A couple of weeks ago, we took Sarah on her very first camping trip. We stayed pretty close to home just in case she didn't love it and wanted to go home in the middle of the night. Does it look like we had anything to worry about?
The campground some friends recommended to us was Babler State Park, and it really was perfect. Only half an hour's drive away, its actually just kind of on the edge of the suburbs of St. Louis. So there are grocery stores and what not less than a 5 minutes' drive away, which we ended up taking advantage of. Still, the spot we chose was lovely and wooded, and was secluded and natural enough that we felt like we were really experiencing the outdoors, even if our car was parked less than 10 feet from our tent.
The only snag we hit in our trip was that David discovered that the poles of our tent (which we bought in 2005 just after getting married, used twice, I think, and then stored for 5 years)--somehow the stretchy cord that runs through them had spontaneously lost all its stretchiness while in storage in my parents' basement. So the segments of the poles didn't hold together that well when you assembled them. Annoying!! Still, major problem-solving points to David for making it work--our tent got assembled and stayed up all night!
Don't you love Sarah's little pink camping chair?? I found it and a matching sleeping bag at a garage sale last summer. Sooo perfect for my little adventurer!
Sarah's favorite thing?? The tent. Ummm, she LOVED it!! She played in it most of the afternoon and evening!
David got our fire going on his very first try!! Perfect for roasting our hot dogs and marshmallows!! Oh, and the marshmallows were also a favorite of Sarah's. Just not roasted. And no s'mores for her either. She just wanted her marshmallows and Hershey bars plain and cold and separate. One of these years she will figure out what she has been missing!
Other than the fact that it took her a loooooong time to fall asleep when we went to bed, I am sure because she still had so much pent up excitement, Sarah really did great! She followed the rules about not playing near the fire, and she just had a great attitude and adventuresome spirit (except when it came to trying the s'mores)!
David and I loved the tranquility and beauty of the spot. It was a perfect way to celebrate the end of his first year of law school and spend some quality time together as a family after not really having very much of that the last several weeks/months of the semester.
And this one? Well, she plays "camping" all the time at home now, and I am pretty sure she's not going to let the summer go by till we take our next family camping trip.
David got our fire going on his very first try!! Perfect for roasting our hot dogs and marshmallows!! Oh, and the marshmallows were also a favorite of Sarah's. Just not roasted. And no s'mores for her either. She just wanted her marshmallows and Hershey bars plain and cold and separate. One of these years she will figure out what she has been missing!
Other than the fact that it took her a loooooong time to fall asleep when we went to bed, I am sure because she still had so much pent up excitement, Sarah really did great! She followed the rules about not playing near the fire, and she just had a great attitude and adventuresome spirit (except when it came to trying the s'mores)!
David and I loved the tranquility and beauty of the spot. It was a perfect way to celebrate the end of his first year of law school and spend some quality time together as a family after not really having very much of that the last several weeks/months of the semester.
And this one? Well, she plays "camping" all the time at home now, and I am pretty sure she's not going to let the summer go by till we take our next family camping trip.
