We just got back from our long anticipated weekend clamming trip and....we're alive. Alive and full of ocean bacteria and clam sand and lots of fun memories and, of course, pictures! We had a great time and at one point while sitting around the campfire eating smores, Bubs said, "This is the greatest camping trip ever in my whole life!!!!". A home-run for Mommy and Daddy.

 This little princess did not appreciate having her picture taken while she was trying to relax in her backseat suite.


Camp is all set up, and look! It's Mikey from "The Goonies"!

Somebody was super excited to be a hardcore camper.

Poor Bubs in a time-out in the Burban....this instance was after he shoved Claire for disagreeing with him that bald eagles are IN FACT, bald. 

Sigh.

I think camping can bring out the crazies.

But not to fear! Daddy's seasoning our delicious steaks. Thanks, Daddy!

Mommy-forced photo shoot. Aren't they good little agreeable punks?

Hmmmm....steak, potatoes and salad. That is campin life my friends.

We headed down to the beach a couple of hours before low-tide so the kids could play in the sand and hunt for sweet skippin rocks.

Claire stuck to the sand and spent forever sifting through, throwing and molding to her heart's content.

Bubs, on the other hand, zoomed his truck up and down the beach over and over again. 

A boy and his trucks....it's a beautiful thing.

And here I am, buck-tooth guffawing for Colin having caught me making sand bricks. You may think I am such a good Mama for getting down and dirty and playing with the kids....but the truth is....Preggo lady was tiiiiiiired and needed to rest on her chunky hauches. 

Well?! Camping's hard when you have to pee every 2 minutes!

Awww......precious little Alaskan punks loving the outdoors.

After our sand adventure, we needed to rejuvenate with some delicious ice cold milk...

...and SMORES!!!

Slurp, num num num.....

Oh yeah.....hhmm....mm......slurp, num num......

And our fearless leader roasting marshmallows the only way you should....with a double point whittled stick.

My man is a Mountain Man!

All tucked in and ready for bed...

Well, excuuuuuuuse me!

The morning after! We survived!! We lived to tell the tale! The tale of:

1. I slept between the kids on a queen air mattress while Colin luxuriated on the splendor of his own mattress. I am expecting my "Wife of the Year" trophy in the mail any day now.

2. At 4 am, I awoke to Claire whimpering that she was "so, so cold Mommy" so I stuffed her into my sleeping bag to warm her up.

3. I coughed all night.

4. I coughed so much that Claire put her little baby hands over her ears and gave me the side eye until she fell asleep.

5. My boys can sleep through anything.

Whew! We recovered from our rough night with Daddy's fried eggs and bacon. Yum! We definitely did not go hungry on this trip. :)

Don't take her picture before she's had her morning coffee.

We headed down for the 8:30 am low-tide and were on the hunt for clams!

Awww....my little E.T.

Bubs and Colin got right after it and shot out towards the water like a couple of rockets!

We found lots of creepy, slimy stuff on the beach, like this widdle biddy crab. Bubs thought it was "thuper awethum" but E.T. was havin none of it.

Unfortunately...I don't have any actual photos of the clamming process. A travesty! 

It's a little rough to expect a 2 yr. old to keep up with the rest of the clammin clan. So while the boys scurried off with their shovels and buckets, Claire and I jumped in puddles and searched for the tiny-and-impossible-to-find-clam divets in the sand until eventually.....one of us had a complete mental breakdown and flung ourselves on the mud and cried (I'll let you guess who), lamented that not only did their feet hurt, but that they neeeeeeeded a snack, and finally...pooped their pants. Again, I'll let you guess who. 

So after a quick stop back at camp to change into dry clothes and grab some animal crackers, we collected the boys and their catch!

Bubs would like you to see his fishy little friend:

That fish.....Lawdie, Lawdie. Is it even a fish? An eel? What the hell is it?? We had no idea but my precious baby Bubbers developed quite an attachment to that little sucker and was DEVESTATED when he had to toss him before we left our campsite. There was even mention of getting him his own fish in a fish tank, Colin and I felt so bad. 

Oh, there he is! Stud.

And here are the clams. Slimy little suckers, aren't they? 

Note Bubs' little friend clutched in his sweaty little paw.

And we're off! A sandwich and potato chip lunch on tin foil? Spoiled, I say!

We drove to Homer and saw about 8 moose and a dozen bald eagles! Beautiful. 

We stopped at a yummy fish n chips restaurant and stuffed ourselves silly.

