Camping

Sometimes I like to think we're hardcore campers because we THINK about camping so much.

But the truth is that this weekend was the first campout of the season (first of John's little life!) and it was just an overnighter in a place with picnic tables and toilets with concrete walls.

So.....really how hardcore can I claim to be?

Whatever, I ate s'mores for breakfast so that's probably as hard core as it gets.

Bottom line, we went camping this weekend and it was awesome.

Josh miraculously found a space that met all of everybody's criteria for camping.

I require shade + water because I grew up camping in the Uintas and I believe that is the only true way to camp.
Tommy requires water + rocks.
John requires nap space availability.
Josh requires 2 strong trees close together for hammock purposes.

Ordinarily I don't hesitate to share a good thing with the internet, but I'm having anxiety about telling you my new favorite camping spot because if you reserve it for the rest of the summer and I never get to go again we might not be friends anymore.

Somehow, I love you just enough to share the wealth.

Affleck Park. Site 14. You're welcome.

"I'm the king of campsite 14!"

Tommy and Josh got to work setting up the tent right away. Tommy was a bit heartbroken when he learned that tent poles are not "whacking sticks" and we took them away.

Dad & Tommy build a tent.

But he immediately fell in love with the tent and found more whacking sticks so it was OK.

"I said, come on in mom!"

John-Boy had to wait while we built a camp. He was not thrilled. 

As soon as John got down for a nap, the "big boys" got straight to work.

Josh & Tommy swinging in the hammock by the river.

Meanwhile I sat around reading about the horrors in a concentration camp. Something about reading about crematories then throwing garbage in a campfire to watch it burn made me feel a little creepy. 

So I put the book down and threw rocks with Tommy instead.

I can't explain to you how much this child loves throwing stuff in water. We managed to pry him away long enough to play in the tent while Johnny ate. This kid is remarkably good at Go Fish. But he cheats. He was holding the 10s the whole time!

But the child can only read books and play cards so long before he drags us back to "that pond up there!"

See all that white stuff up there in the pond? It's cotton. Even if we called it snow. and it didn't stop coming down the whole night. It was crazy.

The stream really was perfect. Plenty of low on the water standing space. Enough rocks to last us all summer.

And even a plank to walk.

Probably the best piece of camping equipment we own is our big fat 2 man sleeping bag. It changed my camping sleep forever. 

But this year it became a 1 man and 2 boy sleeping bag and I got the boot at 6am. Rude. 

The good news is that my boys love me in the morning. They each need a turn on my lap first in the morning. And I am happy to comply.

Anytime Tommy wasn't throwing rocks, he was looking for bugs. I was less thrilled about the invasion of the wildlife. But even I couldn't tell him this one wasn't cute....

I came back from the bathroom to find my boys lounging by the river in the hammock. And this was the best part of the weekend for Josh. These boys, they love each other. 

The weekend was short, and filthy ("dirt EVERYwhere!") and beautiful. Simply beautiful. 

I love these mellow kind of weekends. Even if they require a week of cleaning and laundry to recover.