#7 Camping

We also used this as a birthday retreat for me. I've been wanting to go camping all summer.  I guess with buying a house, moving, and having guests, we didn't get to do as much of it as we want.  Next summer we are going to make plans sooner. 

Eliza and I shortly after arriving at our camping spot.

We drove to Lake Locust State Park (about 2 hours northwest of here), and enjoyed a night of camping. Bruce (and Eliza) got a fire started, while I began setting up the tent.

When the tent was up, I started working on our dutch oven chicken pot pie dinner while Bruce and Eliza unrolled our sleeping bags.

Eliza enjoyed sitting in her little camp chair (for a little while) while Bruce and I continued with the camp ground preparations. 

Our campsite all set up.  Unfortunately, because we booked so late, we were only able to stay one night.  One night is better than none I guess. 

It started to get a bit dark before dinner was finished.  However, it was well worth the wait.  Eliza sure enjoyed eating dinner from both mine and Bruce's plate. 

The dutch oven was full of chicken pot pie.  This is all that was left when we were finished with it.  YUM!!

After dinner, it was time for some yummy smores.  Eliza sure enjoyed hers...

 and dad's.... and mine!! I'm afraid we got the girl hooked on marshmallows.  She knows where they are in the pantry and tries to open the bag to get some. 

 
Then, it was time to put Eliza to bed.  She was pretty excited to sleep in the tent. 

I am quite surprised at how easily she went to bed considering it was really dark, and she was in a new place.  She settled down very quickly and went right to sleep.  I made a "bed" for her out of blankets and pillows.  Bruce and I stayed up a little later playing a game.  When we finally went to bed, the weather had gotten a bit cooler.  Eliza never keeps blankets on throughout the night, so I was worried that she would get cold.  Even though I covered her with 3 blankets, I would wake up periodically to make sure she was covered.  At some point in the night it started to rain.  At first it sounded like huge hailstones were coming down.  Later we realized that it was probably acorns falling from the tree our tent was under.  The temperature dropped a bit when the rain started.  Partway through the night, Eliza woke up.  When I turned the flashlight on, she was sitting up in the middle of her blankets.  Still lying in my bed, I asked Eliza if she wanted to sleep on mommy's bed.  She immediately crawled over, found a place in the top corner of our air mattress and fell right back to sleep.  The problem was, her feet were right where my head was supposed to go, and the sleeping bag couldn't reach where she was without being pulled completely over my head.  So much for the warm snugly night.  I did my best to keep the blankets on her throughout the night, but the girl moves around way too much in her sleep.  The little bit of sleep I did get, I was sandwiched in between Bruce and Eliza's feet.  Not the best night's sleep in the world, but I had fun anyway.  We managed to stay dry through the night, and Eliza slept pretty good considering.

By morning, she was eager to get out of the tent.

Early the next morning (it felt early but really Eliza didn't wake up until 9:00), Bruce was able to get a campfire going despite the damp wood.  We didn't expect it to rain so we didn't cover up our wood.   I made sausage and eggs over the campfire. 

Since eggs are Eliza's favorite breakfast food, it didn't take long for her to gobble them down.

After breakfast, it was time for a hike.  I figured I was already carrying one so I made Bruce carry Eliza in the Baby Bjorn.  When Eliza gets excited, her entire body especially her limbs move like crazy.  After the hike Bruce told me that he kind of has an idea of what it feels like to be kicked by a baby.  :)

During our hike, we stopped for a break at the camp playground.  Anyone can tell that this girl loves being outside.  We played on the slide...

 And then on this jumping thing.... Eliza was a bit too short to reach, and daddy was a bit too tall but they made it work. 

 And then she climbed on the ropes (with daddy's help of course)

And back to the slide.



I purposely chose this campground because swimming was allowed in the lake. (You'd be surprised at how many lakes don't allow swimming around here).  Unfortunately for Bruce, it was a bit chilly for a swim.  He probably still would have done it, but I wasn't too excited about letting myself or Eliza get in.  Since he didn't want to play in the water by himself, he declined the actual swimming part; although he did wade for a little bit.  Here's Eliza sitting on the bank by the lake. 

We were asked by a few other campers how we managed with a baby.  I didn't think it was that hard; Eliza is such a good girl.  One camper had four girls, but they left the youngest (2 years old) with grandparents at home because he didn't know how she would do camping.  Next summer we'll have one even younger, but it still won't stop me.  I enjoy camping too much.  While we packed up, Eliza enjoyed another marshmallow on her camp chair.

She fell asleep immediately after I strapped her into her car seat, and slept the whole way home.  All that playing and hiking completely tuckered her out. 

On my actual birthday, we went out for lunch at Olive Garden.  The girl loves eating at restaurants. 

  The waiter made a mistake when putting our order in.  We ended up with an additional entre.  We had enough food left over to have an Olive Garden dinner at home.  Not bad for a birthday meal.  It was a great birthday weekend.