Dumont Dunes New Years 2009

Well, we finally got back from our New Years trip last night and I am happy to be home. Our family has a tradition to go to Dumont Dunes for the New Year celebration. We have our great camping group that we go with each year and we always have a great time. We watch the ball in Time Square drop (on Eastern time-- some in our group are early to bed types-- not us)on a large projection TV and we have a huge celebration around the camp fire. Another tradition is that anyone in our group that has a real Christmas Tree brings it camping. We plant them in the sand around camp and then move them outside of our camp on New Years Eve and once it turns midnight (or 9pm in our case) we set them on fire. It is an odd tradition but it is a lot of fun and the kids just love it!!!

Here you can see our Christmas Tree field in the middle of camp. We decorate the trees with cans and anything we can find. Mia loved putting cans on the tree and Owen found anything he could to stand on to be able to reach the tops of the trees. Susan and Ethan also enjoyed decorating!

Yes my daughter has a bit of an addiction to holding a soda in her hands. Really, she does not drink much but when we are camping and cans of soda are everywhere, she grabs them constantly and tries to drink what is left. I thought she looked cute in this picture.

Mia had a wonderful trip. She literally just played with the girls in our group all day. I hardly saw her! One of the competitions was to dig a hole deep enough that Mia could go in it. The boys were against the girls-- not sure who won but I thought it was funny (don't worry both Kevin and I were right there when they put her in the hole).



New Years Eve was a lot of fun!! The kids had poppers and sparklers and every other fun firework type things. The celebration continues for quite some time after the ball drops.

The trees on fire. It was so cool this year. They made a trail of gas from our camp way over to the trees and one by one the trees lit up. It was quite a spectacle!

Another thing we always do while camping is to paint ball. The boys just love it and all the families have all the guns and gear (we don't yet but maybe birthdays) so they play huge games with tons of adults and kids.

Ethan and Owen just had a blast-- but it stings really bad when you get hit. Susan and I decided we would play one game and we were the only girls who would. It was a ton of fun but I got hit in the leg and it stung and left a huge bruise. I think next time I did it again I would wear more padding. I was just wearing thin sweats so it was not much protection-- but it was soooooo much fun!!!

The area we paintball in is a large valley with tall sides so we can stand on the sides and see all the action with a birds eye view. It is really cool to watch the tactics the really good players use.

Overall, Dumont was a blast. The weather was absolutely perfect-- mid 70's and sunny no wind at all-- and it was a fun group.

Today Mia and I went to our friend Kailee's birthday party and a bunch of us moms decided to continue the birthday tomorrow at Disneyland. So, I think we are up to about 5 adoptive moms and their little ones will be heading to Disney in the morning. We will stay maybe 3 to 4 hours and then head home so I can be home when the boys are out of school. Totally looking forward to the trip as there are a few moms I have never met and am totally looking forward to meeting them and their little ones. I will post pictures soon.

So, we are back to regular life again after our 2 weeks off-- boohooo :( I always hate when the kids go back to school but am kind of craving normalcy again. I miss my friends that I have not seen in weeks (miss you Lai) since we have been doing the holiday thing. Luckily Lai and I already have a lunch date Tuesday so I will get my fix soon!!

I will post Kailee's birthday pics and the Disney pics soon!! Have a great week!!!