Thursday, June 20, 2013

Keep calm and camp on!

Okay, I actually sort of get annoyed by all the "Keep calm and [insert random thing here]" pictures but ..... I couldn't think of a better title so I apologize.And mostly I'm apologizing to myself since I'm probably the only one who gets annoyed by such a silly thing.

But those never ending pictures are not the purpose of this blog so I'll just get on with it, already.

The real purpose of this post is to go on and on about how beautiful nature is.


But first, before we get to the nature part, let's talk about a cookie.

 Actually, that picture says pretty much all there is to say about the cookie so let's talk about the ferry instead.

It was Brinley and my mom's first ferry ride. They had no idea what to expect. ... Which I guess explains the bike helmet Brinley insisted on wearing for the first 30 minutes.


First stop, Lopez Island. But we didn't get off here. Although, E sure enjoyed watching the cars loading and unloading.


Gorgeous view vs. ferry drain? Ferry drain wins.


After the ferry ride we had a little bit of time to kill so we stopped in Eastsound and browsed through a few shops then found a grassy park for E to play in.


When it was time to check-in we headed to Moran State Park. 

Our campsite was perfect.

Close to the water, but not so close that I was constantly worrying about E. Close to the restrooms, but not so close we could smell them. Plus it was big enough for all our tents! If only I'd remembered to take a picture of our camp when it was all set up.

Brinley had dubbed this "Brinley's Island" within five minutes of our arrival.
 

On her island, it's her way or the highway. 

Luckily, she has a thing for cute little nephews. 


While Brinley showed us around the island a kayak went sailing past. 

 Well, maybe "sailing" isn't the right word. More like rowing sort of slowly. 

Once camp was set up and dinner was eaten we settled in around the campfire and crossed our fingers that when bedtime rolled around E would go to sleep quietly without keeping everyone in the campground awake. 

The bad news: He was not about to go to sleep in his bed that we brought along. Everytime I tried to get him in there he screamed.
The good news: Through some sort of miracle, each night he fell asleep in my arms and then I managed to slowly situate him in Ben and my bed and then carefully extracted myself.

In a way, it worked out even better than I could have hoped. Turns out if E is snuggled in between mom and dad he sleeps great all night long.

The first morning we headed up to the Top of Mt. Constitution. The best way to describe that view is "WOW!" 

Pictures do not even kind of do it justice.




It was really cold that morning which made hiking back down the mountain to camp sound even more enjoyable than usual.


The happy campers!


E took all his naps in the backpack or in his car seat all week. Needless to say, his schedule is still messed up two weeks later.

We found a mossy bed for Ben to sleep on. ... It's actually even more comfortable than it looks. The perfect springy nature-made mattress.



E even managed to crawl part of the hike on his own. 


Back at camp someone got some Cheetos and loved them.


In case you were wondering, that someone wasn't Ben.

The boys!


E spent most of Wednesday on this slide while the adults took turns sitting in the sun, kayaking, and chasing him around the playground.


Even E got a turn relaxing on the Kayak.


He rowed, and splashed. 
 

And then when splashing was no longer enough and he wanted to climb out of the kayak and into the water but I wouldn't let him, he had his first official temper tantrum on the floor of the kayak all the way back to shore. 

While E was back, safe on dry land, these were a few pictures taken:












E spent his time back at camp driving cars in the dirt.

 It's been a long time since I've taken a picture of E asleep and cuddling with his dad. These pictures are always my favorite.


The park ranger came by camp at 7:38am and let us know we needed to be out by 9am because they were going to be pouring cement and blocking the road for us to get out of there. So it quickly went from peaceful sleeping to chaotic packing in a matter of minutes. 

While we were packing Grandma entertained E by pulling him around the campground in the wagon. 



And then super mom hauled everything out of camp all at once.


While we were packing up, Brinley was saying goodbye to her island. 
 
 And her swing.

In fact, that is the spot she fell in and soaked herself all the way through, a few days earlier! 


Turns out we didn't actually need to be out of camp by 9. The cement truck was only going to be there for about 30 minutes.  Which is a very good thing since we weren't all packed up until closer to 9:30.

But E had a blast watching the cement truck at work. Unfortunately, I missed his huge smile by the time I pulled out the camera.



But I think I got a pretty good one when he had a chance to play in a truckbed full of stuff! 

 I love that picture so so much.

It sums up our camping trip perfectly. 

Thanks everyone for such a memorable week. You're all welcome to go camping with us again any time!

1 comment:

Fran said...

It's a date. I'll mention the delicious food you prepared for the campfire.