First Camping Trip

We took Kaelyn camping for the first time this weekend. We got a camper when she was really little, back in August. But we had yet to really use it. Sean and I used to enjoy camping quite a bit before Kaelyn arrived. We had a travel trailer we took on a couple of trips and used quite a bit around here camping on weekends. It burned up in a fire and since then we had been camperless. We have a trip to Colorado planned for July and we want to camp during that trip. We decided we'd better try the camper out and hope for the best! I think we were both concerned that we'd get no sleep. That was a valid concern with this kid!

We wanted to go to a nearby state park because
there's lots to do and it's not far away. Kaelyn and I went there during her afternoon nap on Friday to get a spot reserved and Sean came down after work. Kaelyn and I played around in the administration building for awhile. She had a good time running around. Then we went to the playground where we found some swings and that kept her happy as well. After Sean got there he got the camper set up and we grilled our supper. Kaelyn had a GREAT time exploring. She was just walking here and there and everywhere. Most of the time she'd hold on to my finger since we were in a new place, but she never slowed down! She was just trundling all over
the place!


When we finally went into the camper for the night she enjoyed doing laps in there. Back and forth, back and forth. I was starting to wonder if she'd ever get tired. But when the time came, I nursed her and threw her in the bed we made for her. She went "wah!" once and that was that. She fell asleep, butt in the air. She did scream a little on and off from 4:30-5:15. Sean had to pat her a little bit. But then she slept till 7am. Success! We all managed to sleep pretty decently! Sean and I were both pretty amazed. It went much better than we thought.

Unfortunately, Kaelyn did not enjoy her morning bath.

I figured that would be the case since we didn't have the duck bath tub. She just freaks out in a normal tub. She'll need to get used to it soon because she's outgrowing the blow up duck tub! But after that incident she was happy again. We played at the playground for awhile then went for a long walk so she could nap. She actually fell asleep half an hour earlier than I thought! All that exploring and "roughing it" wore her out, I guess! Sean and I were able to explore the campgrounds a little while Kaelyn snozed. It's a really nice place.

After that we grilled some lunch and explored a bit more.
I'm still amazed by how much Kaelyn walked around while we were there! We drove up to the lodge and another little building and by that time we needed to get packed up for the 2pm check out time. Sean took the camper to dump water etc and Kaelyn and I returned to the playground to swing until naptime. We drove home startging at 2:30 and she took her nap. We spend the rest of the afternoon unpacking at home. Sean and I agreed, camping was hard work for us! Even just one night! We had to take SO much and do SO much planning. But it was worth it. We had a lot of fun. And now the trip to Colorado doesn't make me quite as nervous! At least we know Kaelyn will sleep overnight so there's hope that the trip will go well! We now just have to hope that she does okay on such a long drive. I'm definitely dreading that part and hoping for a pleasant surprise.

We're thinking of going camping again in a few weeks for my birthday weekend. We'll probably see what the weather's going to do or if anything else comes up in the meantime. But I'm glad it went well and we actually had fun. It had potential to be a disaster! I'm glad Kaelyn seemed to really enjoy something Sean and I have always liked. She seems to be fitting in okay! :)