Happy Campers

Collin went on his first camping trip over Easter Weekend (the 18th-19th). It was just for one night but the perfect opportunity to see how Collin would handle it. And he was a pretty happy little camper! We went with a huge group from our ward- there were about 60 people. And camped at the Kerrville Schreiner Park along the Guadalupe River about an hour north of the city.

We got there mid-afternoon Friday, set up camp and then headed over to the river. We enjoyed the sunshine by the river for a couple of hours, went for a little kayak ride, saw a whole bunch of turtles, and introduced Collin to a body of water other than his bath tub. He liked it and splashed around for a few minutes. But it was a little chilly so we didn't keep him in for long and then we warmed up snuggling together in the chair.

After a long week of late nights at work, Collin was loving all the time he got with Daddy! 

One family brought some kayaks. Michael and I took one out to see the turtles everyone was talking about- there were even some cute baby ones! 

Notice the spit up...Becca caught it at the perfect time! 

We headed back to camp, cooked up our yummy tin foil dinners (we like this recipe) and got Collin ready for bed. He didn't go to bed as easily as he does at home, but he wasn't terrible, so we can't complain. He went down around 7, but probably didn't fall asleep until 8:30 when it started getting dark. I had to go in a couple times to comfort him, but he finally put himself to sleep. 

After Collin was asleep with played a game with our friends and camping neighbors, the McLemore's, sat around the campfire, ate some yummy dutch oven peach cobbler and enjoyed the beautiful evening with friends. Seriously the weather was perfect for being outside! 

Our peach cobbler 

I can't say I slept very well that night. But that's usually the case with camping. We probably didn't actually climb into our sleeping bags till almost midnight, and then I couldn't fall asleep. And then Collin started crying around 5. I eventually pulled him into bed with me around 5:30, warmed up his poor little hands (they were so cold even with his little mittens), nursed him, and then we both fell asleep again from about 6:30-7:30. Honestly that last hour of sleep was probably the best sleep I got all night. And I of course loved falling asleep with his little head snuggled close to mine!

That morning we enjoyed a big group breakfast. With pancakes, fruit and dutch oven dishes. Of course Michael and I had to make a dutch oven dish. We tried this recipe, and it was delicious! Word had gotten around that Michael and I had taken a dutch oven cooking class at BYU so everyone was excited to try the "expert's" dish. I wouldn't call us experts, but we certainly love to take advantage of any opportunity we have to use our dutch ovens! There was talk of next year doing a dutch oven potluck dinner! I say we make it a dutch oven cook off.

The stroller was perfect for keeping Collin contained, off the ground, and happy! 

By noon we had packed up camp (I just have to mention that Collin was such a great baby and took an almost 2 hour nap in the car- with the windows all open, of course!- while we were taking down camp) and were headed to the river again. The weather wasn't quite as warm as the day before so we didn't put on swim suits again, but we enjoyed sitting along the river, talking with friends, eating our picnic lunch and watching the kids who were braving the cold water! 

 

Collin is a grab-anything-he-can-get-his-hands-on phase! 

It was such a fun little getaway and it felt so nice to get out of the city for awhile. Collin was such a happy camper that there will definitely be more family camping trips in our future! Plus, we have a nice new (rather large) tent to enjoy!