Camping with Kids

We did it again…we took the kids camping.  We knew that we needed to do it now while the weather was still cool and before I get too pregnant and don’t want to sleep on the ground.  Over all it all went great.  We did have a couple snafoos but the biggest thing was all my problem.  I’ll get to that at the end..so stick around.

We took our kids (now 2 and 4 years old) camping in the Fall and they did really well except for the going to bed part.  This time around we prepared ourselves mentally to just deal with the kids going to bed way later than we’d like so that it wouldn’t stress us out.  We also ran those kids like crazy to wear them out.  We went on a Thursday evening which worked great because we were the only ones staying there that night at the little private campground except for some people in an RV that didn’t come until it was bed time.

We spent the evening walking around, playing t-ball, letting the kids wander as long as we could see them (since we were the only ones there), playing with glow sticks, and an epic light saber battle.

Last time we were in the drought so we couldn’t have a campfire but this time we got to roast hot dogs and marshmallows over one.  So much more fun that way!  We also made pancakes and bacon in the morning for breakfast.

After exploring the area in the morning we packed up and went home.  Ken had to work and I think we were back by 9:30.  It was perfect though because  the kids were a bit grumpy from lack of sleep and at this point we re just trying to let them have the “camping” experience.

 Could we get any more redneck here?  We couldn’t keep shoes on the kids the whole time.  Her shirt was drying by the fire since she had gotten drenched under the faucet.  Her face is covered in smores.  But boy is it good to be a kid!

At dusk a deer showed up.  It had a tag in its ear and was obviously used to being around people as you’ll see in the next picture.  I was a bit nervous about it all but thankfully the deer didn’t accidently bite them when they fed it graham crackers later.

This is what an epic light saber battle looks like in case you were wondering.

Ok, so now for the “fun” part.  I had been feeling great and apparently very hungry because I had two hot dogs and later two smores along with whatever fruit and chips we had with dinner.  Hours later when it was time to go in the tent around 9 pm we laid down to watch a little veggie tales movie to let the kids relax and I started feeling really awful.  It seemed to come out of nowhere.  I laid there very still the whole time just waiting for it to end…but it never did so after the movie was over I finally decided to try and walk outside to see if that would help.  Of course by this time it was completely dark so I could barely see anything.  I tried to find the zipper to get out but it was too late…I grabbed the nearest thing in front of me which was Josiah’s shirt from the day.  I used it to catch most of what I threw up but it got all in my hair and in my lap too.  Uggh, so gross, and now you get to be grossed out too!  Of course, did the kids get freak out…uh, no!  they were playing what Josiah later told me was called “push over”, a game where they were screaming and laughing while running back and forth in the tent and hitting the walls.  I started crying just because I was so mad that I had actually just thrown up in the small space that were supposed to sleep in that night.  Thankfully it was pretty contained and the floor of the tent is made of tarp material so it was easy to clean up.  Ken was so nice to wash the stuff that got messed up and I used a million wet wipes to clean up as well.

The kids were unphased and finally fell asleep after 10 pm.  Even though Audrey didn’t fall asleep until 10:48 it was huge because this was the first time she has fallen asleep on her own (without the help of the car) outside of her crib since she was an infant.  So, hopefully it’ll get easier and easier each time.  It better because in a few months these two will be sharing a room and will have to do this every night.  They totally feed off of each other which is what keeps them awake.  It can be really cute but is also frustrating since they are both obviously tired and you know they will be the next day as well.

So, even with those little issues we still had a great time and look forward to doing it again.  It was so sweet laying beside little Audrey as she slept.  In between her rolling around and slapping me in the face she would reach for my hand and hold it.  I am definitely glad I don’t sleep next to her every night but it was a good memory.