Good gravy, the boy even put sleeping bags on our wedding registry.
Mike has been on a lot of Scout campouts.
But our family camping resume was pretty slim.
We have been on one ward campout, camped once with his family, and camped with my family twice.
And that ends our family camping experiences.
So, when I was putting together the whole "79 Days of Summer", I put "Go camping" as one of our activities.
Making me the best wife ever.
We went camping on Thursday up at Kyle Canyon at Mt. Charleston. It's about an hour from our house, and beautiful and cool. The temperatures were in the 70s during the day, making it perfect for a family hike.
Which just happens to be another one of our summer activities. Score!
Last year we went on a hike labelled "Easy," to a waterfall. Which was awesome. But, it ended up taking us hours, the directions were bad and we got lost, and we ended up walking over 8 miles. Since we didn't have a backpack or carrier for Josh, I wanted this hike to be a little easier.
And... it was way too easy. The website said that it it would take 30-60 minutes to hike it.
We were done in 10.
It was also paved.
And had a handrail.
But, we can say that Josh hiked the entire thing by himself.
He rules the 20-month-old world.
After our "hike" (and I use that term loosely, believe me, but it still counts!), we went to the campground and got everything set up. We borrowed an awesome 3-room tent from a friend. It was so big that we were able to fit Josh's port-a-crib in it, which made camping with a toddler soooo much easier.
We played ball and frisbee.
Josh figured our campsite was really just one big slide, because we were on a hill and by a dry riverbed. He sat on his bum, would scootch down the hills, and yell, "Wheee!"
We slid and explored.
Until it got dark.
Mike is way into Dutch oven cooking, and he was really excited about getting to cook. But, the sleeping bags, tent, port-a-crib and clothes took up all the trunk space in our car. So, we decided to just pre-make all of our food. We made foil dinners at home, and we just threw them on some coals in the grill for dinner.
After dinner, the marshmallows came out.
Adam and Grace took it upon themselves to make some for the entire family.
We played card games, looked at the stars, read scriptures and Charlotte's Web.
We happened to read the second-to-last chapter, where Charlotte dies.
We had a blast on our first family campout! It was SO much fun! I'm even willing to go again!
(I'm bringing more than a sheet this time, though).
:)
And that ends our family camping experiences.
So, when I was putting together the whole "79 Days of Summer", I put "Go camping" as one of our activities.
Making me the best wife ever.
We went camping on Thursday up at Kyle Canyon at Mt. Charleston. It's about an hour from our house, and beautiful and cool. The temperatures were in the 70s during the day, making it perfect for a family hike.
Which just happens to be another one of our summer activities. Score!
Last year we went on a hike labelled "Easy," to a waterfall. Which was awesome. But, it ended up taking us hours, the directions were bad and we got lost, and we ended up walking over 8 miles. Since we didn't have a backpack or carrier for Josh, I wanted this hike to be a little easier.
I made Adam climb up the side a little. Just so it looked like we were on more of a real hike. I am ashamed.
This is what the hike really looked like.
And... it was way too easy. The website said that it it would take 30-60 minutes to hike it.
We were done in 10.
It was also paved.
And had a handrail.
But, we can say that Josh hiked the entire thing by himself.
He rules the 20-month-old world.
After our "hike" (and I use that term loosely, believe me, but it still counts!), we went to the campground and got everything set up. We borrowed an awesome 3-room tent from a friend. It was so big that we were able to fit Josh's port-a-crib in it, which made camping with a toddler soooo much easier.
We played ball and frisbee.
Josh figured our campsite was really just one big slide, because we were on a hill and by a dry riverbed. He sat on his bum, would scootch down the hills, and yell, "Wheee!"
We slid and explored.
Until it got dark.
Mike is way into Dutch oven cooking, and he was really excited about getting to cook. But, the sleeping bags, tent, port-a-crib and clothes took up all the trunk space in our car. So, we decided to just pre-make all of our food. We made foil dinners at home, and we just threw them on some coals in the grill for dinner.
