finding a voice

Last weekend we went camping for the first time in over a year.  A year ago (or was it two?), we were in Door County in Wisconsin during July and overnight the temps were in the 30s.  These were the days we were naive and packed the sweet little sleeping bags from Target for the kids.  After the Door County trip, we brought those sleeping bags to Goodwill.  Despite the misery of the evening (no sleeping, rolling around on the air mattress with three kids, cold, cold, cold), we had a fantastic trip.  What is there not to love about sitting by a fire every evening and gazing at the stars?  We were a short drive from one of those quaint Door County towns and we spent plenty of time by the lake, at the playground and walking around town.  We also had a little picnic by the shores of Lake Michigan with a very nice bottle of wine while the kids played.  Idyllic.  Never mind that later on in the evening Thomas would be burned by a the burning speck of s'more.

Every camping excursion is like this for us... a little misery (mostly trying to fall and stay asleep in a tent) but ultimately a blissful memory.

With only the good camping memories in our mind, we drove to Estes Park where we reserved a campsite for two evenings.  We were in Estes Park last year at the YMCA family camp in a cabin.  It was rustic (no televisions) but not so uncomfortable (beds in a cabin)- also the camp has amazing programs during the day.  We arrived at the campground (not the YMCA this year) around 9 pm and began to try to put up our new tent.

Lesson for us... never try to assemble a new tent in the dark.  I forgot parts of the tent at home, so one half was "deflated" for our entire stay.  I also forgot the adapter for the air mattresses so we couldn't blow them up.  Uh oh.   Just the ground and sleeping bags for us.

However, this was our very first camping experience that did not involve a downpour or low temps.  It was amazing.  We left the raincover off the tent and slept under the stars.  The boys were enthralled by everything we could see in the night sky.   And that is the beauty of camping... no electronic distractions, late bedtimes, amazement and wonder.  Every night we sat by a fire with the boys and watched the stars and had long discussions.   Also amazing... I awoke each morning at around 5.

We were tired but we also spent a lot more time outside than any trip involving a hotel.  Two hikes in Rocky Mountain National Park and fishing and looking for elk besides our camping.  Even though when we came home both Peter and I needed a nap and then I napped with Henry the next day, I think we'll try it again soon.