camping 101

Can you believe it? I’m living still! I do still smell campfire in my hair after 5 washings and I had to wash some loads twice to get the smell and grime out of some clothes, but we had a great time. It was challenging with children so before I go into the miseries of the camping trip, let it stand that we did, in fact, have a good time. I was disappointed when I got there and my battery was dead in my camera and all my other extras were left at home.

We got to South Beach on Friday later than we anticipated, around 4:30pm. We had perfect campsites – right beside the campground’s playground complete with 2 play sets, a rock climbing wall, 2 sandpits (with a bulldozer built-in) and multiple slides. Maysen (and wishful Griffin) was in hog-heaven! The downside to such good sites is that the wind along the coast (which blows a constant 20mph!) was not blocked by anything, so we were sitting ducks for the wind. Plates blew over at every meal, cups were gone, and the gusts sent a chilly and bitter streak through our bodies. It felt impossible to warm up with the gusts hitting us. We got our tents set up and upon unloading discovered that we had forgotten Griffin’s blankets. We gave him 2 of ours, which left us with nothing but our down comforter (harsh, I know). Before dinner Maysen fell out of a tree playing "Sandy Buckets" (whatever the heck that means). I had given him a warning not to climb it one more time but the older boys were and apparently the temptation wasn't worth the consequence. Luckily he didn't break an arm or collar bone but he did do a number on his back with deep scrapes. The boys had a hard time going to sleep but that was to be expected but nothing prepared us for the frigid night ahead. The wind didn’t stop and our tent has an open top. It’s screened but open. By 2:00am and no sleep, I climbed into the van to warm up a bit. I’d start it, turn it off, start it, turn it off. All in all I got just a smidge over 2 hrs of sleep that night.

6:00am rolls around (there were no roosters to welcome the day light, only crows … who pecked into any and everything) and guess who wakes up? One son, then the other. So we were up with the sun. I don’t think they’ve ever gotten up at 6:00am. With no firewood, we all got out of the tent and stood there, frozen still. We decided to go get coffee (excuse to warm up!) and not kidding – I was so exhausted I made Nate to check the vacancy of the local hotel nearby. He was mortified so after a couple of sips of coffee I changed my tune and sucked it up.

We got back to camp and after a warm shower and some breakfast we headed to the beach. We had to hike over the Swiss Alps of loose sand (burning thighs) but it was gorgeous! Of course we had the wind, but the sun was out and blue skies all around.

We had lunch and Jessica and I decided to go get some things much needed for a good nights sleep … blankets and a space heater! Once we got back, it was evident that Nate hadn’t heard Griffin screaming his lungs out in the tent. He was trying to catch his breath, beet red face, swollen eyes and he was so upset that it took him the next 2hrs to calm down. I think over-exhaustion played a part there because it was late even for normal nap, let alone being up so early.

We had a great night that night. We made spaghetti and the wind seemed to calm down at least for dinner. We had Josh’s birthday cake and presents, the kids played bubbles and silly string, and although we had a rough time getting Fin to sleep and then Maysen to sleep we stayed up and talked around the camp fire and that was fun. We slept better that night and stayed warm.

Having an 18mo old baby while camping is exhausting. It’s like having a puppy off a leash for the whole 2 days. Nate would be watching then I would and you just can’t relax. Mix exhaustion and wind into the equation. Plus Maysen had been up bawling the night before saying he wanted to go home and he missed home. Well, we got up Sunday and both agreed it was time to go home. Nate really wanted to have an extra day to mow, I had tons of laundry to do and it was just time to go. Nate is Mr Back Packer and even he was saying “I’m done”. We had a wonderful picnic lunch at Devil's Punchbowl (above) before heading out. There were 4 grey squirrels that came out to catch our hand outs which the kids loved. Griffin kept saying, “Cattttt”. Funny.

We got in the van and Griffin was totally out asleep. Nate slept while I drove over the mountains. We hit the freeway and I slept and when we rolled into town the whole van was asleep (except Nate … driver!). We all got home and showered with fresh clothes and sat outside in our non-windy backyard. We grilled and just relaxed. Much needed. The boys slept wonderfully that night and we agreed we couldn’t wait to do it again. It’s effort and challenging at times but well worth it. Fresh air, camp fire, great company .. it all boils out to a great time. Thanks Josh and Jessica for putting up with us and we honestly can’t wait to do it again!! We hope you’ll have us again!