CAMPING!!! (with kids for the first time)

We went camping for the first time with CHILDREN (dum dum duuuum DUMMM). Prior to this trip AJ and I had only been camping when it was just the two of us. We were planning on camping in the Mt. Taylor Forest (North of Grants NM) but ended up at El Morro National Monument after learning about the forest's reputation for having loud parties. Crazy forest. And we had a great time. We planned easy foods and beverages so we wouldn't have to fuss with cooking and cleaning. A new - very roomy tent was just the right size for all of us to comfortably sleep, and it fit perfectly onto the tent pad. It was a beautiful day and the campground was completely empty! Can you believe our luck? The stars were aligned and our trip was starting to shape up nicely.

Notice how cute our little site is?


Now for all the stuff I left out of the previous paragraph. Nick is teething (two teeth it looks like) for the first time ever and is not handling it well. The wind just WOULD NOT STOP blowing and it made functioning outside very difficult because everything blew away. Including our wonderfully planned dinner. We cooked hot dogs over an open flame - that the wind tried to extinguish. The wind was so strong that it kept blowing poor little Nick over.

AJ and I have spent a good part of our lives camping but it is a very different experience when you don't have kids. What we hadn't fully anticipated the amount of hazards that camping posed for children and babies. Literally EVERYTHING posed some sort of horrible danger. I had no idea it would be like this. Every jagged pointy rock, every partially buried root, the firepit, the concrete table, the tent stakes, the small rocks under the tent, the road running through camp, the propane tank, the lanterns, the perfect snake hiding habitat, the vast openness that surrounded us - all seemed to be waiting to jump out and get the kids if we didn't watch them CONSTANTLY and it was exhausting. Nick had several bad falls that left him bruised and shaken.

The "X"'s in the picture show where all the child/baby hazards are located: everywhere.


Recovering from a fall off of his baby camping chair (he hit a jagged rock that was covered by the gravel in camp)


And all this exploration, trauma and change led to a very much needed nap.



We cooked dinner early because Lucas refused to take a nap - it was all so exciting!! And then we had smores early too. It was weird starting a campfire while the sun had a couple more hours left in the sky, but again. . . we have kids and we promised to have smores. So I had THREE smores I confess. Lucas had one smore and was so thrilled to have cooked his own hot dog over the fire with a stick he picked out and also to cook marshmallows over the fire too. What a great day for Lucas. He was so proud of himself.

Here he is showing off his first smore.


Sticky hands.


The sunset was pretty amazing.


You just can't beat the view.


Thankfully the wind died down during the night and the other campers that joined us were very quiet people. AJ and Lucas slept on separate air mattresses while Nick and I shared a sleeping bag and air mattress. AJ and Lucas had nice warm sleeping bags and Nick and I apparently did not because we FROZE our asses off. I'm not kidding. We were so cold. And it was the kind of cold that wakes you up at 1 am and keeps you up until the sun comes up. Ok. So it wasn't entirely the sleeping bags fault. Nick kept sticking his frozen little hands on my belly. If he wasn't so darn small and cute I would have made him sleep in his own bag. So AJ and Lucas woke up all happy and rested and Nick and I were really tired. AJ actually had the BALLS to complain about being too sweaty in his sleeping bag !! Fucking Bastard. My consolation prize: I burned off all the calories from my three smores trying to generate body heat for Nick and myself. Nick and I laid down after breakfast and took a nap - and this time we piled on the covers and stayed warm. Note to self: Bring warmer sleeping bag next time.

Rolling up the tent. Daddy's little helper. AJ would go around and unclip and unsnap things to take the tent down and Lucas was right behind him reclipping and resnapping everything. So camping with kids is a little more challenging when you have a helper.


Nick looking more rested after his nap with Mommy.


Mom. Get. Me. A. Warmer. Sleeping. Bag. Pronto.


We had a great time and learned a few tricks to make next time a bit easier. Not easy. Just easier.