Fall Campout

So last weekend we pulled off camping trip #3 for 2009. True to form, the weather was not ideal, but we still had a great time. The two weekends that we camped in the spring, it rained profusely, so we were very excited to have a dry forecast for this weekend. What we had NOT counted on was temperatures in the 30's in the middle of October.

We set up camp on Friday morning and didn't see the sun until Sunday morning. Temperatures ranged from 35 to 59 degrees over the weekend, but at least it didn't rain. In spite of the cold, both we and the kids had a lot of fun. The five kids (3-year-old triplets and our 2 boys) played chase around the campsite, kicked soccer balls down the hill to goalie "Mr. Marcus", and went on little guided nature walks around the campground. We decided to limit Ethan's nap so that both boys would be ready to go to bed early (shortly after sundown, was the plan). So, after a short car nap, we spent the afternoon going over to the Oak Mountain Petting Zoo, just a few minutes from the campsite. After that, we headed back to camp to start a fire. Even with dry firewood and plenty of lighter fluid, the wind gave us a run for our money and it took a while to get a fire going. This was the low point of the weekend, and we even considered packing up and going home. Camping in the cold with five preschoolers goes from challenging to unbearable when you take a campfire out of the equation. Anyway, Quenta and Marcus finally got a good fire going, and the fun continued. I had made chili ahead of time, and we heated it up on the gas camping stove. So dinner was the nine of us sitting around a picnic table, chowing down on chili, cheese and crackers. (The kids mostly ate the cheese and crackers.)

After dinner, it was so cold that baths were out of the question, so we just tucked our boys in their 20-degree REI sleeping bags and kissed them goodnight. (Oh, if only it had been that simple!) Unfortunately, Ethan had no interest in staying inside his sleeping bag, so he and Daddy went head-to-head for the next 45 minutes or so, until Ethan finally conked out on Daddy's chest. During the battle between Marcus and Ethan, Marcus sent Caleb back to the campfire with me (since NO ONE could fall asleep while Ethan wailed and protested). Finally, Ethan was down, and we put Caleb back to bed. It was still only about 8:00 pm, so we had a good three hours (or more) for the four of us to hang out around the campfire. We talked and roasted marshmellows and talked some more, until the cold (and diminishing stack of firewood) finally drove us into our tents. All the kids slept through most of the first night, though Ethan woke up for the day at 5:30 am, and Marcus had to take him home to keep him from waking up the whole campsite.

I'm going to sign off here and finish the weekend's play-by-play as well as post some pictures later this week.