campers.

we did it... we FINALLY bit the bullet.

after 5 years of wanting to do so, we bought our own camping stuff.

what better excuse to do so, than for trevan's 30th birthday.

a few weeks ago, we loaded up the family wagon and headed east to our beloved canyons... turns out everyone else in the tri-state area (p&f reference) were thinking the exact same thing, it was pa-za-acked. we drove and drove and drove, every campground was booked and all the "dispersed camping" spots were taken but we would not be deterred. finally, i spotted a little spot by the side of the dirt road we were on that was vacant. it looked like it would do, so we broke camp then and there. the kids were beyond stoked.

jude could not contain his excitment, but managed to do so for just for one picture.

dual survivors.

 

remember what i said about that spot by the side of the dirt road? weeeell, that dirt road turned out to be the interstate for all things cars, trucks, ATV's, and dirtbikes. after about 10 minutes we relized... we was in dust heaven! 

at this point i was done, done with dirt, done with yelling at my kids to stay out of the road, done with dusty food, done with sneezing, DONE... but i put on my smiley face and i's made us some supper. i am a happy camper!

instead of having my kids play outside and enjoy the outdoor as they should while camping, i put them in the tent and zipped them in for safe keeping (i.e. road kill) . i could almost hear their laughter over the sound of revving engines.

my cute parents came to visit us for dinner. they turned around 2x because they did not think we would:

a. go up that far
b. camp in that location/environment

they were wrong, and luckily they found us. although, my dad is still teasing us about our dust bowl location.

 it's true.
she is the best.

nannie and grandpa left us (after us reasssuring them that we would be okay without any more firewood) for the night and the headlamps came on.

my kids are the cutest.

goodnight snuggles and goodnight moon.

the kids were perfect and we slept famously. we bought this king size sleeping bag for trev and i and it is the cats pajamas. ezzie stayed warm and toasty right next to me, and there were was even room for greta when she woke up in the middle of the night scared, cold, and needing to pee. jude did not move a single muscle all night long and woke up happy to be alive. i love sleeping outside, really i do. our dust spot was right next to a river and once the ATVers hit the hay we could actually hear it and finally our spot didn't seem so bad. who doesn't love the sound of a rushing waters while sleeping?

taking down camp is always the worst part and neither of the kids felt up to helping, much less cooperating so trevan put their cute little butts in the car and there they sat rocking out to bieber, glee, and katy perry for the duration of the trip. WHAT? i didn't say they were happy about it!

all and all i would say it was a success and we CANNOT wait to go again. this time we will do it right (more wood, less food, bring fold up table, extra socks, hat for greta, change of clothes for ez, etc.) but what can we expect for our first time? trevan was great and totally in his element. he was so mindful of my fun level and made sure i was always comfortable and happy. he's cute like that. trevan was so happy to finally be doing this, even if it was a lot of work and he didn't get to fly-fish or hike... we were all pooped by mid-morning.


p.s.  and i think we finally realized we are a full blown family... when did that happen?