The Thursday before Memorial Day we headed out on our first vacation as a family of five. In a jam-packed 4Runner with all the camping gear needed to keep 2 adults, 3 kids and a dog outfitted for a night. Yes, one night. I usually cap my camping at two consecutive nights, but with three kids I wanted to be extra conservative. And so we set out for our 1-night "test run."
I'll fill you in on many of the details, but long story short, this camping thing might just work out for us. We had a few hiccups along the way, but I think we may have found our groove over the course of our 1-day adventure. Look out Minnesota State Parks, Troop Schuster is making the rounds this summer!
With five people in our Troop, we needed to upgrade to a new, bigger tent this year. The tent Joe and I have been using for the past twelve years (or longer) isn't big enough for all of us. At least not all of us plus a pack n play, which is what we thought Wren would sleep in.
A month ago, in prep for our first camping excursion as a family of five, we'd all gathered around the Mac and watched a video about a tent Joe found on REI.com. As far as camping sales videos go, it was a glossy little number. Max and I were sold, anyway. The video showed us how the tent had pockets to hold thing, was light weight & durable and looked great all set up on the Caribbean beach. Most importantly, it had rooms! One big room for me, Joe and Wren. Plus a second littler room for Max and Otto. Just like at home the boys would get to sleep together in their own little tent room. They couldn't wait!
Upon finding our campsite at Interstate Park in Taylor's Falls, Joe got to work pitching the tent. What used to take under 5 minutes with our old tent turned into 105 minutes with the new tent.
But wait, I have to mention that the new tent is NOT the one we saw in the awesome video. Instead of buying that one, Joe found a deal and decided to buy a different one. One that didn't have an accompanying video to watch. Because if it had, we would have noticed that IT DIDN'T HAVE A FLOOR! Especially good to note given we arrived at our campsite just hours after torrential downpours soaked the place for the previous day and a half.
Anyway, although Max had made quick work of the putting the poles together, Joe was at a loss and could not figure out the rest of the tent. While trying to pitch the tent he still thought there was a floor, so it was throwing him for a loop as he tried and tried and tried to figure out how to stake the floor to the ground and pitch the sides/top of the tent. Eventually he realized what was going on and got it all figured out. Looks pretty good from the outside.
I've had a few people ask me, "What do you do when you camp? With three kids?" Well, they just love being outside and somehow stay very entertained in nature and in the new surroundings.
Our campsite was right next to a little river which was rushing really fast due to all the rain, so we tossed sticks in and watched how fast they floated down stream. We walked over the little footbridge. We followed the little river to the bigger river basin.
The boys pretended to water ski behind the car with the grate/straps.
They went on nature walks
They pretended to fish in one of the boats at the boat landing on the river.
They pretended to fish at our campsite.
They actually fished (no catches) in the river.
Time for a funny story. A story that's only funny told in hindsight.
Given we had very wet ground under us in the big room of the tent, Joe slept with Max and Otto in the little room. Myself and Wren slept in the big room of the tent without the floor. We started the night with me on an air mattress and Wren in her pack n play. But Wren started to rustle an hour after going to bed and she was cool to the touch (it happened to be a very brisk night). So I decided she'd sleep with me on the air mattress to make sure she stayed warm enough.
I was using a big down comforter as my blanket, folder over like a taco, with the open end opening towards the outside of the tent. Wren and I snuggled in, warmed up and fell asleep. But sometime during the middle of the night I awoke suddenly.
Wren wasn't on the mattress with me. My heart dropped. I felt right next to the side of the mattress, but she wasn't there either. OMFG! The tent doesn't have a floor, and the sides just have a clip every couple feet to attach to the frame. She could have rolled right out of the tent. She did roll right out of the tent. In the darkness I slid my hand under the bottom of the tent wall and sure enough, Wren was right there, 100% outside the tent. Sound asleep. How long had she been like that?!?! I have to tell myself that I must have woken because I felt her roll off the mattress. I can't stand the thought of her sleeping by herself outside the tent for any more than a few seconds, but it's entirely possible. So glad she had her sleep sack on. So effing glad I can laugh about this now. Modifications will be made to our sleep arrangements next time.
After the little "incident" she went on to sleep very well with me under the cozy duvet, which I rearranged so that she could not roll out of the tent.
The day before we left for camping, I was in a brainstorm with my colleague on Hamburger Helper. It was suggested that Helpers is a good camping food. So we decided to put that to the test... Otto LOVED the stuff!
In the morning Joe made pancakes, eggs, coffee and cereal.
Before heading home we went to the Glacial Potholes at Taylor's Falls and hiked around. We saw the river boats and lots of rock climbers. The boys had fun "bouldering" on the rocks and exploring the caves and crannies filled with water.
Wren had the best seat in the house...with a 5 point safety belt to make sure she wasn't going anywhere!
How did I miss the story of Wren falling out of the tent when I heard about the camping adventure? Too funny...(in hindsight...) I loved that she stayed sleeping through the whole thing too.
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