Every Summer, Matt's family gets together for a weekend of camping where we all just relax, eat, and laugh. We did camp a few times, but the last few years we have just visited during the day instead of staying. We decided it was time to get back to it! With a 16 month old...
I won't lie - I was nervous just thinking about camping with Barrett. I wasn't totally sure how he'd do and how we'd keep track of him out there. I'm also not a super outdoorsy person and camping isn't exactly my idea of relaxation. I knew it meant a lot to Matt that we camp, so I sucked it up and started packing! I think we started talking about what to pack 2 weeks before. I had no clue what "camping" stuff we need to make sure to take...it definitely had to be a team effort. It was a lot of work to get everything organized and making sure we had it all and all in it's place. We took A LOT of stuff. Way too much if you ask Matt. But just enough if you ask me. I actually felt super prepared and never once felt like I needed anything that we didn't bring while we camped. Exactly as it should be and how it will be anytime I am involved in the whole camping thing :).
The whole week leading up to camping the weather was promising to be beautiful! No rain, fair temps-perfect! As long as it didn't rain, I didn't care. I could deal as long as we weren't worrying about storms or getting all of our stuff wet or the tent flooding. I checked the weather one last time super early on Friday morning, and wouldn't you know-100% chance of rain for Friday. Yep, I said 100. SERIOUSLY?! I panicked. I got out of bed and started pulling out even more clothes and jackets and towels and my rain boots (knowing we'd have to stop on the way up there to grab Matt and Bear some boots too).
We arrived at the campsite and Matt was able to set our tent up by 11 am...and then it let loose. It rained all day. All. Day. Like all day long. Luckily, Matt's uncle sets up a huge canopy tent that we all hung out under all day. The kids all did fairly well having to stay under the awning. After awhile once it was just sprinkling, we took Barrett out to play in the rain and on the playground. He loved it!
The next day was absolutely gorgeous! Beautiful sunshine and very mild temps. Why oh why couldn't the whole weekend have been like that day? We had breakfast with everyone, played with Barrett and his cars, and then Matt went golfing with the guys while we hung around with the family. It was so nice to be with everyone!
Fortunately, Barrett LOVED the entire experience and was such a good boy the whole time! He was even trucking through his very first ever ear infection while we camped, but it didn't slow him down. He absolutely loves being outside so it was his oasis. He loved the big, open spaces and being able to walk around everywhere and anywhere. He even took great naps and slept great at night (probably because he was so exhausted from running around all day!)-just woke up shortly after the sun came up which wasn't exactly my cup of tea, but oh well!
We packed everything up (ok, so Matt packed everything up and I kept Barrett entertained) on Sunday and headed home after lunch. Barrett found a little girlfriend :).
Even despite the rain. the whole weekend was much more than I thought it'd be. It was an experience we will never forget and I'm so thankful we were able to experience it with Barrett being so young. Although it was a whole lot of planning, a whole lot of time spent packing and repacking, it was a whole lot of fun. We really had the best time. I'm excited for the next time we get to camp together!
