little one’s first camping trip ~ sort of

Tent camping has always been high on my list of things I really enjoy.

Through the years Chris and I have gone from a two man tent on pitched on the beaches of Hawaii…to, well, a BIG family tent.

Our oldest four kids all went camping before they were 6 months old, we thought it was time to introduce Little One.

Part of the reason I’ve always enjoyed camping is the relaxation and simplicity of it all. My favorite trips were those that we only took a backpack and a tent. We can’t quite camp like that with kids. The amount of needed supplies keeps growing. And the time just sitting by the fire with a book and a cup of coffee keeps getting smaller. Actually at this point, it is non-existent.

It was a beautiful day and I hope the photos from our time capture that beauty. What the photos don’t show is the crying that began at bedtime. The 3 year old girl that threw up in her sleeping bag. And the totally stressed out mom that loaded three young kids in a mini van and drove them home in the dark – leaving the older boys and their dad to enjoy the campsite. I used to be a camping snob – the kind that thought it is not real camping unless you are under the sky or under a tent. Well, now I’ve decided we are going to have to stay in a cabin or find a RV before the next trip.

So, I’m not sure that this will count as Little One’s first camping trip. That is okay. Hopefully, we’ll have more trips in the future….when everyone is a bit older!

~ the horse pictures were taken with my iPhone, the rest with my Canon 5D