The crazy things we do

We camped again. It was a little bit easier. We seem to learn something each time. Last time we learned not to go for 2 nights. We can all cope with the sleep deprivation of 1 night's camping but 2 hurts a bit too much. So 1 night it was. The excitement of it all was just wearing off; kids were just starting to grow fangs, and it was time to go home. Well planned and executed. We got out when the going was good, and stopped for ice cream to ensure we'd make it home without incident.

We also learned not to go with a bazillion people, like last year's trip with the entire kindergarten class and their families. This time we went with one small, quiet family like our own and it was much more civilized. We didn't have breakfast duty for 40 people to contend with on top of keeping our littles safe from poison oak and rattle snakes.

As we drove home and I tried to hold my eyelids up to keep Greg company, while feeling stinky and sweaty and dirty and yes, oh so tired, I sort of had to laugh at us. The day before we left our house rested and clean and here we were driving home filthy, possibly poison-oaked, and exhausted. Why exactly do we do these things?

I guess its my childhood memories of family camping trips. When you're a kid its all about the fun: finding sticks for sticky marshmallows, climbing trees and the sound of zips in tents. When you're a grown up its all about the work: making food, setting up the tent, washing dishes. But there is a bit of payoff in watching the kids do the fun part. Especially when we arrived and Peach proclaimed "this is the best camping trip ever!"

The kids spent hours exploring and climbing on the logs and trees in the wilderness area behind our site. There were a few injuries, mostly from falling off large logs (and in one case tripping over a barely visible tent wire), but no broken bones, bug bites, rattle snake bites or cougar snatchings so we considered it good.

T and her fellow 4 year old partner in crime, known as P, spent the entire weekend on the move slaying dragons, being super heros finding lost puppies, and disappearing enough to worry the parents a bit. It was that kind of high energy, creative play that only uninterrupted hours in the forest can provide. Kai and Eli were a bit more contemplative, searching out termites to study, practicing their balancing and tree climbing and filling our fire pit with kindling.

And no, we do not endorse underage drinking at the campsite. Kai was holding my glass so I could take their pic. What's most startling about this picture is not that Kai appears to be partaking but that I actually felt chilled out enough to!

There was the usual campfire with hot chocolate and s'more making. Kai, our philosophical one, puzzled over the destructiveness of fire while munching and slurping. He was all about the s'more so long as his marshmallow did NOT catch fire in the process. Teia declared the hot chocolate too hot, and discarded the marshmallow portion of her s'more but otherwise enjoyed. Seeing the stars again, without the light pollution of the city, was truly amazing. And probably worth all the effort of camping. We even dragged our little gigglers out of the tent to see, it was that special.

Nighttime was not without its challenges. Fellow campers tag teamed to make sure someone was shrieking with laughter, otherwise yelling, or a dog was barking at all times for several hours past the quiet hour. It didn't seem to bother my family who promptly fell asleep around me. Teia and Kai turned me into a mommy sandwich in their sleep but I periodically had to reach down and hoist them back up. Our tent was pitched on a slope and bit by bit they were sliding away during the night, and taking our blankets with them. In the morning Greg swore he had not slept a wink but his snoring gave him away.

The grey light of morning peeked into our tent sometime b/tw 5 and 6 am and there was Kai, telling me it was morning and time to get up. That is when I realized that I actually had fallen asleep and the little stinker was now waking me up. I somehow managed to convince him to stay in the tent until 630 when I finally left to use the facilites. When I returned his little blonde head was the only sign of life at the campsite, poking out our tent door, looking perky and ready for the day. That look lasted only just past breakfast, hence that part at the beginning about a 1 night camping trip. Yet, somehow I have a feeling we'll do this all again....