First Camping Trip

Over Memorial Day weekend, we went on our first camping trip as a family. Jake and I always really enjoyed camping together before having kids, but going with three babies seemed like a little more of a daunting task. However, when the opportunity presented itself, we just couldn't say no. Our friends, the Goulds, invited us to go with them to their land up in Strawberry (near Payson), AZ, and it ended up being so much fun! I nearly chickened out at the last minute when I started feeling overwhelmed at the amount of work I had cut out for me, but I knew that if I could just get myself over my mental hurdles with preparing, I wouldn't regret going. It turned out I was right. It was time for us to spread our wings a little as a family of five, and it was the perfect first camping experience. Seriously, it could not have gone better given our circumstances. It definitely helped that our hosts are such a fun, friendly, and prepared bunch; that their camping land had well water, a ramada, a fireplace, swings for the kids, and picnic tables; that Russ is a Scout Master and helped Jake pitch our "Tent Mahal" (10 person, 3 room tent); and that we were lent a backpack carrier for Jake to carry Ariana our our hike. Really, I just get so relieved when things go well (and I mean very well) that I could go on and on and on. And I will, so bear with me for a minute. We got to Strawberry around mid-day on Saturday. We set up camp and went shooting. I hit the bulls eye every time (okay, that's a lie). That evening, it rained (the one and only time on the whole trip) as we were eating dinner under the ramada beside a roaring fire. Then we put the kids to bed and spent the rest of the night making s'mores and hanging out. The kids slept surprisingly great both nights. I'm pretty sure that they were just so worn out from missing their naps that they were out cold. Each of the twins had their own pack-n-play in their own separate room in the tent. It was chilly at night, so they wore 3 pairs of pajamas, 2 pairs of socks, and cuddled under 6 blankets a piece. Bella slept with us. On Sunday, we went on a hike with the Goulds after breakfast, and the weather was beautiful -- sunny and mid 70's. We got some great family pictures from the hike, but as luck would have it, they (and about 20 other pictures) got deleted -- boo. At the campgrounds, Gabe was hardly ever by our side. He had an adorable grin plastered on his face for pretty much the entire duration of the trip. He played with the other kids in the dirt, watched "motorcycles" (quads) come and go, played with toy trucks, chased someone's pet piglet "Lulu" everywhere she went, went crazy naming things in nature (always novel); played around in the tent excitedly announcing that he was "camping"; and helped shoot the potato cannon (which he's still talking about to this day). Ariana also loved the novelty of camping and being out in the wilderness. She loved rolling around in the tent, giggling the entire time; swinging in the toddler swings and hammoks under the ramada; being carried piggyback in the backpack carrier; and being with other kids. Isabella enjoyed being passed around from one doting set of arms to another.I always expected that once we got on the trip (assuming we steered clear of catastrophes), we would have a great time. What surprised me was how relaxing the trip turned out to be. Yes, I actually felt like I was getting a break. Don't get me wrong, a ton of preparation went into it, and we were still "on" the whole time we were there (as in, doing the parenting thing), but it was just so refreshing to have that much of a change of scenery that in some ways, it seemed like a vacation. More pictures to come!