To camp or not to camp...

We took Brody on his first camping trip over the weekend. Well...what I really should be saying is we attempted taking Brody on his first camping trip, but with the assault of intermittent rain and cold weather, camping was cut short. If I am being completely truthful here, it wasn't just the weather, but the whole new challenge of camping with a baby. There have been moments throughout our nearly 10 month adventure of being parents where it really hits us; like Wow, this parenting business has completely changed our lives, or this is so much more challenging than we had expected. Camping was one of those moments. Jeff and I camped quite a bit during the past few years and one of the top things ringing in my mind is how out in the mountains we felt freedom and relaxation. We were so excited to share camping with Brody, looking forward to all the things we love about camping and getting to include the little person who has stolen our hearts. I wasn't expecting it to be the same but at the same time I wasn't expecting the slap of reality either. Camping with an baby who is crawling and fascinated with all things life is....interesting. It's a constant watch party. Add two crawling, curious babies and you feel like there is NO relaxing. Pulling mini pine cones of out baby mouths....not exactly the relaxing freedom we were looking forward to. Watching their complete fascination with their new surroundings though, pretty wonderful. Watching Brody stare at the creek, silenced by the rumbling of the rushing water, apparent that he knows water, but not quite sure of it in this wild untamed form. Those moments, totally worth it. But the watch game, its an adjustment. Camping is no longer just for us. It's for him. It's sharing a part of "our" thing with our baby. Teaching him the beauty of the outdoors. Raising him to appreciate it and to long for summer weekends spent under the stars. We'll do it again. And each time we take him camping, we will learn things that will make it easier. Our we going to have adjust how we are use to camping? Probably. Do we need to upgrade to a bigger tent? YES! Our little compact 3 man tent, not going to cut it. Am I excited to continue sharing experiences with Brody? Oh yeah! So ya know, I'm not going to call our first camping trip a failure. Just a huge lesson. A reminder that we are a new little family and we have some growing to do. Hopefully we can do that with grace and enjoyment. Instead of getting frustrated with the adjustments, I hope we find appreciation. I want nothing more than to pass down our love for camping and the outdoors to our little man. Mountains, we'll be seeing you soon. 

Brody's first time in the pack

Yay for the outdoors

Brody & Harper discovering pine cones

Remi's the best little camping dog

Dad's on baby duty? Yes, Please!

Snuggling next to the fire