Camping in Pictures, days 1 & 2

Last weekend we took Heather for her second camping trip. We went to the same place that we've been going for 8 years. It is possible that we will branch out at some point, but with a toddler it is nice to go someplace familiar.

Also, the grandparents are conveniently located on our way, so we were able to stop for two visits over the course of the weekend.

As soon as we get there, Heather points to the swing in the gazebo.

After a lite lunch, Heather took a dip in the pool with her daddy. The water was warmer than our last visit.

When she was done, Heather was very anxious to get her towel laid out "just so" and enjoy a little time in the sunshine.

What's a visit at Grandma's without a frozen treat at the end?

We got to camp within an hour of Heather's bedtime, so I was feeling a bit rushed to get water, firewood and food in her belly before a meltdown. But the new environment was enough to keep her entertained. Although she did get a little mad that she couldn't be the one to carry the water jug back to the campsite. :-)

We started day 2 with some fruit and some books at the campsite.

And we decided that we should take advantage of the cooler morning air for our first hike. We started with a shorter hike around the peninsula since it took us a little while to get our act together and we didn't really know how Heather would respond. Everytime we got near the lake, she would start doing her version of "quack, quack", but sadly there weren't any ducks to be seen there like there are at the lake near our house.

After a little while in the backpack, she felt the need to explore on her own two feet.


She seemed to be getting tired, but a nap wasn't successful. So we had some lunch and headed to the beach.

Digging in the sand is serious work.



So it is nice to take a dip in the water to cool off after all that effort. Lakes are especially nice because they are shallow enough to walk in, even when you're less than 3 feet tall. :-)

There is a little playground near the beach, too. It doesn't have an infant swing, but Heather can swing slowly on the big ones with daddy's supervision.

It was definitely naptime when we returned to the campsite after all of that. Our friends Tom and Rachel arrived while Heather was sleeping and I was doing some work.

Once Heather was enough we decided we had enough time for another hike before dinner. This time I took a turn with the backpack.

This time she lasted longer in the backpack. But given the short nap the day before and the short nap this afternoon, Heather just didn't have a full hike in her and she was too overtired to fall asleep in the backpack.

So I used the second nap of the day to start a dinner fire and get a shower. Heather's favorite part of campfire food was the baked sweet potato. Silly girl didn't even want to try a perfectly roasted marshmallow!