Where the Wild Things Are

 Over Labor Day weekend, we went on a little camping trip with my brother's family. Neither of our kids have ever been camping, so we thought it would be a fun adventure. Sadie loves watching and copying my nieces Violet (4) and Jackie (18 months), and Violet is always looking out for her and giving her lots of hugs. It's the sweetest thing! 

 

  

We headed up toward Strawberry, AZ right after church on Sunday and found a great spot near Kehl Springs just as the sun was setting. We quickly set up our tents and got the fire going while it was still somewhat light out. The weather was cool and beautiful the entire time we were up there. For dinner, Will and I stuck to our easy hot dog meal but enjoyed some nibbles from Glenn and Afton's tin foil dinners. Then we all roasted marshmallows and made s'mores over the fire. We were so happy to camp in a place without fire restrictions. I feel like the best parts of camping revolve around the fire. We had a great time talking and playing "Smurf" after we put the 2 youngest to bed in our tents. It was good to get some one-on-one adult time with my brother and sister-in-law since we've hardly seen each other the last 4 & 1/2 years while we've been living in different states. 

Sadie surprisingly fell asleep without a peep for a couple of hours while we stayed up late by the fire. I figured she wouldn't sleep well, but my main concern was her being too cold. I don't have any fleece pajamas in her size (in Arizona, stores don't usually come out with those until the end of fall..) so I had her in a long sleeve one-sie outfit and 2T size pullover (aka hoodie turned dress on our bitty babe) with knee-high socks on over and lots of blankets around. Surprisingly, she stayed underneath the blankets and didn't move around too much in her sleep during those first few hours. We kept the top cover off the tent so that we could stargaze through the mesh layer of it. The stars were incredible where we camped.

When Will and I went to our tent around midnight and got settled into our sleeping bags, then Sadie wanted to play. Thinking back on it now, it must have looked pretty hilarious. She was climbing all over me, sitting on my face, and chatting up a storm while I was laying there motionless in the dark trying not to get her even more riled up. This must have gone on for at least an hour and somehow Will managed to sleep through it. I just kept laying her down next to me in my sleeping bag and cuddling her until she would sit back up again. Eventually, she gave in to sleep and we all got a few hours before the sun started to come up. 

Afton, Violet, and I woke up at about the same time and got the fire up and going again. Everyone else woke up pretty soon after (Sadie last) and we all had hot oatmeal for breakfast. Sadie woke up with a dirty, daze face. It was so funny! It's crazy how dirty a little person can get while camping! It didn't really bother me as I'm usually the one saying "Kid's are supposed to get dirty" and "It will build up her immunity". Will is much more of a clean freak than me and tried his best to wipe her down every now and then. 

 

After breakfast, Afton and I took Violet (and Max! How could I forget to include him until now!?) out exploring. We saw a few squirrels and strayed off the trail for a bit. While we were gone, Glenn and Will played some horseshoes while watching the two youngest. We didn't stay up there very long in the morning, because we didn't want to hit traffic on the drive home. It felt like the perfect amount of time for a first camping trip with kids. We had a great time with my brother's family and hope that the next time we go, even more of my family can come.