We did it!

Yep, we did it. We made it through an entire one night tent camping adventure. And we slept. Not much, but a wee little bit so we'll say it counts. The kids were very excited but Kai was a bit impatient waiting for the main event. Campfire and sleeping in the tent. Once we got that part underway he was a happy boy:

We chose a state park about 50 miles east of San Diego, up in the mountains. I'm not a big desert person. Looking at all that brown just makes me thirsty but this was beautiful country, particularly as sunset approached. 

Teia proved herself a worthy little camper! She quickly got very dirty and enjoyed it quite alot. She even fashioned a toilet roll holder out of her scooter and was very excited about it. 

She was also very keen to help with the camping chores. Except she liked to scoop the soapy water out of the dish washing bin and put it on the dishes on the ground instead of putting the dishes into the water. But it did keep her occupied for awhile. 

And she also enjoyed the campfire very much.

Loved watching her roast marshmallows. She would put one on her stick, wave it in the fire for about 3 seconds and promptly pop it in her mouth saying Mmmmmmmm, quickly followed by "I wanna nother one?" During our campfire, Kai asked me if there was a bath at camping. I told him nope and he smiled and said "we get to stay dirty!" Funny how that pleased him. 

After we ate sufficient banana boats, roasted (or not) marshmallows, and toblerone we finally zipped the kids into our 3 person tent and cleaned up camp for the night. The giggles coming from inside and Kai calling out "Daddy, we're CAMPING!"just about made up for the evening's subsequent events. We expected a little difficulty settling down. After all we don't usually all sleep together and definitely not outside. It was kind of exciting even for me, its been awhile. I can't even imagine how it must have felt for the kids. Teia was kissing everyone and Kai was full of questions and observations. But as they started to get sleepy no one could sleep. We were camped next to THOSE people. Kai still talks about our noisy neighbors, a full week later. We knew 10 pm was quiet hours so we decided to suck it up and wait and just try to sleep. Eventually Teia did nod off but Kai was all ears. Every time there was a lull in the action he'd say "they're quiet now." Only to have them start laughing, drinking and yelling again. Ah camping! Greg finally left for the ranger station and Kai and I climbed out to see what was going on. We saw the ranger truck come by and ask the folks to quiet down. They did, for about 5 minutes. That ranger's shift must have been just about finished b/c we didn't see him again. Not at 11 pm and not at 12 either. So once it was past midnight Greg made his way over and asked them personally to STFU. 

Finally, they did and Kai went to sleep. No sooner had they doused their fire and climbed into their tents when the wild turkeys descended on our site. I was dying to get up and see them but I daren't wake our finally sleeping kidlets so I just laid there and wished that they would decide to sleep too the noisy buggers. Shortly after they left there was a strong aroma of el skunko parading through our site and all kinds of unrecognizable bird and insect sounds played throughout the night. Will have to get a field guide for this region of the world b/c I had no idea what I was hearing most of the time. 

I spent the rest of night lying on my side b/tw Kai and Teia and periodically scooping Teia up from b/tw the air mattress and the side of the tent where she would slide down. Kai was sprawled out across the tent, taking up the lion's share of the room (hence my side lying all night) and I think Greg was finding himself b/tw the mattress and tent on the other side. 5:45 am came early when Kai opened his eyes and you could see the recognition right away.....Daddy, we're CAMPING! But he did manage to doze until about 7 when the entire campground seemed to be up. 

Everyone was bright and bushy tailed to start the day:

We got in a boat ride before lunch. Both kids enjoyed a chance to be oarspeople, although Teia insisted she was fishing with her oar. We spotted 2 coyotes (or teia-yotes as Kai likes to call them) on the shore and saw some really big fish jumping as well as a beautiful heron. 

By the time we were ready to have lunch and pack up, we had two tired little monsters, er kids, on our hands. Kai couldn't even sit up to eat his lunch and Teia was in need of kid-glove handling. Hence, her own private dining table, "chair" of her choice and Ipad viewing during her meal. 

Right before we left Kai got bitten by a fire ant or two. Like all war stories though, once the initial sting/burn had subsided I think he was kind of excited by it all and likes to tell the tale. At the end of the day, it was a pretty successful trip I'd say. We asked Kai if he'd like to stay another night and his answer was unhesitating affirmation. Of course we told him that would have to wait for another time b/c all mom and dad could think about was a shower and sleep.