Camping 101

A couple of summers ago while we were backpacking in the Olympic National Park we ran into a family who was backpacking with a baby. I couldn't believe it! They said they went camping with her for the first time when she was only 10 weeks old. They said it was very possible but you needed some good friends without kids along to help out. It made Adam and I excited to see that we could do this with a little baby too! So we did it, well we went car camping this past weekend and Corbin was only 7 1/2 weeks old! Good thing we also have friends without kids too!

Jill & Paul, Julie, Jerry, & Juneau, and the Shaffer gang packed up the cars, the canoe, the two dogs, one baby, and lots of food on Friday and hit the road to North Cascades National Park and Colonial Creek Campground. We felt like we were missing a few because Becky, Kevin, & Brody were unable to join us. Maybe next time. Friday was super nice and warm. We set up camp and Corbin watched and was super trooper.

We checked out the campground and had to stop for some stick throwing and swimming for Brindzi from Adam and Corbin.

Juneau watched as Brindzi swam. He seemed like he wanted to go in but just couldn't quite bring himself to do it.

Like I said before, Corbin was super trooper. He just hung out and enjoyed the sites. He hardly fussed at all unless he was hungry. Here he is in his Pea-pod.

We set up our two person tent but when Corbin took a nap it was quite clear that we (Adam, Corbin, Brindzi, and I) would not all fit inside.

Good thing Julie & Jerry brought their Castle car camping tent! It saved us! We now have to invest in a car camping tent.

We ate some great meals! We even attempted to make some ice cream...but didn't have quite enough ice to make it work. Adam and Paul did have fun throwing the ice cream ball around for almost 40 minutes though. But it did taste pretty damn good! How can you really go wrong with cream, sugar, and vanilla!

Juneau was also a puppy trooper. It's amazing how dirty a little puppy can get :-)

Jerry got some good fires going. I think he won the vote to be in charge of the fires, or at least the stick:-)

Napping away.

The first night it was pretty warm. Here Adam is getting Corbin was getting ready for bed. After which we sat around the fire and talked religion and other deep thoughts. Our sleeping that night went pretty good. I found that the crazy creek chair makes a pretty good nursing chair! And with all the room in the castle, our night time routine wasn't so bad.

The second day after a yummy breakfast of eggs, french toast, and sausage, we got ready for a hike up to Thunder Knob. Right when we got going, it started to rain. But because when I had looked at the forecast I only saw sunshine (it was a week before) we were not prepared for rain. I somehow forgot to bring our rain jackets. So instead of dealing with a wet baby, we decided to stay in the Castle until the rain cleared up. Brindzi got to go on the hike without us.

So instead we napped in the tent until the rain stopped. We then ventured out to Thunder Knob and found our group headed down when we were almost to the top. They said it was cold and windy at the top, so we headed back down with them too. It started to rain as we ate lunch. Again, Julie saved us and lent us a jacket to keep Corbin dry.

We all piled into the tent minus the dogs and played some games, took naps, and just hung out while the rain kept falling. It rained on and off the rest of the time. The Castle had a few leaks we had to fix with the tarp. We also had to bundle Corbin up, but he kept warm and dry. Brindzi and Juneau had to spend some time out in the rain and Brindzi got all depressed when she finally was allowed back in the tent. It rained pretty hard that night. Corbin slept like a champ and had his record night of 7+ hours of sleep. We must have tired him out with all the camping and game playing! We woke up to a damp morning but no more rain.

Everyone helped out so much with Corbin! It was a great first time camping trip! We were supposed to stay one more night but I wasn't sure I wanted to be wet and damp for one more day with a baby. The weather looked pretty similiar with rain showers. You can only spend so much time in the castle. All in all, it was great fun! I am excited to show Corbin picutres from his first camping trip at not even 2 months old!

We are now ready to not go anywhere for the weekend for a while. Three weekends in a row being gone was a little too much! Jed comes tonight to meet his nephew! We have a trip up to Lynden for the the fair planned for the day but other than that, we are here for a while. Corbin has his 2 month doctor appointment tomorrow too. We have to make some vaccine decisions. And now as I write this, we have a leak in our hot water heater....oh no! I will keep you posted on that....