Camping...with a Toddler and the Neighbors!

Dave and I consider ourselves lucky.  We both grew up with parents who took us camping...starting at very young ages.  I don't know how old Dave but I was about 9 months old when I made my first trek to Colorado and slept in the tent.  My sister...my sister was even younger!  So, it was a no brainer to Dave and me that Jeffery needed to go camping.  The sooner, the better.  

Page from the scrapbook my mom kept for me...me at 9 months camping in CO.

We decided that this fall would be the best time to introduce Jeffery to camping....and...we invited our neighbors, "Aunt" Kate and "Uncle" Adam, to join us.  This past Thursday, we pulled into our favorite campground at Cave Mountain Lake in the George Washington National Forest and set up camp.  Within 2 minutes of releasing Jeffery from his seat in the car, he found a stick...which was to become one of his favorite toys for the rest of the weekend.  He is such a boy.  :)

Stick is found....

....and played with...

....even while daddy is setting up the tents.

We decided early on that we would bring Jeffery's pack n' play along for him to sleep in.  However, after surveying his bed in the tent while still at home, we realized that both Dave and I would not be able to fit in there as well.  The decision was then made to have Jeffery and me sleep in the big tent and Dave would bring along his back packing tent and sleep in there.  While not ideal...it worked out just fine.  

Jeffery and my home away from home

Our two tents

Quality Inspector Jeffery Thomas checking out the tents

We had been camping out here 2 years ago at about the same time and were excited to see the fall colors.  While the colors weren't at peak yet, we weren't disappointed.  We also were lucky enough to find a fantastic campsite that was close to the bathrooms and opened up onto a large meadow area where Jeffery could toddle and kick his soccer ball and explore.

View from our site....beautiful fall colors

Looking towards the road

Jeffery checking out the campsite

All bundled up with his stick and his soccer ball....what more could a monkey want?!

Having some independent time away from mommy and daddy in his field

Playing with daddy in the meadow

Playing with his soccer ball

Jeffery was into everything.  If it looked dangerous...if it looked wet...if it looked muddy/dirty...it if looked full of adventure...he wanted it.  Daddy's axe? Check.  Handfuls of dirt into the mouth? Check.  Fire pits?  Check.  Fire?  Check.  Coolers with their weird texture? Check.  Sticks?  Check.  HE IS SUCH A BOY!!!!!!  :)  We learned our lesson after the first night and only started fires AFTER Jeffery had gone to bed.  We were not so smart the first night and all he wanted was to be practically in the fire pit and would become extremely unhappy if taken away.  Lesson learned.  :)

Hmmm?!  Not quite sure what is going on here.

Fire pits are fun

Big boy chairs (since Grandpa Jeff has his camping chair in AZ) are fun!

Why did mommy bring all of my toys when I have sticks to keep me happy?!  Oh wait...is that a hammer?!

No walls to confine me.....mommy is exhausted as I am constantly in motion

Dave got a little fishing in (I don't have a license yet so I didn't try my hand at fishing this time around) and we enjoyed the beautiful scenery the lake and area have to offer.  I think all of the space overwhelmed Jeffery just a tad.  He seemed a little more fussy than usual...and was constantly wanting to be picked up and held...which is rather out of the norm for him.  I think he just needed a lot of extra reassurance from Dave and me.  He was also NOT a fan of taking his afternoon naps for the normal length of time.  While he slept for 12 hours the first night we were there...I was not so lucky the last 2 nights.  The last 2 nights we were there, like clockwork, he would wake up at 4am...wide awake...and start babbling.  He would then see me, get very excited and stand up and toddle over to the edge of his bed and peer over at me and the volume of his babbling would ramp up so that the entire campground could have heard him.  Needless to say...the last 2 nights...after about 4 am...he and I retreated to the car where we would fall back asleep (him strapped into his car seat and me on the bench next to him) and where, if he babbled, he wouldn't wake the people, the bears, the panthers (one was supposedly spotted while we were there), or the dead.  :)

Cave Mountain Lake

Entrance to the lake

 Friday afternoon of our trip brought great excitement as our beloved neighbors, "Aunt" Kate and "Uncle" Adam joined us!  As they got out of the car, Jeffery's face just lit up!  :)  We have all decided that we can never move away from each other and Dave and I feel so extremely blessed to have such amazing and wonderful people as neighbors...and friends.  :)  We have been talking about camping together for sometime now and have had this trip on the books since June so we were all VERY excited to finally have it come true!

Chillin' in camp

Adam proudly modeling his newly assembled grill

The best neighbors you could EVER be lucky enough to have!!!!!

I have NO clue!  Something about a child's monkey hat and an IPA in your hand make for a perfect combination though.

S'more salute!

Sadly, all trips must come to an end.  And ours...ours came to a rather quick, hurried, cold, and wet end.  As Jeffery and I retreated to the car at 4am on Sunday morning, it started to sprinkle.  By 6am, it was pouring.  :(  We had planned to leave Sunday anyway and had to be out of our campsite by 11am...but by 7:30...it was clear that the only course of action was to strike camp as quickly as possible and head for warmth and civilization.  There were inch deep puddles every where you turned so we kept Jeffery strapped into his car seat in the car...where he LOUDLY protested his unhappy lot.  :(  We had camp struck within about an hour which was rather miraculous given how cold our hands were and how wet everything was.  We loaded up the cars, gave a quick parting glance to our beloved site, and headed to the warmth and sustenance that the Cracker Barrel in Staunton provided.

Rain, rain....GO AWAY!!!!

Puddles everywhere!!!!

And there you have it!  We survived our first camping trip with a toddler!!!!!  :)  And Jeffery can now say (if he had the vocab to do so) that he has been camping.  Given everything, he was a very good boy.  And he now has all of those sights and sounds and smells in his "experience library"....which I just think is fantastic!!! 

Hiking with momma and "Aunt" Kate

Maybe next time...he'll let me sleep the whole night in my nice and warm and cozy sleeping bag and not curled up awkwardly on a shallow backseat car bench.  :)  Here's hoping!  :)

Did I do something?!  :)