For the Grandmas, Sue and Sue,... and all the other family too!: Camping

So, guys. We camped! We did it! We survived!

*Sorry for the delay in actually updating this with our story! Things have been a bit busy around here...not hectic busy, just...full. :) In a little less than a week things settle down, and I look forward to a long and glorious winter of routine, schedule, and a little boredom. Gosh that sounds so nice right about now.

Anyway, the camping trip. We went to Father Hennepin State Park right on the shores of Lake Mille Lacs, 2 hours north west of us. Initially, what Jonas told me was that we were going somewhere 1 hour north of us to a place called Headwaters State Park. This place does not exist...haha. We likely would not have changed any of our plans not matter what, BUT knowing we were going to be 2 hours north at this time of year...and about our particular camp site...might have been helpful in the "planning for the cold" stage of packing. ;) Here is the thing: we were RIGHT on the lake shore. See the photo below? Yeah. Right on the lake. We fell asleep to the sound of loud waves on the first night, which was super lovely in an auditory way. The down side to being on the lake is the wind. Dear lord, the wind on that first night. I was FREEZING. Absolutely freezing. And there was really good reason. It was well below freezing that night. *Insert a very dramatic sad face here* I woke up at least 6 times that night, from cold and discomfort from sleeping in a sleeping bag on the ground. Turns out those are exactly as comfortable as they look. I had a little air mattress under me, but I'm not exactly sure what that did. At one point in the middle of the night I just got up to go to the bathroom, because frankly I felt like I need to move and get my blood moving quickly again...I needed warm blood pumped to my extremities!!! So, I took a flash light and made the long trek by myself, through the totally dark forest road, up to the place where all the RVs were camping out (there was a bathroom/shower house up there). A little freaky, but man, I did not care at that point. I needed my blood to warm up! So, that's about how night #1 went. At 4:30 in the morning I turned on my phone, to see when it would all end, and then prayed for mercy...hah. I was really worried about the kids and the cold, but they seemed to do much better than I did. Cora woke once that first night and said she was cold, so she went in J's sleeping bag with him and spent the rest of the night there, totally fine. Layla woke up 2 times to go to the bathroom that night (Genius Mama brought a kids potty to the tent with us, so sleep was at a maximum for everyone and there was no trauma of trying to pee in the dark in the forest with half awake kids at night), but she finally warmed up in her sleep after a rough start while Jonas set up the tent. Finn? Rock solid sleeper. Didn't wake once both nights. Slept the longest of us all each night. I'm *very* happy for him. ;)

So, obviously, this makes it all sound pretty bad...and the night WAS bad for me...but everyone else seemed to do fine. It was just me. The days were lovely! A bit cold still for sure, but at least then there was the sun, and we could keep warm by doing stuff and moving around. Jonas fished off the shore with all the kids, and off the dock with Finn. We went for a family hike. We drove around a bit and went to lame local bait shops and restaurants. It was a really nice, relaxing time during the day.

Food was easy too. I was a bit worried about that when planning, but we just did SIMPLE. Very simple. Breakfast Jonas insisted be the traditional bacon and eggs, but lunches were sandwiches or crackers, meat, and cheese. Dinner one night was hot dogs and hamburgers the next. Nothing fancy. Nothing extra. Very little of any health benefit. But easy. So that was a win!

Also, no one got burned in, on, or around the fire...also a win! This was impressive with Cora present. She liked to walk VERY close to it. Always. She is a rebel, folks. I can not relate to that part of her. How exactly does one parent a rebel, again?? :) We shall find out.

There was a great, wooded, open area right behind where we put our tent, and the kids spent the majority of their time running around in there and playing. That was really fun for me to watch, especially for Finn. He was just in heaven. Cora wants to do whatever anyone else is doing, so she had a great time too. Layla enjoyed herself, but didn't really start LOVING it until she made friends with another little girl who was RV camping with her family. Then Layla hit the heaven mark...she is so much more social than I am. When I asked her what her favorite part of the trip was, it was "Playing with my new friend" 100%.

When it came time for that second night, I was having a bit of lame PTSD from the first night and told Jonas I just wasn't sure if I could do it again. He said "Come on! We planned for 2 nights! We can't let nature win!" My pride 100% agreed, so we stayed, but the older kids and I slept in the van that night. Just eliminating the wind factor (which was much less on the second night) was a huge help. All of our van seats fold down flat into the floor of the van, so that's always majorly helpful...we've used that to configure the seats in so many different ways, and once again I was very happy to be able to do it and sleep 1 adult and 2 kids in there no problem. Jonas and Cora slept in the tent again and seemed to do just fine...they are made of much tougher stock than I am, evidently.

So there you have it. We camped! Legit, tenting, camping. I'm not gonna lie, those RVs looked pretty amazing when sleeping in a frigid tent, so we might try that out as well sometime soon.

On the way home Jonas and I were evaluating our chances of becoming "camping people"...because from the people we met while there, it's clearly a culture you embrace. :) The chances are zero that we will become camping people, BUT we would very likely borrow our friend's gear again and do a once-yearly camping trip. We find it unlikely, frankly, that we will ever become the people that latch on to just one thing and do that are their family activity forever. (Once again, this is when I thank God that Jonas has no interest in hunting, fishing, or most organized sports. Wow did I luck out on this guy!!) So, yeah, with the ages the kids are, we're at a fun time of trying more new stuff out now...and we look forward to trying something different out next family trip. Camping was fun...we just need to work on the night weather part a tiny bit more for our next round.