Evan's first camping trip June 11th, 2010

For Paul's birthday, Megan organized a camping trip. We did the same last year when I was 7 months pregnant! I had to do a lot of prep to make sure I had everything that Evan could possibly need--and then some! I hit a consignment shop for some thermals and a sleep sac for Evan and struck gold! I was not prepared to spend $100 on Patagonia gear for the baby, and luckily did not have to...$4 for the thermals, $4 for the fleece, $7 for the sleep sac. All gently used. I think I found a new favorite place to shop for him...but I digress...

We went to Chalk Lake, down near Buena Vista (pronounced Be-yuna Vista). It's a 2-3 hour drive. Leaving Friday morning was Jon, Matt, Paul & Megan, and us. Monica and Kieran, and Dinelle and Alex were due to arrive later that day. We secured a few campsites and set up camp. Once we got everything set up we decided to take a little family-friendly hike to the base of a little mountainside waterfall. We put Evan in a carrier that we borrowed from Paul & Megan and went. Evan loved being in the carrier and the dogs were loving off-leash time (there were 5 dogs between all of us!). Evan fell asleep on the way down and stayed asleep for a bit after we got back to camp, so we left him in the carrier on Shawn's back until he woke up.

We hung out and Evan did a great job just hanging out and observing this new scenery around him. He's such a laid back kid, so it made for a fun experience. We were ready to pack up and head home if things took a turn but we ended up staying the entire weekend despite the crazy weather we had.

Yes, for the first time in 3 years we had a soggy weekend of camping...and it happened on Evan's first trip! Luckily, we are easy-going and have friends who are too so we made the most of it and ended up having a blast!

Let me back up though--Friday was going great until later that night when it decided to start raining (luckily it was after dinner and s'more cupcakes I made for Paul's bday). We all called it a night and went to our tents. The wind, the rain, the thunder and lightning--wow! Luckily, it didn't wake up little one, but late that evening we see bright lights and then hear "Jonny Raz"! It's Alex and Dinelle who are trying to make sure they set up camp in the right spot--in the pouring rain!!! I felt so bad for them--I would have just slept in the damn car. Props to them for getting it set up in the dark, rainy, windy night! Once everything died down and we were sound asleep, Evan decided to wake up. It was about 330 a.m. He couldn't get himself back to sleep so we took him out of his pack and play and he ended up falling asleep on Shawn's chest. He slept that way until morning.

We all got up and had a quick nibble (pb&j's) for breakfast, then the group (minus Alex & Dinelle and Evan & I) headed to summit Mt. Antero--a 14,000 foot peak. It started to sprinkle and it was a few degrees chillier than Friday. Alex and Dinelle helped me clean up and then we went back to our tents to wait out the rain. At about 8 am I put Evan down for a nap and decided to join him because I really had nothing else to do...10 a.m. we wake up and it's still raining! So much for making a fire for breakfast and hanging out outside. I thought about what to do--we had already played in the tent for a while before nap and it was getting boring so I made a decision: I got Evan changed and got myself together and got in the car. I drove down to Alex and Dinelle's site and asked them if they were up for going into town for some brunch--Alex told me I read their minds, lol! We drove into town, had a yummy breakfast and relaxed. By the time we got back, the group was back.  Turns out, there were blizzard conditions and they all had to turn back before they could summit. 

By the way, it's still raining! We tough through it and make a fire and get out all the food...then we finally decide to get creative with some tarps and string and create a little shelter from the rain. Donned in ponchos, we are all buzzing around the campsite doing various things. There comes a point where we are all standing around the campfire, trying to stay warm and dry, deliberating whether we want to pack up in this mess or tough it out. Alex and Dinelle call it quits--it's her 2nd camping trip, EVER, so I'm sure she's thinking "screw this!". If we, the seasoned campers, were debating, I know she was like "I'm out of here!". As we're debating, Kieran comes back from a bar in town (watching some soccer) with a jug of beer called a "growler". We passed it around the campfire and I think it was then that we decided we were just going to tough it out.  At one point, we all crowded into Paul and Megan's tent, passed around bottles of booze and snacks, laughed, and stayed dry and warm. The rain slowed down enough for us to get some dinner going and we ended up spending the rest of the evening hanging out in our ponchos, wet and giddy. All the while, Evan had his naps and we managed to keep him dry and warm the entire time.

We woke up Sunday to the sun peaking through and we were able to pack up camp in the warm sun! Overall, it was a very fun, wet weekend and Evan is truly an awesome kid to allow me to say all of that! I have to give a lot of credit to my friends for picking a family-friendly site and not once rolling an eye or sighing because of any crying or modifications we had to make for baby.  Looks like we have more camping trips ahead of us this summer =)

Pics soon...in the meantime, check out my Flickr photostream...