Camping Round 1

August 09, 2016

Camping Round 1

This past weekend we took a long weekend and went camping at one of my family's favorite state parks. Tent camping with a 17 month old, and being 35 week pregnant at a super busy campground. You know it was an adventure! Haha

Last summer we camped when Charlie was 6 months old. So we were limited on how much we could be in the sun and spent a lot of time taking turns walking him around in his stroller.

This year Charlie is a total beach bum and is made for camp life. Minus his obsession with helping with the campfire and ax.

We spent most afternoons on the beach while Charlie played in the waves, and in the sand. Mama worked on her tan that has been woefully lacking this summer and poor China Man just tolerated the beach. To say that my husband is not a beach bum is an understatement. He is a super great sport about tolerating the beach for Charlie and I. Maybe he will get lucky and the second one will dislike the beach with him.

I have to admit though, night time in a campsite is not my favorite! Charlie goes to sleep usually between 5:30-6pm. That is early to begin with, but completely unrealistic at a campground. So the combination of minimal naps, late nights and lots of sunshine did make for some interesting moments. Then you spend the whole night just praying nothing wakes him up so you aren't the site with the screaming child. The first night we ended up driving home ( the campground is actually really close to our new house) because I was having so much false labor and Charlie just couldn't fall asleep. The 2nd night we did actually manage to stay over, which was a bit of a family success. Minus the fact that we still ended up driving home for morning naps. Haha! Overall I would still say it was a successful and fun weekend. We actually still have the site through next weekend so Charlie and I plan to go back up and spend the afternoons up there and China Man will take another long weekend to spend up there.

I absolutely love this lake and spending time at it. I have been coming here my whole life and sometimes it actually does seem surreal that I am now bringing my children to the lake. My favorite memories are the early mornings on the beach when it is super quiet and calm. I actually think in general that is my favorite time of day while camping in general. I love the quiet morning at a campsite, especially when it involves a hot cup of coffee in my hand.