Sunday, July 20, 2008

Reflections on camping with children

At least while you are camping no one expects you to have clean pants (which I never, ever have). The Dorito/chocolate/licorice fingerprints on my pants (I never feed my children these things, but somehow they find their way onto my pants) fit right in with everyone else's dirt and fish guts.
This weekend we loaded up our very small, cramped car (which gets excellent gas mileage), and headed up to Mirror Lake for the Chambers family reunion.
Some memories from the trip:
Kenzie-Survived a trip without the DVD player (Her parents survived too.); Still didn't get to "put her whole body in" because the lake was freezing and her parents were being wimpy; Slept in a sleeping bag, but only for a minute (Somehow she managed to get completely out of it and slept only in a coarse blanket that we had put under her sleeping bag in place of an air mattress); Is convinced that toilets that don't flush are the latest and greatest rage in toilet fashion; Made lots of friends with Mike's cousins, old and young; Loved listening to fantastic stories told by Grandpa; made jewelry with her new friends; found the fairy tree, and her favorite part: "I was climbing up some rocks. Look I have mosquito bites."

Hannah- Impressed us all with her talking skills while she stayed up all night talking to herself. Was absolutely positively in heaven because the Lippert's brought their dog, so she could follow it around and say, "oof! oof!" Told me the fire was "Hot. Hot," but tried to grab it anyway.;Spent some quality time sleeping in an impossible position on Laurie's back. (Thanks Laurie and Stacie for taking her on a walk)









Mike- Packed the car so well that the makers of Tetris should be contacting him soon about inventing a new game. Joined me in the "Gosh, maybe I never was a patient person" club; Had a great time digging up large rocks to make room for our extra large tent; Said, "This is the best meal I've ever eaten" and "I've never been so full in my life" after every awesome meal.










Stephanie--Only swore once (and it wasn't even a real swear word: 'pissed', as in "That really pissed me off," uttered when Mike sprayed her with water in the car on the way home and it dripped into her bra and down her back). Let Hannah fall asleep in her sleeping bag and thought it was really sweet, even after she screamed for a few minutes and woke up the whole camp; Decided camping really isn't that fun; Decided she would do it again anyway.


It was a really well-planned and fun reunion. Thanks Lori and Brad Reeves for planning everything.













Some Moose we saw as we were leaving















Listening to Grandpa's stories around the campfire.















Stacie and Laurie

7 comments:

Em Russ said...

we just took our kids camping for the first time over the 4th of July. It was crazy but I brought along TWO pack & plays. Worked like a charm in the tent there! It's fun to see those cute Chambers girls all grown up too. I remember when Stacie was just tiny... and I think I probably need to join the "maybe I never was a patient person" club too!

Hollyween said...

Your reunion shirts are almost as cute as ours.

Sounds like Hannah is a true camper just for the mere fact that she doesn't mind the crappy (and I mean that literally) toilets.

Way to go, woman. Camping is so much fun!!

Unknown said...

Sounds like a MUCH better experience than our recent camping trip with kids. Though you didn't have a baby's explosive diarrhea to deal with. :-)

Sherrie said...

I'm not sure where the cutoff is, I think it's after they're fully potty trained, but camping is actually fun with older children.

On our last trip, even with my broken toe, (who's only purpose is to balance the entire body, by the way) the absolute highlight was going on a 3 hour hike with just my boys (6 and 8).

The girls on the other hand were just terrible, dirty, wet, stinky, poopy, curious, and ornery the whole time (2 1/2 and 9 months).

Keep going, and check my blog towards the middle of August for our report on a week in Yellowstone, it's sure to be an adventure.

Natalie said...

We're leaving today for a camping adventure of our own. I've never done the camping thing with a 3-month-old. Wish us luck!
I love reading your posts Ü You are such a fun writer!!

Amateur Steph said...

I'm glad I'm not the only crazy parent who takes their kids camping and hopes it will be fun! Thanks for your comments everybody.

Heidi said...

I always love seeing pictures of the 'Chambers clan'. I can also totally hear Mike talking about how he has never been so full in his whole life!! Did he even play 'fat dog'. We sometimes do that in memory of him!! We sure love you guys!!