Family Camping Trip

We took our first family camping trip this weekend. 

All I can say is that was Ahhh-mazing!

Well that’s not all I can say. I could tell you about how Evan let Reuben chew on a stick, how I asked Evan if there was any need to lock the tent, or how I almost wet my pants because I didn't want to get up at night and fight off all the wild animals to make it to the bathroom, but really, who wants to hear those kind of stories!

It definitely wasn’t a perfect trip, but then again the best ones rarely are. Lucky for us, Evan’s parents and little brother, who happen to be professional campers, were able to accompany us on our trip. Seriously, I don’t know why they even bother with a house. These people know how to camp! We walked trails, grilled steaks, roasted marshmellows, and even played a rousing game of Yatzee. We had a lot of fun just spending some quality time with our family away from everything in the great outdoors.

Well, not that far away. We ended up camping at Logoly State Park which happens to be only 10 mins or so from our house. This turned out to be quite a good thing since we had to make three trips back into town over the course of a day and a half. The first two times Evan and I had to go get things we forgot, and the third time somebody had to go get breakfast. Yeah, I know. Camping doesn’t look so bad now does it?

I’d never been camping before this weekend, and I kind of expected it to be terrible. I don’t like bugs; I don’t like being uncomfortable; and I was pretty sure that disqualified me from camping.  However, surprisingly enough, tents are bug proof, that is if you keep the tent door zipped.  Rule #1 of camping: always keep the tent door zipped up tight.  Our tent was quite roomy and with a few decorative touches it was home sweet home. During the afternoon, my husband took the rain cover off allowing Rooster and I to lay around looking at the trees, enjoying the sunshine, feeling the breeze, in a completely bug free zone. I had such a wonderful time relaxing with my little boy.

I did not, however, enjoy the fact that it dropped below freezing on the night we decided to pitch a tent far away from anything electrical and warm! Okay, not below freezing. It was in the 50’s, but compared to my bedroom which happens to stay right about 75 at night it was cold! One the bright side, it was fun to lay in bed and pretend we had pitched our tent on the side of Mt. Everest after having hiked through the bitter wide and snow and reach the summit. It made me feel very much like a true adventurer!

Sweet Baby all ready to snuggle up!

The cold weather wouldn't have been so bad except that I still have to get up 3-4 times at night to nurse Rooster, meaning we both spent half the night shivering and crying (well, he was crying, I made it okay). I also had to get up to go to the bathroom. I first felt the need to pee around 2 am, but I figured if I stayed horizontal in bed I could make it until morning. I was wrong. About 5:45 am I decided that I desperately had to pee, so I got up, put my shoes and jacket on, grabbed a flashlight, and braved the vast dark wilderness.  In reality, I only had to go 25 feet or so to the “potty tent”, but it felt a lot like one of those horror movies where the people go into the woods with a camera and a flashlight and get murdered, just minus the camera. (Oh if you are wondering what a potty tent is, it’s a tent with a small portable toilet that you use when you are too scared to walk all the way up to the bath house in the dark.) Let’s just say I peed oh-so-quickly and would have run back to the tent, but I was more scared of falling and being attacked by bugs than I was of being eaten by wild animals. Needless to next time we go camping, I'll make a point to not drink anything for a few hours before bedtime. Empty bladders make for happy campers. 

Overall, I would say that camping was quite fun, and I'm really looking forward to going back sometime soon. I love being outdoors (minus the bugs of course), and I love spending time with my family even more! Let's just call this one very successful adventure. 

Yummy camping carrots!

Rooster jumping on a tree stump.
That boy knows how to have a good time!

I love camping!