The Long Awaited Camping Post!

As most know, Austin is on Spring Break this week. To help "celebrate" we went camping with five other podiatry families. We went to a camp about an hour and a half from here. Our camping spot was actually really pretty with trees and a lot of green grass surrounding our tent. We also managed to get our tent right next to the bathroom--which is perfect for a pregnant mommy! It was a really fun trip and it was awesome to get to know some of the other families better!

Here is how the trip went: [WARNING: This is more of a long journal entry than a short blog!]

We left Tuesday at about 2:30. When we got to camp there were already three families there (and we followed another family down). There were three spots left for the six families in the circle so we each doubled up with another family to share a camping spot. Shhh- our spot was the nicest one! We were set up closest to the bathrooms and in the spot with the fire ring. It was also full of trees and grass. Don't tell the other families! ; ) We quickly set up our tents and built a fire. We spent a nice evening making tin foil dinners and s'mores and everybody sitting around the campfire (because when the sun goes down it definitely gets cold! Brr!). The kids also had a lot of fun playing in the trees and running around! Makenna was ready for bed at her normal time, but she seemed scared to go to sleep in the tent. She also didn't want to sleep with everyone else up! So I let her get up again and she stayed up until about 9:30. Then she was so cranky she didn't want to go to sleep! She honestly cried for about 30 minutes, even with us holding her, singing to her, and rocking her! Finally she laid down with her dad and went to sleep! So although we brought the pack-and-play, Makenna slept with Austin and I on our air mattress. It was pretty cramped up! I rolled over once and fell off the bed! We were also really worried about her getting cold so we put her winter pjs on over her clothes AND wrapped her up in a fleece blanket AND put her in her sleeping bag AND put her to sleep between us AND put our sleeping bags over her! I don't think she got cold but I definitely did! I froze to death! It got pretty cold! So with being cold and cramped, it wasn't the most restful night!

Wednesday Makenna woke up at 6:00 just screaming like crazy! She was hungry and wanted her yogurt-only we forgot to bring yogurt! So Austin and I got up and we had to drive to Wal-Mart before other families were even up! I think my mom would be horrified to see me go to Wal-Mart without brushing my hair or teeth and wearing my pajamas but we were desperate with our hysterical little girl! We got back and boy was it still cold! So we quickly fed Makenna and got her changed. By then others were getting up. We all sat around the fire because it was cold! Here is Makenna with her red cheeks:


We had breakfast and then everybody headed to a little park to play. We were going to drive there, but Makenna fell asleep as soon as we got her in the car. So we drove around a little bit and then went back to camp. But of course as soon as we put Makenna in her bed she started screaming and crying again! She cried and cried and cried. I have to admit I was really grumpy- I hadn't slept the night before and I can't stand to hear Makenna cry! So Austin and Makenna went to the park to join the others and I stayed in the tent to take a nap! Afterwards, we all had lunch and played around our own campsites for a while. Here are a couple of pictures of Makenna playing in the grass by our tent:

After lunch we all went on a drive up the mountain to a place called Jerome. We stopped along the way to take some pictures:

Did you see Makenna's hair? The wind was blowing like crazy! It was pretty cold up there! The town was pretty different. All of the houses were pretty old and not that nice and they were all built into the mountain. We stopped and walked down one street and to get to the next street you had to go up stairs! The streets were built on top of each other-it's really hard to explain! We went up to a park and let the kids play for a while and there were a lot of people dressed really old fashioned. One of the guys said it reminded him of Newsies and it really did! It was crazy! It was also crazy cold up there and the wind was blowing so much so we didn't stay long. But it was still a fun drive and a fun little stop. Then we headed back to camp and let the kids run around and play for a while before dinner.

Makenna playing at the picnic table.

Makenna loved playing with all of everyone else's toys!

Jenn brought some foam visors and little sticky animals and glitter glue for the kids to decorate. Thanks Jenn!

Mommy helping Makenna put her animals on her visor.

Jenn, Natalie, Pam, Makenna, and Logan decorating visors.

Doesn't Makenna's look nice? She did it herself!

Cheese! Mommy and Makenna having fun, doing crafts!

Makenna and either Katelynn or Emma (I can't see their face to know which one it is!) playing on the trees.

Logan was so sweet and really took Makenna under his wing-he always let her play even though she is still a bit young for their games!

Logan blowing bubbles for Makenna.

After the kids played, we had dinner. It was great! Chicken burritos = yummy! This time Makenna went right down to bed at about 7:30. So Austin and I got to sit around the campfire with everyone else completely childless! It was actually pretty weird- but everyone else was having to run after their kids so it wasn't as fantastic as it could be! Ha ha. Anyway, but it was really fun to get to sit around and just talk to everyone. I think that was our favorite part of camping! But everyone was pretty tired and we went to bed at about 10:00. It was a pretty good night's sleep. Makenna slept for the most part in her own bed and I bundled myself up so I stayed toasty. Yes!

Makenna didn't get up on Thursday until about 6:40. Then we got up to get things going because it was our turn to help make breakfast with the Reagan's. We made omelets in a ziplock bag and hashbrowns. I have to admit it was pretty good! But I had a scare before breakfast- I went to change Makenna and as we were coming out of the tent I tripped and fell with her. As I was falling I kept thinking, "I'm pregnant and holding a baby! This is really bad!" So I tried to twist around and fall on my back. I just managed to twist my knee instead. It really hurt! It was also embarrassing because I started to cry! Makenna wasn't hurt at all but she was pretty shaken up by the fall I think. So she soon went back to bed- it was too much for her! My knee was sore so Austin had to really take care of me- poor guy! But anyway, we had breakfast and then it was time to clean up and start packing up. It didn't take us too long to get everything done. But Makenna was still asleep so we even had to start taking the tent down around her! We got everything done and everybody left at about 10:30.

All in all it was a very fun trip! We came home very tired. We were a little sunburned and Makenna and I were beat up- my knee is even now still a little swollen and Makenna has all sorts of bruises and cuts from being outside all day! But we had a lot of fun and loved playing with all of our friends. Thanks everyone! It was such a great time!

Oh and by the way- I can't believe I am first to blog! You guys better hurry it up, you are behind! Also, tomorrow is Makenna's FIRST BIRTHDAY! Can you believe it?!? Expect to see a very detailed post then too!