Two Week Camping Trip

We took our first camping trip as a family of four over Memorial Day weekend. We've camped with Hannah a couple times, but this was Caleb's first venture out. So, because we were taking a one-year-old, two nights at Lake Lopez was just enough of the camping experience for now.

You may think I put a typo in the title of this post, calling it a two week trip, when in fact we only spent two nights at the campground. But no, the full camping venture was two weeks when you take into consideration the prep time, actual camping time, and clean up/pack away time.

I start prepping for a trip about a week ahead. I'm not actually packing anything yet, but my mental list is going. Starting to think about what food I need to buy. Where are the flashlights? What do I do with a crawling baby in dirt for two days? Make SURE to pack the percolator (one of our favorite parts of camping is camp coffee. It usually looks like sludge because I can never get the ratio of grounds to water right in a percolator, but it always tastes so good). Then later in the week the camping box comes out and I sort through that, adding anything it's lacking from last year. And then the actual packing of the car the day before. I didn't know if we were going to fit everything in the car, since we were bringing the dog too, but we made it! It kind of feels silly, packing an Explorer to the brim for a two night trip, but that's the thing about camping: whether you're going for one night or five, you pretty much need almost the same amount of stuff. 

All loaded up ready to go, with a sliver of rear window clear to see out the back

I think the most difficult age to take a child camping is one, which is precisely what we did. Partly because they're old enough to not be content just sitting on someone's lap or in a play pen and would rather crawl in the dirt the whole time, and because of all the extra stuff you have to bring for the smallest member of the family. 

Caleb was in his element and thoroughly enjoyed the dirt. To my surprise, he didn't eat as much of it as he does at home in the flower pots.

All in all it was a fun trip, despite the difficult nights of sleep and me getting sick right before we left. I'm happy my kids get to have this experience, of spending all day outdoors playing with friends, getting dirty, seeing nature and wild animals, playing in the lake, enjoying campfires and s'mores. 

Amy taking the girls out

Heading home and worn out

And as I'm writing this post, Hannah just walked up and said, "I really want to go camping again."