Camping with the Kiddos

Last weekend we took the boys camping at Village Creek State Park. It was our first time camping in nearly a year and Jack's first time ever. The weather was perfect: overcast and breezy. Positively chilly by Texas standards.

After setting up the tent and organizing the gear, we took the boys on a 1.5 mile hike past a slough. As far as I can tell, a slough is a fancy word for a ditch. We saw lots of birds and Xavier even spied a bunny rabbit. For an afternoon snack I gave the boys pudding: vanilla for Jack and chocolate for Xavier. The caffeine in the chocolate must have made a beeline to Xavier's brain as he spent the next hour or so running around the tent.

Unfortunately, Jack is still putting everything in his mouth these days so he spent most of the time in a backpack carrier or the arms of Mom or Dad.

Getting the boys settled down at night was a bit of a challenge. We made the mistake of forgoing a bath time ritual which resulted in neither boy wanting to go to bed. Xavier frantically tore off his pajamas (I stopped him when he was getting ready to rip off his diaper) and insisted on putting his dirty t-shirt and bluejeans back on. He slept in them.

Jack woke up around 4 a.m. and was just about to tackle his sleeping brother when I whisked him out of the tent. After an hour and a half of shushing and rocking, we both went back to sleep. We didn't wake up again until 7:30 a.m.

I was reminded that it was five years ago to the day that Tim and I went on our first camping trip together in the Shenandoah Mountains just outside of Washington, D.C. I remember waking up on the second morning of our trip and thinking to myself, "If this guy asks me to marry him, I think I'd say yes." Sure enough, about three months later, he did and I did. Wow, how time flies.

All in all, the trip was a huge success. Next time we'll just put the boys down a little later after a sponge bath and only bring vanilla pudding.