First Family Camping Trip

Long post - you've been warned.

We took our first camping trip as a family last weekend. We camped with the G&L parents group. So much to say about this...

Two little tiny people whose combined weight is only 45 pounds should NOT require SO! MUCH! STUFF! They had more clothes than we did (which, if you know Bub, is remarkable). There was an entire bag devoted to only diapers and wipes. Then, we had the big plastic tote full of toys, an entire cooler housing milk, the playpen, two extra sleeping bags, and the stroller. OH WAIT! With the foam mattresses for the old ladies, there was no room for the off-road stroller! Yikes! So, we crammed in the mall stroller which, not surprisingly, sucked on the dirt and rocks. So much stuff was crammed into the back of the truck that the dogs had to ride in the front. Liz sat between the car seats, and Gus sparwled on the front seat between the grown-ups.

Comfort is becoming an issue. Bub and I are getting too old to sleep on the ground. (OK, mostly Bub, but I wouldn't complain if we had an air mattress or a camper.) Not only were we crammed into cab of the truck with the dogs, but the AC pooped out. (Well, it probably has something to do with the "repair" of the front bumper so that the truck would pass inspection. It was bent out of shape by Bub's "interaction" with a pole at a gas pump. It was bent back into shape by my dad who, after trying everything he could imagine by hand, decided to ram it into a tree a couple of times. Well, it passed inspection....) The missing AC wouldn't really have been an issue if it hadn't been 105* on the drive down and if we hadn't been stuck in rush hour Happy Valley traffic. Side note: At the end of the weekend, we found out that Uncle Rawhide's camper is all spruced up. We could have taken it.

We were very happy to finally get there and get set up. Goddess bless the other parents who played with the boys while we unloaded everything. Here we are finally relaxing.

Nightmares. We sort of warned everybody about Peanut's nightmares, but even I wasn't prepared for him to wake screaming SIX TIMES in one night. Everyone was so sweet the next morning. We offered to move our tent further away from the group, but - again - goddess bless them all, they wouldn't have it.

Fishing - although it was good for one person of the group (21" brown at Cleveland), it stunk for us. I still don't have a license, and probably won't for a couple of years, but Bub was really disappointed with her (lack of) results. It was relaxing and beautiful, but we really like to CATCH fish. She did catch an albino trout for the first time. It was creepy! Then, she dropped it in my lap, and I screamed like a little girl.

The dirt was plentiful, and when you are learning to walk, you tend to fall a LOT.

Peanut is still having issues with wanting to eat much of anything at all. Yogurt remains a constant (thankfully), so he ate a decent amount of it. Of course, since we couldn't possibly take the high chairs, I basically spent meal times chasing him around trying to stick a spoon in his face. You can't really see the dirt here, but if you look closely enough, you can see yogurt on his eyelash.

We didn't spend a lot of time with the parent's group, though. Partly because we fished. Many of the parents just relaxed, and there were a lot of ATV rides and rafting/floating. Frankly, Bub doesn't understand this. Camping = fishing, and she couldn't get it through her head that everyone DOESN'T fish.

The other reason that we didn't spend a lot of time with the group is that we really don't know anyone that well. For Bub, this has never been an issue. She can strike up a joyful conversation with a weeping willow tree if necessary. Not me. It takes me a while to warm up to people. So, to everyone who was SOOOO very nice, thank you. We'll continue to come to the Friday park nights and the monthly get-togethers and eventually, I'll make intelligent/witty conversation with you. OK - truth be told, it may just be regular old conversation.... Thanks for letting us crash (and scream through) your party.

On a final note, the boys and I watched the finish of the 10k@10k race. I was going to run this race before I sprained my toe the weekend before. (It still hurts too much to run.) We were lucky enough to meet up with my aunt, uncle and cousin for some great conversation as the runners crossed the finish line. The winner finished in less than 36 minutes. That's less than 6 minutes/mile which isn't record breaking (but it is fast) plus, realize that more than the first two miles are completely uphill (5%-ish grade) AND that the elevation ranges from 9100' to 9700'. (Gasp!) Oh, and Mr. Freakishly Fast Runner finished five minutes ahead of the next person. Wow!