Our First Family Camping Trip

Monday night we went on our first ever family camping trip. After living in Colorado for 8 years, it was about time! My dad was in town and he planned to visit us for the weekend and then go camping so he could flyfish. I suggested that we all go, and he was so excited. I figured our first time with Noah would be easier with my dad, who has all the camping supplies you would want. All in all, I would call it mostly a success. Except for the whole sleeping thing. Brian and I got a huge family tent as a wedding gift which would have been perfect. However, in our search for the tent Monday morning, we realized it might still be in a storage container we haven't had delivered yet. Oops! So we ended up borrowing what Brian's friend described as a "three person tent." That's a generous description. It was a tight fit for the three of us, and Noah spent the first hour of the night turning his flashlight on and off, and asking Brian and I if we liked it on or off. He would happily turn it back off each time we asked him to, but then would complain that he couldn't see and turn it back on. Let's just say it was a long night!

 Noah liked to pretend he was helping set up the tent. Does it look like a three person tent to you? Ha.

 After the tent was set up, it was time to help Papa set up Noah's camping chair.

 He loved it!

 We found a silk worm crawling across the ground. Sadly, it kept getting attacked by red ants. Noah kept yelling that the "skirt worm" was in trouble and asked me to help it. I was able to fend off the ants for a while, but eventually nature ran its course. 

 Noah absolutely loved hanging out in the tent. A little too much come bed time!

 He also got a kick out of helping Daddy and Papa pump water at the well.

 Noah explained that Jake (from the Neverland Pirates) taught him to hold out your arms for balance. He walked around the pump like this for a looong time.

 Noah liked sitting in Papa's chair more than his own.

 He also liked helping set up the fly rod. Catching Papa was soooo funny!

 Obligatory meds photo. Years ago I would have never considered camping in the middle of a cycle. How things change.

 Noah told us a spooky story. They always start with "Once upon a time" and involve a monster, witch, or other creepy creature coming after us.

 Due to all of the fire bans in Colorado, we weren't allowed to have a campfire, so the old Coleman lantern had to do.

 As I said, I got very little sleep. Can you guess why?

 My dad made eggs and sausage for breakfast. This is why camping with him and all of his supplies seemed like a good choice for our first camping trip!

My dad fishing in Eleven Mile Canyon.

It's going to be a while before I get the motivation to go again. I need to forget the 2-3 miserable hours of sleep I got. Next time we definitely need our bigger tent so Noah can sprawl, toss, and turn without taking over my pillow or using my stomach as one! I know my dad absolutely loved being a part of Noah's first camping trip, so I'm really glad we did it though!