And Daddy gave Bubs a great lesson on skipping rocks. What a good Dad. :)

I will now leave you with my artistic shot of the weekend. 

Daddy, Mommy, Bubs and Sissy.....having the best time together in the wilderness and stickin together through the good (laughing, feeeeeeeding, kissing and picture taking) and the bad (entering the 7th Circle of Hell by sleeping in a tent with 2 small children). 

That's what it's all about!

Although, I do have to say...on the way home when Colincasually mentioned that we should do 2 more big camping trips before, and I quote, "you get ridiculous-pregnant"....I considered kicking open his door and shoving him out.

Happy Camping!

Remember when I first started blogging and a post would magically appear every day, right on the dot? They would be full of such minute details as what I was making for dinner that night....complete with pictures of the sky if it was a nice day....or maybe a funny website I had come across.

Now it's all I can do to average one post every few weeks. And that is because I've been so TIRED. I mean really, really, really tired. The kind of tired where if I don't squeeze in a little cat-nap, I could fall asleep in the middle of dinner. True story.

But we finally figured out why I was passing out at 6:30 pm, and why I was waking up at 3am STARVING and why I was drinking 80 gallons of water a day and why I was extra emotional during Hallmark commercials.

And it's because we're getting another punk! Yup, another Seneca is cookin in Mama Seneca's oven and we are so excited! We found out the day before Easter. What a wonderful Spring surprise!

And the best part? Telling Mom and Dad over Skype.

I am due around Thanksgiving...just another ploy of mine to get Mom and Dad up here around a holiday. I already have Halloween and Christmas covered. :)

Now, because I have been so MIA for the past 10+ weeks, I got a lot of junk to share with ya. A lot.

Despite Mama needing naps and 10 pm feedings, I haven't been 100% neglectful in raising my punks. Before the beautiful sunshine graced Anchorage, we hunted for bugs and played outside in the cold. 

Cold, schmold. We're tough!

A little beetle crawled inside this bucket and the kids were fascinated. For 4 days straight, they ran outside after breakfast to check on him. So nice to have punks who don't need $500 toys to be entertained!

"Just a little help Sissy. Just a little help".

Just one example of a "Mommy! Look at me!" moment.

When it started pouring, we found entertainment in our new tent and tunnel downstairs!

We made a birthday video for Bob on her special day. Sissy wanted to wear her fairy wings and hold her wand and Bubs was distraught that he had no Buzz Lightyear wings to wear. So Mama made some out of a Costco box. :) He loves em!

We found some time to get a new couch! Thankfully we have Josh next door....he and his girlfriend took our old one off our hands and helped Colin move in the new one. Thanks Josh!

A couple of weeks ago we went to Sullivan Arena and saw the Harlem Globetrotters perform.

Claire was ethralled.

Maybe because of super awesome tricks like this?

Umm....no. Probably shocked that her Daddy wore these in public. AGAIN. Sigh.

We love Skype! Papa likes to read Dr. Seuss stories to the punks.

When it's sunny outside the laundry gets neglected, we only come inside to sleep, and the phone never gets answered. It is glorious. Finger painting is fun too!

I'd like to call this next series, "What happens when he's a hungry 16 yr. old? Oh crap".

Kate stopped by one day after school and brought Icees!

And Colin whipped up a delicious batch of smoked salmon.

We had playgroup over here and the little girls were happy to pose. Look at those blond bombshells!

It was such a nice day we stopped to get milkshakes and surprised Daddy at work. :)

Netflix movie night!

After a nap, Bubs was more than happy to show you what he made for his Mama at Preschool.
Precious!

We even went on a date!
I look a little too excited (I was) and Colin looks a little too tired (he was).

We played HARD at parks....

Oh. My. Lawd.

Sunshine = slip n slide!

Nice form, Bubs!

Go, Sissy Go!

Let's take a breather to strip and lay in the sunshine. It's easy to keep warm on a super slick and soapy slip n slide when your Daddy hooks up the hose to the water heater. It's the Alaskan way. :)

I love my zoom lens.

Happy Mothers Day to me!

We celebrated our special day with a beautiful canoe ride.....

...and delicious burgers at Long Branch Saloon!

When I was at my dr's appointment today, Colin came home to watch the punks and he captured this on camera: a Mama and her two little babies.

Who do they remind you of?

Well, maybe not now but talk to me in 6 months when I'm as big as a house.