Our camping adventure

Ryan expressing his displeasure with our camp site. I cut off the two campers on our left and right, so this really isn't a good picture to show how crammed in there we were.

Enjoying the gorgeous views in Rocky Mountain National Park. I had forgotten how beautiful that place is!

The amazing view from Kristin and Corey's camp site. Such a treat!

The Jones family! We had so much fun with them.

Ry and Austin enjoying marshmallow roasting. The s'mores were delish!

Yes, that's right...after months (years, really) of avoiding camping with baby/children, I decided that Austin was old enough to appreciate camping and we went for it this past weekend. We stuffed our Highlander full and drove up to Rocky Mountain National Park on Saturday morning to meet our friends, the Joneses, and do some car camping. Now, considering I have only camped with Ryan and he generally avoids car camping (he'd rather hike 8 miles and then find a backcountry site -- called backpacking, for those not schooled in outdoorsy-ness), I didn't realize how luxurious it really is! We were able to bring all kinds of good food that we wouldn't bring backpacking, and we even brought PILLOWS!

Of course, with two kids, and one of them only being six months old, we weren't going to hike 8 miles in and set up camp in the deep woods. So Ryan sucked it up and did the car camping thing. I thought he was going to cry when we entered the Moraine Park campground and he saw how close the campsites were to each other. When we found our site (A- 49), he was very displeased (see photo above), but immediately made the most of it. We took a while to set up our tent - some friends graciously let us borrow their large family tent, and we had never set it up before. Right as we were getting to the point of putting the rain fly over it (to keep the rain out of the tent), it started to rain. So we busted it and managed to get it on, but ended up sitting in the car for a bit (and then the tent -- Austin loved it), waiting for the intermittent showers to pass.

We found Kristin and Corey after the rain was pretty much over, and we enjoyed a yummy fajita dinner at their camp site. The whole time we hung out at the Jones' site, Austin and their little girl, Avery, were having a blast. They explored and played together so well. I was dreading the night ahead, knowing that it could be rough for both Austin and Wyatt (and thus for Ryan and me). But after some declicious s'mores, some good hang-out time, and great conversation, it was time to head back to A-49 and try to sleep as much as possible.

One nice thing about backpacking is that it is truly peaceful at night -- no cars driving by literally all night, no generators running on the camper next to you, no people walking by on their way to the restroom. I think all of the above must have awakened poor little Wyatt at some point. Yes, it was a rough night, but we survived. I just tried to run over to the Pack 'n Play as soon as I heard him start to fuss, because it quickly escalated to an all-out shriek if I didn't. The great news was that Austin slept wonderfully -- he did not stir, even when Wyatt screamed. When a random bird was squawking above our tent at 6:30 in the morning and Austin rolled over to see Ryan right next to him, a huge smile covered his face and he said, "What's that sound, Daddy?" It was so cute. I knew he was in heaven waking up with Daddy right by his side.

We got rolling, and enjoyed a yummy breakfast of blueberry pancakes and fresh fruit at the Jones' site again -- thanks to Ryan. He was the "master pancaster." After packing up our camp sites, we went for a short hike with Kristin, Corey, and Avery from the Fern Lake trailhead before eating a quick lunch of PBJ's and heading for home.

I want to thank Kristin and Corey for a great time, great conversation, and for sharing all the things I had forgotten (which were numerous) with us. :o) Thanks also for helping us reserve the camp site -- even though it wasn't as pristine and bucolic as backpacking, I certainly enjoyed having great food and my pillow!

Austin's enjoyment of camping made it all worth it for me, even though I was ready for bed at 8:00 Sunday night. Plus, I really do love being out there, enjoying the fabulous views and God's amazing creation. So what if I lost a little sleep? I gained some great memories.