Restful Camping

Ahh, the joys of camping. Mosquitoes, air mattresses, fresh air, campfire coffee and peace and quiet :) ....well at least camping used to include peace and quiet. A time to get  away from it all, enjoy a more simpler pace of life and maybe even get a book or two read. Well that was in a life before toddlers. We do not own a trailer (which some how makes me feel like I am actually camping not just moving my home to a campground), we sleep in a tent, pee in the outhouse (or bush if it is the middle of the night) cook over a campfire. All things my husband and I actually enjoy if it is not raining, until we took our two little ones with us. 

Last time we went camping Zach was 9 months and he did okay, I definitely don't remember it being as much work as it was with a 2 1/2 year old and and 11 month old. Don't get me wrong it was a blast! We had a lot of fun, but it just wasn't very relaxing. It was a constant struggle to keep the kids content and away from all the dangerous object just waiting for them to touch and bludgeon each other with. Rocks to throw, axes to touch, fire pits to climb on...forget the buckets of toys I brought for them to play with. Ok, so it wasn't really that bad, and dangerous things were kept away from them, but the truth is little people make camping more work. 

It was a beautiful weekend and we had a blast but by Saturday morning (we had been out there since Thursday afternoon) both little munchkins were more then ready to head home and enjoy modern conveniences like carpet and central heating. I was looking forward to normal bed times and naps that didn't have to be forced. So all in all it was a success, and I am already trying to figure out what weekend works best for another trip to the great outdoors with our family. The only thing I am hoping for is that Nadiya is walking because crawling on rocks just isn't any fun.