Camping

Laura and I experimented with camping this week. We went to a campground about 3 miles from home. We went in the middle of the week because the weekend has a 2 night minimum. It turned out great! 

I grabbed a few random outside toys on our way out the door. One happened to be the old tire from her bike. It turned out to be a lot of fun.

And we had visitors. Lots, actually! Adam came with us for the afternoon. 

And Michelle and Odin joined us for a hike that lasted longer than expected due to a really crappy map. But we made it back to camp and had a quick snack before they left for home.

And Jim joined us for dinner. 

Then the boys went home and left us girls to "rough it".

I think Laura might be a fire bug like her mom and dad.

We kept pretty busy. We took a leisurely walk to the playground, played tag, read books, played cards, colored...

...roasted marshmallows, of course...

...and thoroughly enjoyed ourselves. Getting to sleep was tough for Laura, but we eventually got there, after a walk in the dark with our glow sticks. Too bad it was cloudy, she would have loved to see the stars. 

I woke up pretty early and started packing up the tent. We needed to be up to hang out with Adam so Jim could go to work. Laura was totally out the whole time I packed up:

It rained all night and morning, otherwise we would have made breakfast and had Jim drop Adam off to spend the morning at the campsite. But blueberry pancakes at the diner were pretty fun too! Here's a video of the tent as I was packing up in the morning. I'm not sure what I was trying to capture as I panned around the tent walls, but I love listening to the rain. 

I would definitely say that we "car camped" this first trip and enjoyed lost of amenities. But I think she would be a good trooper if we decided to get into nature a little more on a short backpacking or canoe trip. She's already asking about our next trip!