On Saturday morning, Caleb and I got up around 6:30. (Marcus and Ethan had left for home an hour earlier.) The five Pollard's were still asleep, so Caleb and I tiptoed quietly through the camp down to the bathhouse nearby. Then we went for a little walk, trying to kill time until the end of the "quiet time" (7:00 am). By the way, it is AMAZING how deathly quiet the campground is in the morning, and how quickly sound travels from tent to tent. This is why we have never camped without having to take Ethan away in the car at some point in the night or morning, because he wakes up SO early and he is SO loud.
Anyway, around 7:00, Caleb and I came back to camp and got to work building a morning fire. It was (at most) about 40 degrees outside, so we needed it. Despite the fact that I am not skilled in such areas (that's Marcus and Quenta's area), somehow the fire got going and even burned throughout the morning, much to my amazement. Caleb sat and ate a muffin while I moved to my more comfortable domain: making breakfast. I started the first of three packages of bacon. By the time Marcus and Ethan got back to camp, we'd all feasted on bacon and eggs and English muffins (I kept a big plate for him, of course).
Next on the agenda was a drive up the mountain for a hike. The hike was a lot of fun. The path was very wide, allowing all five kids to meander at their own pace without getting too far from an adult. The kids collected rocks, sticks, acorns, leaves and anything else that lay along the path. Their excitement about that stuff is infectious. They were all collecting acorns and most were sharing them liberally with each other. When we got to the end of the flat trail, Marcus and Caleb continued down a steep slope to see the waterfall while I took Ethan back with the Pollard's. The Pollard's gave a lady and her daughter a ride down the mountain to their car and I took Ethan for a drive so he could get a car nap.
We all ended back up at camp around 3:00ish, the kids marginally rested from car naps and all very ready to get another fire going. Dinner Saturday night was hot dogs for the kids and steak for us (after the kids were asleep). The great thing about camping is that side dishes are completely unnecessary: all anybody wants is the meat :) We let the kids stay up a little later the second night, and they all (except Ethan) tried their hand at roasting marshmellows. This was a bit nerve-wracking as their marshmellows frequently caught fire and one flaming marshmellow ended up far too close to Addison's hair, so we called that activity and moved on. All of the kids preferred eating the chocolate to the marshmellows anyway.
After some AWESOME steak (true Pollard-style), we talked and laughed around the campfire for a couple more hours before the guys (party-poopers) decided to turn in. Marcus tried to go to bed, but Ethan kept waking up cold, so Marcus took him home and the two of them slept in our warm bed and came back in the morning again. Quenta and I stayed up later and had some good girl time together. I do feel sorry for all of the other campers because I laughed so long and so hard that night! Sunday morning was more bacon and eggs, and several hours of breaking camp. We finally had the cars and kids loaded up around 11:00 am, and we headed home for much-needed baths and naps. Another succesful, though challenging, weekend of camping.
Despite the challenges, I truly can't wait to go again!
1 comment:
I'm so impressed that you've found a way to make camping work and I had to laugh out loud when you described your loud son and your loud (wonderful) laugh. We keep talking about going camping but we're going to have to get a different tent before we can go again since there's four of us now!
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