Camping

First of all, I'm so sorry to those of you who frequently check this blog...we have just been so busy that posting keeps getting put off. Then I feel like so many things have happened and there is just no way I can catch up, but I guess I should just start somewhere :) Three weekends ago, we took the boys camping for the first time. It was a blast...even more fun than I thought it would be. It was actually a group camp-out that we planned for our church small group, and so five families (complete with nine children age 4 and under) camped together on adjacent campsites. We got there at 9 am on Friday to "claim" our camp sites (which is the way they require everyone to do it at Oak Mountain State Park). We got to the sites, set up our tents and unloaded the car while the kids played. Marcus was at work, so it was just me, the kids and our good friends Al & Quenta (who have 2-year-old triplets). With three adults, five kids, and four tents to set up...the first few hours were a little stressful :) Around noon, we all headed back to our houses so the kids could nap and we could get our second load of stuff (food and some things we forgot the first time).

Me and the kids made it back to the campsite around 4:30. Marcus and the other families trickled in over the next few hours. The kids had so much fun being outside, running around, kicking soccer balls, etc. that the usual conflict was minimal. The weather was perfect...not too warm or too cool. We all sat around in our camping chairs and chatted for hours while the kids played. The only thing we wished we had was some of that orange construction fencing so that we could wrap it around the big area that encompassed our four campsites to confine the kids, rather than yelling "Too far, -----!" every few minutes. Bed time the first night went much more smoothly than we'd anticipated, though Caleb had a hard time falling asleep and Ethan cried for about 20 minutes in the Pack-N-Play before he was out. Caleb just laid there in perfect silence (under threat of punishment if he woke Ethan up) looking out of the mesh tent roof for 30 or 40 minutes before he finally fell asleep. I'm sure it was hard for him to drift off when he could hear us adults talking around the campfire just 30-40 feet from where he lay.

I think the group dynamic was a very positive part of the trip because all five families are such good friends. We have similar parenting styles and are all comfortable with each other correcting any of the kids as needed, so we don't feel like we have to be "on guard" all the time, lest our child do something inappropriate without us noticing. If Caleb acts out and anyone sees it, I know it will be handled immediately by that person (or referred to Marcus or I if needed). Ethan was the only mobile child who wasn't old enough to follow instructions, and everyone helped out with watching him and keeping him safe. It was also nice to be in a group because we did very little to entertain the kids while at the campsite...they amused each other very nicely.

In between hanging out at the campsite, we went on nature walks, to the camp play ground, down to the little camp "beach" and also to the Wildlife Expo that was going on that weekend. We were very blessed to have my friend Quenta (mother of the triplets), who happened to be a Wildlife Biology major in college, and she was a wealth of information for us and the kids. The last night, we ended up breaking camp and loading up the cars just before dark because of a tornado warning and hail thunderstorms predicted for that night. We were disappointed that we didn't get to do our singing/communion camp church on Sunday morning, but we're optimistic about doing the weekend again in the fall. Sorry for not posting pictures...I actually completely forgot to take any the whole weekend! The one group picture here is missing one family who had to leave Saturday afternoon, as well as Ethan, who was taking a nap. The triplet's Daddy got some good pictures of everyone and is going to give them to me soon, at which point I will try to remember to post them :)