Our summer came to a busy end this weekend as we celebrated Labor Day with our first camping trip. Now, I've considered myself to be a somewhat outdoorsy kind of girl. Growing up I was frequently covered in dirt, with my long hair hanging in messy tangles. Dad would take me hiking and fishing. With Mom and Joe, we spent many many many weekends camping in our pop-up camper all over western PA. Andy's a great sport about it but really prefers that the great outdoors stay out doors.
Mom and Joe wished to encourage Andy and I to go on our own adventures when we first got married so that Christmas they got us a tent, a camp stove, a light and camp chairs. Almost 8 years later the tent had remained happily fit in its bag, the stove in its box and we kind of lost track of the light between moving from Baltimore back to PA. (But the camp chairs have gotten lots of use :-)
But back to the real story.
We organized a little overnight camping trip to Keystone State Park (Derry, PA) about 45 min from Pittsburgh. One of the other families that went had a 2 yr old little boy so we thought since this would be a first time thing for all the kids we shouldn't do too much. I suggested the location knowing that my parents were only 10 min from the park should we run into problems with the kids. (So so so so so glad we went there)
Andy and I tried our best to plan and pack for the trip. We had a practice run on putting up the tent in the backyard so we wouldn't look like complete fools at the site and learned that a 7 person tent is very big. Yep, the tent barely fit in our backyard, not that the yard is small but when you factor in the swingset, sandbox and clothes line, you don't have a lot of space to work with. We went out in search of a sleeping bag for the Sadie-girl and ended up getting little blow-up beds for each of the kids (probably the biggest hit of the entire trip). And then began packing.
You would be surprised at how much stuff you need for two toddlers on an overnight trip-especially when you have no idea what to expect. We had the honda packed full and still had to borrow some things from my mom.
We got out to the site and began unloading. I took the kids to my mom's to pick up a cooler and the mountain pie irons while Andy set up the tent. They happily sent me back with what we needed (including the missing camp light) and some camp chairs. That's when we learned our first mistake. We packed up our little cooler with a few things and then left it sitting on the counter in the kitchen. I called my mom and she happily raided her fridge and brought us a few things to get us through the next day. (I was so glad they were only a few minutes away)
The rest of the evening went well. Our friends were so generous with their food and sharing with us. We cooked hot dogs on the fire and later made pizza mountain pies. The kids enjoyed PB sandwiches. After dinner the kids played a little while and toasted marshmellows for s'mores but then they were ready for bed. Caleb was so eager to sleep in his new bed, he insisted on putting on his pjs before it was even 8. We put the kids to bed and after some time they finally went to sleep. The adults played board games then and waited for the concert across the lake to end before going to sleep. The concert didn't seem to want to end. The band played until after midnight but we were too tired and decided to try to sleep with the loud music anyways. Andy joked, "I could have stayed home and listened to loud music like this" with the college students back on our block.
The music finally ended and then the real fun began.
It is amazing the noises you hear sleeping in a tent. It's not just the gentle hooting of an owl or hum of crickets. No way. I woke to her growling and snarling and the screeching of a small animal meeting a very painful demise and it sounded to be only a few yards away from our tent. Then there were the sounds of critters around the campsite. We had put all the food (including the trash in our car) but left out a couple of plastic coolers. Well, raccoons are not stupid animals and after a summer of scavenging campsites they have figured out how to open some coolers. (Our friends found their bread in the weeds above the campsite in the morning) I would love to say that I enjoyed hearing all these noises and slept peacefully but in the middle of the night I'm rarely capable of any rational thought so there was little sleeping on my part. Even after the noises of nature, I was kept awake but the kids where would take turns needing covered the rest of the night.
In the morning we discovered the pawprints from the visitors but still had plenty for breakfast. Then we had to begin the chore of packing up.
To top off the summer we spent Labor Day at Idlewild Park. It was a really nice day and the kids had a blast. Caleb climbed the big cargo net in Jumpin' Jungle with Andy and both Caleb and Sadie enjoyed playing in the ball pit. We lasted until 4:30 and then had enough. It was time to head for home. Caleb was passed out before we even left the parking lot.
No comments:
Post a Comment