Camping with two kids...

Hi ho, hi ho... a camping we will go... 


:) Well, we did it. We had a camping trip. Kind of. It counts as the first one, but I'm sure that there will be another more "official" camping trips. You see, I kind of know my kids. I know that they are young for camping, despite their confidence and desire to camp. I know they are young to really appreciate camping... to really enjoy the "wild." 


We contemplated what to do. Yatesville Lake State Park has a wonderful campground that I have really been wanting to try out... especially since Brad and I camped there a few times when we were dating in college... before the property was officially a campground. Yes, we were trespassers... who never got busted. :) Anyway... I found that there are boat-in sites to set up camp at Yatesville and I thought it would be perfect for us since we'd be boating. But, there was the catch... we had to rent for three days in order to go. Since, that didn't make much sense, we figured it really would be better to just camp on some of my parents' property. 


I thought and thought and thought... and figured that it made a lot of sense to just camp out near the woods behind my parents' house so that we could have quick access to the house if it rained (it was calling for thunderstorms) or if the kids got scared (much more likely the case) or if we needed the bathroom (we did a few times). 


And so... we, being me and Emily (Colt's girlfriend), set up the tents and the camping area. We were eaten up by mosquitoes. We covered ourselves in bug spray and long sleeves. We roasted hot dogs. We roasted marshmallows. We hung out and talked and enjoyed the evening around the fire with my parents, Colt and Emily, and the kids.


There were no photos. 

There were NO PHOTOS. I know. I suck as a parent who blogs. I should remember these things, right? 


I lived in the moment.


And, I had my hands slightly full, since Bailey decided to be completely exhausted and crawl into my lap to fall asleep (she weighs nearly 60 pounds, so this wasn't that easy). 


Around 11, we crawled into the tent. Had it not been for the thunder and lightning, I would have left the tent unzipped so that the wind could blow through the screen. But, if it rained, well, we would have ended up soaked. So, we sweltered. Our body heat plus the heat of the evening equaled a night of very uncomfortable, sweaty sleeping. At about 2 a.m., Bailey woke up. She was scared, despite her arguments that she wasn't. I heard her wake up and I watched her as she watched the shadows. I watched as she looked at her dad and scooted as close to him as possible, despite the heat. I watched her sit up and lay back down about five times. Then, she said, "Mom... I have to go to the bathroom." She was trembling. I thought it sounded like it was raining. I had been listening to the wind and it was blowing hard. I told her that it was raining and to go back to sleep, but she wanted to go in. So, I woke up Brad and told him to get Jake and we would go in, since it was raining. Well, lo and behold, we crawled out of the tent and it was just wind. There was no rain. We could have went to the bathroom and come back to the tent and they would have made it. But, we didn't. We took them on in, curled up and went to sleep. 


The end. :) 


P.S. Bailey says she doesn't care if we go camping again. I'm so glad we didn't pay to go some place. I'm so glad we were close to my mom's. I think we'd be able to get them to go again and they would be fine... especially now that they know what to expect (and we know what to expect from them). :) Repeat... soon? We'll see.