Happy Campers

Last weekend, our family took Kellen on his first camping adventure. Our ward had a camp out in honor of pioneer day. The campsite was perfect for kiddos. It had bathrooms, a pool, and nice lawns. It was great because the boys got to “go camping” without having to REALLY rough it. And it was quite close to home so we could make a quick escape in the night if they boys were having a hard time. But both of them did great! They loved every minute of their adventure.

First, Mason helped daddy set up the tent (which mostly meant trying to run off with the tent pole daddy needed at the moment). Then we had dinner and visited with friends. There was also LOTS of time for exploring. Mason, Kellen, and I roamed all over the place looking for duckeis (I’m not sure why Mason was so determined to find them, but he was certain that there were duckies SOMEWHERE around there), collecting rocks, playing on the swings, and run run running as fast as we could through the grass. Mason is is my little explorer, so he was in heaven. 


Kellen had a blast too. He loves being outside, and he loved facing outwards in the pack. He kept slapping his belly with glee and kicking his little legs as hard as he could. We were pretty confident that he would do okay sleeping in the tent, and he did awesome! We knew it would be a warm night, so we were all comfortable temperature wise. We set up pack n’ plays for both of the boys and set them on opposite ends of the tent. Kellen was so worn out from all our playing that he fell asleep right away and then slept through the night as usual. He woke up happy and ready to play some more!

Pretty much the only bad part of the trip was waking up to a BEAR inside our tent.

I kid, I kid. Obviously that was one of the best parts. Especially because he turned out to be a friendly bear.

So many ward members commented on what a good baby Kellen is. They were amazed that he was happy the whole time. That is just how he is; he is just content with life. He is so good natured and so easy going. I don’t think we would have attempted such an outing if we hadn’t been confident that Kellen would enjoy the experience. But we thought he would have a good time, and luckily he really did. 

Mason was SO excited to sleep in a tent. So much so, that he kept trying to pop into other people’s tents to see what their accommodations were like. He was so wound up that he had a harder time falling asleep than Kellen did. I sat outside the tent while they drifted off because I knew that Mason would never go to sleep if he could see me. But I could see him patting the walls of the tent and occasionally telling himself, “Go to sleep Mason.” He finally fell asleep, and then he got scared in the middle of the night when I had to unzip the tent so I could go use the restroom. I SO did not want to go because I feared that exact scenario. But I waited until I couldn’t wait any more. Luckily once he had Monkey and a song he was able to go back to sleep.

Mason and Spencer played in the hot springs while Kellen and I watched. I’d never been to a hot springs before, so it was interesting to see what they were like.

Mason wanted to go see the alpaca about two dozen times. Or as he called him “the goat.” Ha. He was a pretty cute fellow with his mop of crazy hair. Apparently, you get a free soda if you kiss him.

Mason spent a good chunk of time running around with some of the youth in the ward, and by the end of the trip he was walking everywhere like this:

He thought he was SO COOL to strut around with his hands in his pockets. I’m pretty sure he thinks he’s a teenager already. Especially, because another ward member let him sit on their motorcycle. He didn’t want to ever get off! Mason kept pointing to the road saying, “Wanna ride dat way.” I have no idea why he thinks motorcycles are so awesome because I can tell you that Spencer and I have never encouraged that one. But Mason is obsessed. He can hear even the faintest hum of a motorcycle and will not rest until he’s spotted it out the window.

By the end of the trip, both boys were exhausted and ready for sleep in their own beds. They were happy until the end, but all that playing certainly wore them out.

Mason has asked to go camping every day since we got back. Looks like we’ll have to plan another trip!