DMB 2010

This weekend we went to the Dave Matthews Band concert at the Gorge. Ooooh it was fun, as always. This is our 3rd year taking the kids and they are so good, which makes it easy. What also makes it easy is when you go and camp with 4 people who take really good care of your kids and who you know will run after Alice if she's headed for the street or who will let the big kids sleep with them in their tents. Our 4 people were Josh (my older brother), Liisa (his wife), Patrick (my younger brother) and Whitney (his girlfriend).

It was super windy. Good thing we had this:

Oops....sorry ground tent:

Danny's the best camper. He brings 10,000 supplies, sets everything up and never complains about anything. He's pretty much like that all the time.

Ooohhhhhh Uncle Pat

Alice spent a lot of time carting things around. She thought she was very big and grown up, which she totally is.

Maria said, "Isn't this so wonderful?" Yes, it was so wonderful.

Alice was pretty content the whole time...

....maybe it had something to do with her big sister hand feeding her chocolate chip cookie bites for breakfast.

This little bottom sticking out of the tent is Jamie.

Dan has a pretty cool cooking station set-up, so we cooked:

We had bacon, sausage, hashbrowns, eggs, biscuits and gravy.

Jamie and Maria have their uncles wrapped around their fingers. They ask, "Will you play with me? Will you read this to me? Will you come here? Will you take me to the moon and back?" Their response? "Sure."

The kids found yellow rope in Danny's truck and decided to play Deep Sea Explorers. Jamie would lower Maria into the ocean and count as she explored. But DANGER!: there were scary sea creatures! Jamie had to quickly reel her into safety.

This boy had fun.

He had his fair share of Little Bites.

And he spent a lot of time talking and explaining and asking questions. He's a smart little bug so it's fun to listen to him. And lots of times, he will correct us or explain something to us that we didn't know. It looks like maybe Whitney was getting a lesson...

This little peanut had the time of her life. She had the run of the campsite. She just ran around and if she was headed towards the street or out of our sight, a random (but not so random...usually Pat, Liisa, Josh or Whitney) set of hands would redirect her and she'd go about her business.

Maria always has fun.

She ate corn on the cob,

and fashion doesn't ever stop. Not even for camping.

She ate chocolate chip cookies for breakfast and

was the cutest girl sporting a fanny pack you'll ever see.

I guess Liisa found a few minutes to relax, which is surprising considering she played with the kids and kept them occupied most of the time! Those spoiled, spoiled kids. Oh, it also looks like this was right after Maria styled her hair. Would you believe me if I told you the only tools available to Maria were a comb and hair spray? No? Well believe it. That's magic...

We like to throw things in the fire. Like corn cobs.

Ahhhh, we had a blast. The kids were so good at the concert. Maria and Jamie recognize lots of Dave songs from the car, so it's fun to listen to them get excited when they hear one they know. Maria kept yelling, "Dave Matthews ROCKS!" She said, "Mom, I wanna go down there (in the pit). I wanna see Dave's face and maybe he'd hear me yell at him."

A perfect end to a great summer.