Well, it took me so long to get this post done (over a week) that, as I report on our very first family camping trip, we are already planning a second one for this weekend with some friends from the neighborhood.


While I had the boys cleaning the basement cushy tiles on the driveway a couple weeks ago, I had a vision of myself sitting in a chair on a campsite. Brian and I used to camp from time to time, but we have been avoiding it with the kids since we figured that they are far too young to sleep in a tent overnight. However....the thought had not occurred to me that we didn't necessarily need to spend the NIGHT...we could go camping for the day and come home for bedtime! Brian loved the idea so I started planning. We chose to go to a family-friendly place about 25 minutes away from our house with a Yogi Bear / Jellystone Park theme. We had been there once before with Brian's brother's family....before we had kids of our own (or....as Logan has been led to believe, "back when we were lonely and sad because we didn't have our babies"). We took all the regular camping stuff with us and spent most of the day eating :)

Here is Aiden waiting by the "super van". It was surprisingly easy to just toss a bunch of stuff in and head out.

Ahhh....we arrive at the park. Check out the big Yogi Bear at the entrance! At first I was sort of annoyed that we weren't going to be AUTHENTIC and go somewhere a bit more "rough", but as the day progressed, I was so happy that we chose to do this camping thing in baby steps....
The Bath House: it would look just like any other rustic building, but don't the little characters make it seem...I don't know....more theme-park-ish?
Even this dilapidated truck looks friendlier with Yogi smiling from the door. Put your finger on the face and look at the truck....run down and scary! Now take your finger away....much better, right? There was even a nice little park near the "Ranger Station" (aka: administrative office and gift shop...yes....gift shop!)
The morning we checked in, there were very few lots actually full of campers, but for some reason they gave us a totally sunny spot near the mosquito-infested stream.
This is the opposite view from the picture above (if you turn around and look in the other direction). Brian went back to the "Ranger Station" and got us a little more tree shade!
First priority: breakfast camp style (even though we arrived at 10, we made sure to cook up some pancakes, eggs and bacon before setting up camp)
Brady got set up in his pack 'n play so he could be contained. Aiden kept giving him food to try...first some watermelon (that didn't go over so well)
Don't let this picture fool you....the boys only sat in these chairs for about 45 seconds and then went back to running around.
Brady tried some pancakes next...quite a hit!
....and then Aiden gave him a marshmellow.....aaaawesome
I packed the little play tent that used to be set up in Logan's room. I put that together while Daddy got started on the fire pit and the big tent.
Logan and Aiden sat in the little tent and told each other the story of "The Little Old Lady Who Wasn't Afraid of Anything" (which they have been read so many times, they know a lot of it by heart). It's really hard to understand what they are saying, but here is a link to a video I took: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BrCzAG8dnF0

The camp site all set up!
Bri and his mini-me take a rest
Here is the picture I envisioned in my head when I decided that we should go camping - me sitting in a chair, drink in hand, relaxing. However, in my original vision, I had taken the time to wash my hair....oh well....who needs to be clean for camping?!
The boys decided to "take a nap" in the tent. This scene only lasted about 2 minutes and they giggled the whole time. They popped up, shouted "good morning" and returned to their previous antics....
....as demonstrated by this picture.
On a trip up from our camp site to the bathroom, I spied this fun little scene....tie-dyeing! Here's the scoop: they do this every Saturday. You just have to bring something white and it's free (or...lucky for me....they sell white tee shirts in the gift shop for $4.50 each specifically for tie-dyeing. Of course I ran back to camp, bursting with excitement, with our next activity already planned in my head)
After we bought the shirts, the girls at the craft/game room fixed up the shirts for us and I helped Aiden with his gloves.
Logan got his gloves on and actually waited nicely for the fun to begin
Look at these GIANT buckets of dye! I had to chase Aiden away from them time and time again. It was hard to stifle his inner-artist, but I didn't want to take a purple or blue CHILD home with me (or be responsible for one of those buckets getting tipped). When it was his turn to make his shirt, I had to really hover over him to make sure it ended up as 2 colors instead of just 1 big color.
Logan did a GREAT job with his shirt!!
Casualty!! soooomeonnnnne got yellow paint on my pants. I'm not naming names, but Logan's shirt was blue and green so......
The finished product!!
The boys went to play on the playground with daddy while I got lunch ready. They returned and we made hot dogs over the fire....yummy!!!
While Brady took a nap in the tent (we squeezed the pack 'n play in there), Brian took the big boys mini golfing. See what I mean about enjoying the park concept more and more as the day went on? It was nice that we didn't end up in such an authentic place....more stuff to do!
And finally....the piece de resistance - SMORES!
Chocolaty and delicious! You can see in the background that the big tent had already been taken down at this point. It was about 4:30 and time to get home. Our shade was gone and the boys were tired. Logan and Aiden fell asleep as soon as the car started moving. When Logan woke up about 45 minutes later, he rubbed his eyes and groggily said "best camping trip ever"
Basement update: after we cleaned the tiles on the driveway, I mopped the basement floor with bleach and reassembled all the toys (in a new and different way). We spent a couple hours down there one day.
Brady even has his own little play area (and, although you can't see it, I have a couch to sit on!)

Coming soon....camping part 2! Everyone we spoke with at the camp site said we HAD to come back for one of the 3 Halloween-themed weekends that the park throws each year. Bray is staying with Memaw and Grandpa and we're going to try to sleep there this coming Saturday night. They have a camp site decorating competition, the kids dress up and trick-or-treat from site to site and we're planning to have them tie-dye pillow cases for either trick or treating or just to sleep on that night (maybe both). I can't wait! I already have our 6-foot, inflatable Frankenstein monster packed and ready to blow up Saturday night!!! Plus...I promise to wash my hair for our next picture-taking trip!