Scott has been dying to take the kids camping since Acadia was born. I was putting it on hold until they got a little bigger, but it seemed they were both big enough to give it a go. I think after yesterday we're going to have to wait just a little longer!
We reserved a campsite at a place that's only a mile or so from our house. We figured that way if we forgot something or if the kids melted down we could just go home. Well, good thing we did.
We waited until after the kids took naps to head out. Scott went to the campsite to set everything up while they were sleeping. That way we weren't trying to get the tent up with two crazy kids all over the place.
By the time we got there it was about 4:00. Enough time to relax and take the kids to the park before we started dinner. Acadia and Rylan both loved the park. That is, until all the big kids started running around playing some sort of sword fight game. So we headed back and started cooking dinner. You would have thought the kids didn't eat for days. They both were grabbing for anything and everything and screaming the minute they finished what they were eating.
I should also mention that at this point we almost ran out of clothes for Acadia. We were going to be out for less than 24 hours. I packed extra clothes for both kids knowing that we might need a change. In about two hours I was down to the last clean pair of underwear for Acadia...and I packed FOUR extras! Our little girl was having too much fun to be bothered with telling us when she had to pee. I thought I was going to have to go home to get more if this kept on.
At this point I put Rylan to sleep in the pack and play and crossed my fingers that he would sleep while Scott took Acadia to the park again so she could run off some energy before bed.
Rylan fussed for a few minutes, but went to sleep great.
When Scott and Acadia got back we got her ready for bed. Then we all went in the tent to lay down together. We got Acadia a blow up kids bed thinking that she wouldn't want to sleep on the ground in her sleeping bag. Before bed she was jumping all over it so we thought we were all set. Nope. When it came to going to bed she wanted no part of it. So Scott and I laid on our airbed with her in between us. After a few minutes she said, "home". Ummm, what was that? Again, "home". We asked her if she wanted to sleep in the tent and she said no. Then we asked if she wanted to sleep at home in her crib and she said yes. Now Rylan started making some noise so Scott and I looked at each other and decided to pack it up. The gates to the campgrounds closed at 10:00 so it was either leave then, or be stuck with an unhappy toddler.
Sure enough when Acadia woke up today, the first thing she said was, "It's camping day". No kiddo, that was supposed to be last night.
We'll try it again when they get a little bigger. Or maybe just bring another pack and play for Acadia. She's never slept in a bed by herself so maybe that is all we need. We'll see. But we definitely have some good memories from trying.