After dinner, the marshmallows came out.
Adam and Grace took it upon themselves to make some for the entire family.
We played card games, looked at the stars, read scriptures and Charlotte's Web.
We happened to read the second-to-last chapter, where Charlotte dies.
(Sorry if I spoiled that for ya).
When I was younger, I remember being sad at the part of the book.
Something about being on a campout, surrounded by bugs that were in our food and drinks and crawling on legs, made that chapter pretty easy to get through.
One less spider in the world...
Before we left town, a friend warned me that it got cold up at Mt. Charleston at night. Especially when you're used to 110+ degree temperatures. She told me to bring jackets. Lots.
I did. For the kids. I brought them sleeping bags and blankets and jackets.
I am not a fan of sleeping bags. They make me feel claustrophobic. And I LOVE the cold. So, I figured I would probably be okay. I didn't think it could get that cold in August, anyways.
So, I ignored her advice, and just took a sheet to throw over myself at night.
It. Was. So. Freaking. Cold.
My teeth did not stop chattering all night. My feet were numb, so I curled up in a ball. Then my hands would get numb, so I would uncurl and put them under me. Until my feet got cold again.
The kids were nice and warm, though.
Next time I will listen to my friend, Jessica. For she knows all.
:)
We woke up the next morning and ate some homemade granola bars and orange juice for breakfast, went on a walk, played Frisbee golf, and packed up.
We also gathered rocks.
Lots of rocks.
(Which totally violates the whole wilderness motto of "take nothing, leave nothing", I know. But, I'm doing a fun activity with the kids with them! And, besides, I'm not really a camper).
I don't think that that's exactly how that motto goes, by the way.
Simply proves that I'm not a camper.
We left after figuring out the self-timer on the camera.
Because if I'm going camping, I'm going to document it.
Something about being on a campout, surrounded by bugs that were in our food and drinks and crawling on legs, made that chapter pretty easy to get through.
One less spider in the world...
Before we left town, a friend warned me that it got cold up at Mt. Charleston at night. Especially when you're used to 110+ degree temperatures. She told me to bring jackets. Lots.
I did. For the kids. I brought them sleeping bags and blankets and jackets.
I am not a fan of sleeping bags. They make me feel claustrophobic. And I LOVE the cold. So, I figured I would probably be okay. I didn't think it could get that cold in August, anyways.
So, I ignored her advice, and just took a sheet to throw over myself at night.
It. Was. So. Freaking. Cold.
My teeth did not stop chattering all night. My feet were numb, so I curled up in a ball. Then my hands would get numb, so I would uncurl and put them under me. Until my feet got cold again.
The kids were nice and warm, though.
Next time I will listen to my friend, Jessica. For she knows all.
:)
We woke up the next morning and ate some homemade granola bars and orange juice for breakfast, went on a walk, played Frisbee golf, and packed up.
We also gathered rocks.
Lots of rocks.
(Which totally violates the whole wilderness motto of "take nothing, leave nothing", I know. But, I'm doing a fun activity with the kids with them! And, besides, I'm not really a camper).
I don't think that that's exactly how that motto goes, by the way.
Simply proves that I'm not a camper.
We left after figuring out the self-timer on the camera.
Because if I'm going camping, I'm going to document it.
We had a blast on our first family campout! It was SO much fun! I'm even willing to go again!
(I'm bringing more than a sheet this time, though).
:)
2 comments:
Thanks so much for sharing...I couldn't wait to see! You all were amazing! And I'm so glad most of it was awesome (cold the exception...and I notice Mike NEVER has a jacket on... hmmm... must be a man thing. Dad never has one either!) The food looked great. And to read my almost favorite book... I almost cried just thinking about poor Charlotte. Anyway, here's to many more Wilkins Family Campouts!
I just found your blog AGAIN and had to laugh when I got to this post. :-) I sure wish I knew all...in all fairness you "do all" and are definitely the coolest fun activity mom EVER!
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