This weekend was Lexi’s first camping experience out at Otter Falls. Shan and I actually honeymooned there when we got married and as much as I want to tell Lexi she was conceived there, the math just doesn’t work out.

It was also the first time we had ever been camping with a 1.5 year old. Thank the Lord we bought that van! On top of our usual gear we also needed to make room for the pack n’ play, the stroller, a bin of toys, a tiny camp chair, a screen tent, and an inflatable turtle. Not to mention all kinds of special food, clothes, and diaper stuff. The van was completely maxed out with just enough room for Vegas beside the baby seat. I really wish now that I had taken a picture of that pack job (I could use it next time).

It took a little more time to set up than normal too. We confined Lex to her pack n’ play while we got the tent set up and after that I did as much as I could by myself. There is also this extra sense of awareness that comes with having a camping baby. You are so much more aware of the sun and the bugs than ever before. We were constantly making sure she was wearing a hat and scanning her for mosquitoes every 30 seconds. They still managed to get her a couple times but for the most part the bugs weren’t that bad until the evening.

At night Shan would take her to bed and lie with her for a bit. When she started dozing she would come back out and join us around the fire. The first night I think we woke her up when we came back in the tent and then she slept with us for a couple hours. The second night she slept 11 hours and woke us up around 8am for breakfast. It was awesome.

We had some fun at the beach floating around and learned all about the dangers of fire. She was very aware that the fire was HOT and stayed clear of it without too many reminders from mom and dad. She also learned how to drink from a water bottle and how to bounce on just about anything inflatable. She learned the joys of eating our breakfast outside and hanging out on our chairs talking with good friends.

Can’t wait to do it all again next weekend at Great Woods Park.