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?

::::

Good times, folks. Good times!

What's that? Camping you say?

In a matter of days my husband and I will be packing up our small SUV with more crap than we need along with our precious little buggers I birthed forth into this world. These precious little buggers are the joys of our life and make life worth living, but does that mean I really should be taking them camping? I enjoy the outdoors, I enjoy camping, but taking a 2.5 year old rabid toddler seems CRAZY to me. My hope is that because we will be living alongside my sister and her family for these two days, there will be extra adults to keep an eye on the little ones, plus more people to share my pain with.

The optimist in me (okay, buried really deep inside of me) envisions a weekend filled with...


Cozy campfires



Roasting hot dogs on an open fire

Adorable little helpers

'Smores amakin'

Crisp cool mornings

Sleepyhead kids basking in the afternoon sun.

Get-ups like these that make you get down on your knees and thank God for your kids.

Watching 'lil man take in the beauty of the outdoors.

Beating J at checkers with a glass of wine after the kiddos go down for the night.

 BUT then the pessimist in me remembers...

The dirty feet and the fact that there are no showers at the campground we have reservations at.

The fact that I dread the thought of getting in a swimsuit.

That kids are clumsy and unpredictable and could hurt themselves at any moment. So you BETTER KEEP AN EYE ON THEM AT ALL TIMES!

Thankfully for me, with my girl, the worst that most likely willl happen is a splinter. With my boy? Well, anything is possible. Unfortunately.



That mornings usually start at 5:45am and it's me with the kids that are waking up the entire campground.

But then, the buried-deep-within-me optimist remembers the excitement and anticipation shown in the faces of my kids.

And the relief I feel when we're away from the day-to-day grind.

I think I'm ready to dive in and do this thing! (Not literally, I mean really? Swimsuits, already? A liiiitle to early for that, thankyaverymuch.)