Family Fun: Luke's First (1/2) Camping Trip

Since the ten-day vacation to Louisiana went so well, the following weekend we decided - hey let's take Luke camping! BAD idea. The plan was to camp for two nights with two other families. We were going to a family-friendly campground where we've been previously. The weather forecast was predicting perfect camping weather and the other two families were bringing most of the food... we thought we had it made!

Our campsite - weekend home in the woods

Angela enjoys a treat in front of the campfire

We've got the camping routine well rehearsed and everything started fine Friday afternoon. Three families, three tents all set up in a nice semi-private shaded area along a gently flowing river. All of the kids were playing and having fun. Luke was his normal happy self. He couldn't keep his regular nap schedule on Friday, but he did have a long snooze in the car ride to the campground.

Four girls headed to the creek

Splish, splash

Four friends posing in the creek

Sassy poses

The kids retreated to the tents to fall sleep at about 8:00 p.m. The adults chatted around the campfire for awhile longer. Luke was sleeping in Angela's arms. Eventually the adults got tired too and each family said "goodnight" and zipped up the tents.

Inside our tent we started to get Luke ready for bed (this is not an easy task in the dark with only flashlights). While changing his diaper Luke "sprayed" us several times (making a wet mess on himself, sleeping bags, etc.).

Maddie and Mom

Mom and Luke

Luke and Dad catch some zzzzzs in the hammock

After getting Luke ready for bed we fed him and put him down to sleep. For some reason, he didn't fall asleep like he normally does... he was squirmy and restless with lots of "talking." Maddie slept through most of the commotion and our fellow campers say they didn't hear Luke (much). Luke eventually fell asleep, but awoke again in the middle of the night (as he usually does) for a diaper change and feeding. Once again he was not his normal self. There were several diaper changes (he had an upset tummy so lots of pooping!) with lots of restless squirming and babbling. Falling asleep again took a long time - for Luke and Mom and Dad.

Dad carefully crosses the creek with Luke in the baby backpack

They made it safely to the other side of the creek - Luke wonders how they'll get back across

Morning finally came. Dad decided that he and Luke would spend the second night in the local hotel leaving Mom and Maddie at the campground with our friends. This was a great decision! Both Luke and Dad slept very well in the hotel, and the campers left behind slept better the second night too.

Three friends

Dance party at the campsite!

Kids examining a bug near the campsite

Despite Luke's apparent dislike of camping, we had fun! Maddie loves camping with friends and all of the other kids (3 girls, 1 boy) had a great time. The highlight of the weekend for Maddie was catching her first fish! Actually she caught two! The second one wiggled off the hook and fell into the water as we were posing for a picture. The first was about 4 inches long... the second one was about 6 inches long (or course like all good fishing tales, when Maddie tells the story they're much bigger).

Dad and girls find a perfect fishing spot

Dad baits the hook as Maddie looks on

Success! Maddie hooks her first fish!

It's not a record breaker, but Maddie is thoroughly impressed (and excited)

We've decided that Luke is probably still too young for camping now. We'll try again when he's a little older (and sleeping through the night regularly). We don't regret trying...we had fun and Maddie is looking forward to holding this over Luke's head when he's older.