Camping is Intense

So we I thought it'd be a good idea to take our 16 month old camping.  After I'd convinced Maren that no one  would steal Emry from the tent in the middle of the night, the trip was set.  We left for Scales lake as soon as I got home from work on Thursday. 

The first evening really was intense(Julie, that pun was for you), but seriously, as we pulled in to the campsite, it was already starting to get dark. Plus, it was past time for Emry's dinner.  Maren started building a fire, and I set up the tent while Emry cried from hunger pains and explored the landscape.  I didn't realize this before the trip, but literally everything in nature can either choke a child, poke them in the eye, or get them dirty.  So Maren took over the duty of settling Emry down and keeping her out of the fire while I cooked dinner. 

Maren was growing more impatient because they were both hungry, Emry was upset, it was pitch dark, and our best source of light was the the most dangerous thing for Emry to go near.  Finally I got dinner cooked...hot dogs, green beans, mac 'n cheese and s'mores were enjoyed by all...

That night, Emry slept surprisingly well.  She laid between Maren and I in the tent. It should be noted that Emry constantly rolls, flips and flails her limbs when she sleeps.  Between that and the root digging into my left hip, I probably woke up about 10 times during the night.  The next morning Maren told the same tale of a restless night.

The rest of the weekend went really smooth, and we had a ton of fun playing on the playground, walking around the park, seeing the animals at the petting zoo, and exploring all the wonderful things in nature God has given us.  Emry had a blast being outside all weekend, and as Maren said,  "Emry is the dirtiest she's ever been(other than the day she was born)!"

It was so cute to watch Emry as she saw so many new things.  She loved the slides on the playground and was just adorable sitting in her little red lawn chair.
 

We took a bunch of photos and even tried a horsemanning picture for Halloween...

We had one bad experience on the last day of the trip.  We decided to take E in the stroller to walk the road around the entire lake, which is few miles long.  Unfortunately, the road doesn't make a complete loop around the lake, so when we got to the other side we had to make a decision - either take the road all the way back around the lake or take a shortcut on a trail.  Against Maren's will, we decided to take the trail.  Maren carried the stroller and I carried Emry.  The trail is made for mountain biking, so there were quite a few hills, roots and other obstacles which made it unsafe "not convenient" for carrying a baby and a stroller.  The final straw came when we were walking on a banked wooden platform that curved its way around some trees...All of a sudden, two mountain bikers came screaming around the banked curve and I jumped off the platform while still holding Emry.  Maren decided to walk back to the road and take the long way back to the campsite.  I told her I would run the trail and hopefully it would lead me back to the campground where I could get the Jeep and pick her and Emry up.

It turned out to be a very pleasant run through the woods.  I think my new passion is trail running.  Just being out in God's creation and enjoying everything He has given us was so much more fulfilling than my normal jogs on the roads and sidewalks.  As I was jogging the trail that morning, I thought about how lucky our family is to have the things we have and to be able to do the things we do.  Needless to say, taking the trail paid off in more ways than one because I quickly got back to the campsite and was able to drive the Jeep around the lake.  Luckily I picked up Maren and Emry before they got too "cranky hungry" and "cranky tired."  All in all it was a great trip!