Camping . . . The full Story

As promised, here is the full story of our first camping adventure with Liam, complete with pictures.  Because this was Liam's first ever camping experience and our first camping first camping trip in about three years, we decided that we would go for one night, just to see how it went.  It really is amazing how much stuff you need for just one night.  But as Henry pointed out, with camping, you need the same amount of stuff for one night as you do for a week.  And when you add a toddler to the equation, you need A LOT of extra stuff . . . wagon, playpen, portable booster seat, toys, lots of clothes, diapers . . . his stuff took up as much space in the truck as the actual camping gear!

We arrive at the campsite at Fitzroy Provincial Park at around noon on Saturday.  We quickly unloaded the booster seat and I threw together a peanut butter sandwich for our hungry little bear.  Fortunately, he was happy to munch on his sandwich and watch supervise as we unloaded the rest of the truck, set up the tent and had a quick bite to eat.  By then, he was ready to play!  And play he did.  

Shortly after we arrived on our site, a woman came over to us with two tonka trucks, they were packing up to leave and they weren't going to fit in their vehicle to go home, she wanted to know if we wanted them for Liam.  They are older ones and well used, but I still thought that it was very generous and Liam was beyond thrilled with his new acquisitions!

Once we were sufficiently set up, Henry wanted to go fishing and I wanted to take Liam to the beach.  First we hit the boat launch area so that Henry could do some fishing and Liam was quite happy to do some exploring and playing.

Taking in the sights . . . 

Anywhere with rocks and stones is a great place to play!

Water . . . he didn't want to go in, just wanted to splash in the edge.

Deep concentration . . . 

Finally getting to fish . . . and he's got one!

Liam was very eager to run over and see what Daddy had . . . he touched and that was enough of that!  

Liam was pretty interested in the beach.  There were lots of people to watch and it was like a GIANT sandbox!  But it was kind of hard to walk in!!  He played with his pail and shovel, dump truck and of course some sticks!  We didn't stay at the beach very long because it was hot and sunny and a certain little someone needed a nap! 

Liam couldn't decide if he should play in the sand or watch the people!

There was a stone in the sand and he was determined to pick it up with his two sticks . . . needless to say, he didn't have the co-ordination to do it . . . even Daddy had a hard time doing it!

Back at the camp site, Liam was more than ready for a nap and didn't even complain about being put in the playpen in the hot tent.  And I was ready to pull up a chair and relax!  Chasing him around while Henry fished was exhausting!  So, into a chair I went while Henry started a fire to cook supper.  Aside from that we really did relax until Liam woke up.

The view from my camp chair at nap time!

Henry cooked some delicious steaks for dinner (hot dog for little bear!) and after dinner, we just hung out at the campsite and let Liam play.  

Big boy insisting on drinking water from Mommy's cup . . . refused to drink it from a sippy cup, but quite enjoyed it from my cup . . . although I think more of it ended up on him and the chair than in him!

If you don't bring blocks for the boy, he will improvise!  He probably spent 20 minutes building with the dishes and taking them in and out of the bin!

"So, is this our new house?"

Bedtime didn't come until about 8:40, which is pretty late for Liam, but he was having so much fun playing that we just let him go until he was tired!  Unfortunately bedtime didn't go as smoothly as I had hoped.  Henry went fishing again and left me with Liam.  I pulled out my phone and plopped myself in a chair waiting for him to sleep.  Everything would have gone fine I think, except that he could see me from the play pen.  As soon as I realized that he was screaming at me because he could see me, I moved and he went back to his usual babbling and singing that he always does before he goes to sleep.  By 9:20, he was sound asleep and we didn't hear a sound out of him until about 8:15 the next morning!

Sleeping boy . . . 

When Henry came back from fishing, we had a nice camp fire, some grown up drinks and even a bedtime snack of hot dogs roasted over the fire.  We stayed up later than we should have, but it has been a long time since we've done this!

Campfire . . . 

Sunday morning, we didn't really do much except have breakfast, pack up and head for home.  Although it was a lot of work and somewhat exhausting, I think that it was a successful trip and Liam seemed to really enjoy himself.  We will definitely do it again this year.  And next time, we will tempt fate and try for two nights!

You can only eat Cheerios with a stick when you are camping!!