This is to my Father's glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves
to be my disciples. John 15:8

The camping bug has bit (literally and figuratively)

>> Monday, July 16, 2007

Growing up, we did A LOT of camping. There were summers that we would go nearly every weekend for short trips, and a once or twice for week long trips. We had a boat and would camp as close to the lake as possible, spending our days water-skiing and tubing, and our evenings eating s'mores and playing games. I have many fond memories from that time, and yet as an adult, I have had no need to go camping. Not because I didn't love it then, but I think just because I had had my fill. Somewhere in the back of my mind, I figured that I would take my kids camping, someday, but I didn't know when I didn't think it would be soon. So the fact that I found myself camping this weekend with a 2 year old and a 10 month old took me by somewhat of a surprise.

Our church's family camp was this weekend and I had no intention of going. It just didn't occur to me. That was something that we would do eventually....not yet. But an opportunity presented itself and we couldn't refuse it. Some friends of the family have a really fantastic camper that they would not be able to take to Family camp this year because their son was getting married. They wanted to know if our family would like to use it if they were willing to drive it to the campground, set it up for us, and then come back and get it 3 days later. Yes, you read that sentence correctly. All we had to do was show up with our food and our clothes (and pack 'n play and diapers and bottles and sippy cups and toys and binkies and......) and we could enjoy all that Family Camp had to offer. On top of that, my parents were coming, so we were not going this alone, we had reinforcements. All things added up to be the best possible scenario for the easiest camping trip we could possibly hope for with two tiny kiddos. So we went.

Planning for this trip made this week as stressful as any I have experienced as a mother. As I already sufficiently complained about in a previous post, it was hot, hot, hot here last week and our apartment was scorching. Chasing after two kids while simultaneously doing laundry and packing for a weekend away, all while my husband worked late hours so he could take a long weekend, made me question my sanity more than once.

But, boy am I glad we did it. My son has never been so filthy in all his life and I promise you he broke some sort of record with the speed with which he got filthy.


That is his foot, ladies and gentlemen. The astounding part of this picture is that HE HAD BEEN WEARING SHOES!!! I have no idea how his feet got so dirty, but I promise you he loved every single minute of it. He also roasted marshmallows for the first time, which helped make the dirt stick better and taste better, so that made it all the more fun for him. Even after a trip to the camp showers with Daddy, there was still dirt stuck to places that it was just going to have to stay until we got home to a bathtub. He was all boy this weekend and it was great to watch (once I relaxed and finally just let him have fun).

The most memorable part of the weekend for me was something I am going to save for another post. It was one of the most beautiful moments I've ever experienced spiritually and just doesn't seem to fit in the same post as a picture of my son's dirty foot.

So we have officially done it....our first camping trip as a family. All in all I would consider it a success, with opportunities to learn from and not repeat next time. I have over 20 mosquito bites from my scalp to my ankle and everywhere in between that, every time they itch and I (try not to) scratch them, remind me of a fun weekend that I'm glad I had.

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