x-family camping | you had me at canoe.

On Saturday of our camping extravaganza, we spent the afternoon playing on the playground, exploring Oconee State Park, eating ice cream and all the other junk food we brought to binge on (nope, I'm not even a little ashamed), feeding geese, and going canoeing on the small lake that was within walking distance from our campsite. Our big, strong men rowed against the wind to make sure we saw the whole lake while us mamas wrangled our little, strong-willed boys, trying to keep them from going head-first in the water.

Maddox was happy as could be the whole time, but it took Braxton a little while to warm up to the idea of floating on water with daddy in sight but too far away to get to. He bumped his head several times while frantically trying to escape my grasp and get to Teesh, and I'm pretty sure that everyone around heard him screaming. Yep, he was all about his daddy that afternoon. Mama was chopped liver!

He calmed down as soon as he got where he wanted to go, and TJ became responsible for rowing and wrangling while I went back and forth between taking pictures and pouting (yes, this is a public confession). The good news is that I was able to snag some precious photos of my two handsome fellas.

Maddox and Braxton were so sweet with each other, giving high fives from their own canoes and feeding off of each other's excitement while we enjoyed the sunshine. Stephanie and I would look at each other as they splashed and played and learned to share (whew), and we both know what the other was thinking: So. Much. Thankfulness. And not just thankfulness for our little loves, but for our first loves, too.

The sun above us wasn't the only thing giving off light this day. I wouldn't even trade the screams, cries, and temper tantrums, because then I would be trading away what life often looks like.

I want to remember the good, the bad, and the ugly, because all of it is part of our story.

And, all in all, this was one of the best days in this new chapter of parenthood.