was to shower twice a day and swim the rest of the time. That's not what we did though. Showers were $.50 for 5 minutes and you better believe I hoarded as many of the quarters as I could. Daddy washed Gavin off in the sink every night. He literally was standing in the sink (thank goodness the campground wasn't so cheap that they made you pay for hot sink water) as Daddy wiped him down. Those Johnson & Johnson wash wipes with the built in soap worked wonders.

We got home from camping and it was scorching hot. So I took the boys to the pool so Shawn could get some rest or unpack, whichever he desired (ahh hmmm). As we slithered our filthy bodies into the pool (well, I did use a baby wipe to wipe the dirt of their hands and faces as best as I could), I pictured this ring of slime surrounding us and everyone staring at us wondering how exactly we were related to Pig Pen. It didn't happen quite like that. It really felt good to be in a pool of water that was warmer than the 65 degree lake we were in. I looked over at Gavin and noticed some black stuff coming out of his nose along with the standard clear snot kids get when swimming. As I wiped frantically, more and more dirt poured out of his nose. It was really gross but he couldn't have cared less. Camping was fun and I look forward to more trips as the boys grow up. If anyone knows of a dirt-free campground, I'd really appreciate the tip.