Simpler Times

Who am I fooling? Packing up and heading out of town to enjoy the great outdoors with two young children is anything but simple. The packing alone involves careful deliberation and good old fashioned manual labor when it comes to just trying to fit everything in the car that you need in order to "rough it". It's hard work, this camping gig. Hard, back-breaking, sleep-depriving, dirt-encrusting work. But oh so worth it for these very reasons...


One Watching the bond grow between my son and my neice. They are almost siblings, really. And I love that.



Two  Admiring the technique of a Master Firestarter. (Spending time with my nephew, a bonafide teenager, was quite enjoyable and allowed me to understand the difference between cross-country and track - they ARE very different it turns out.)

Three   The ability to take in, from a bit of a distance, the love surrounding my kids.

Four   The glorious sunlight.

Five  The views.

Six  Reminding two little stinkers to stay where we can see them 2836452354 times a day. (Wait, that wasn't really all that awesome.)

Seven   Wildflowers!

Eight  Hanging out with fellow camera happy folk.

Nine   Her.

Ten   Sunset.

Eleven    The soothing effect calm water has.

Twelve  Natural, vibrant color.

Thirteen   Her.

Fourteen   Rugged men. (I couldn't resist.)

Fifteen  Moonlight.

Sixteen  Morning light.

Seventeen  My mom. Loving and playful.

Eighteen  Time outs. (Oh, yeah, those weren't so awesome either. But ya know what was? This pout right here.)

Nineteen  Leisurely hikes.

Photo by friendly passer-byer

Twenty  Dipping chubby little toes into ice cold water.

Twenty-one  Grandparents who bring ice cream packed in dry ice.

Twenty-two Her. (again.)

Twenty-three   Daughters who act like propellers.

Twenty-four The company of my beautiful sister.

Twenty-five  Dude. Reeses Peanut Butter S'mores!!!!!!!!!!!!

Twenty-six Campfires and practical jokes.

Now, just to be honest here...a list of a few more not so awesome things about roughing it.

One Uh, the sleep I did not get. Dude, my kids were down to wake up every other hour the first night. Not so fun. I mean, really kids we need to WORK ON THAT!

Two No showers. I like a shower.

Three The proximity of our neighboring fellow campers. I mean really, can a woman who's sleep deprived and cranky have a little space when she decides to nag her husband.

Four The cranky and naggy woman towards the end of Day 2. Who let her come, anyway?

Five  The whiny and sleep deprived children towards the end of day 2. Who invited those rascals?

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Good times, folks. Good times!