Impromptu Camping Trip

On Friday at 2 p.m. I got a text from Brad that said, "Let's go camping." I was headed out to the grocery store at the moment, grabbed a few extra things, and we were in the car and driving by 5. Yes, we forgot a few semi-crucial things, but we got the important stuff, and no one starved.

It was already dark when we arrived at a campsite, which turned out to actually maybe be a good thing, because the kids wouldn't roam out of the light of our lanterns, and stayed close to us as we set up the tent. They carried two cute little inflatable solar powered lanterns that gave off a surprising amount of light, and made them feel like they were pretty big stuff.

Tommy woke up (obviously well before six a.m.) with a huge grin on his face. He was so thrilled to be in a tent that he could not contain his joy. He body slammed the still-sleeping Amelia and gave her a big kiss. All Brad and I could see from the other side was a chubby hand reaching around Tommy and patting his back in return. 

Tommy and Amelia had a great time just playing around the campsite the next morning. Amelia pretended that she was the Princess in Black (inspired by her favorite book series) and she was fighting in the land of monsters to protect the goats. Tommy repeatedly dipped his bagel in the dirt and ate it.  ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

After we packed up the tent we drove around looking for someplace to hike for awhile. The options were a little limited because of a local wildfire, so eventually we just stopped at a dirt road in the woods and called it a trail. Of course then Amelia had to go potty, so Brad helped her go in the woods for the first time. She thought it was pretty great. She kept saying, "I'm helping the trees grow with my pee!" and "I'm pooping on a tree just like Duke!" (Duke is our neighbor's dog.) It took forever because it was just a little too exciting.

After that Amelia decided that she was too tired to hike and wanted to be carried. Tommy however is now too big for our infant carrier and needed to use her hiking carrier. I ran to the car, found a toy dinosaur, and hid it farther up the trail. She found it, and then Brad went to hide it, and then she and I hid it, and on and on. We had a decent little hike and I only had to give her a piggy back ride for half of the way back.

Then we went home, grilled our hot dogs, gave them baths in water that quickly looked like mud, and cleaned the house for Sunday. We were gone for about 24 hours, yet I think it was worth all the work of camping. The kids in our house (Brad and I included) just need some outside time every now and then.

Found a horned toad before we left. Amelia said "I want it in my hand," so Brad caught it and then she did. not. want. it. in. her. hand. Though she has enjoyed telling everyone about the horned forg.