Camping

We had summer here for about a week. It's gone again, but I have dreams that it will come back. And when it does, I want to head out the door with a tent and some hot dogs. I need to go camping this summer.
Last summer, we had no camping trips. It's hard with Matt's and my schedules for us to have a day off at the same time. This year, we still don't have the same days off, but at least we have consecutive days off, so we're going to make another trip.

Another reason we skipped out is that camping with a 1 1/2 year old is HARD. I will never forget Anne Marie's first camping trip. It was Glacier National Park. Don't get me wrong — we had a good time. We always do. But there were some tough parts.

First, we got there in the afternoon, after having attended a wedding the day before. For a few minutes, Anne Marie "helped" put up the tent.

From Glacier trip

Then, she lost interest and wanted attention, but it really takes two people to set up a camp quickly. So soon she was wandering around, crying. By the time the tent was up, she was pretty well a mess.

So we decided to take a family portrait. She wasn't pumped.

From Glacier trip

Hoping to make the evening a bit better, we did the desperate move, and bought her this overpriced hat in the visitor's center. It helped a bit.

From Glacier trip

At Glacier, the Going to the Sun Highway is like Old Faithful is in Yellowstone. Everyone goes. This is as far as we got:

From Glacier trip

Then, Anne Marie started screaming. The rapid ascent was hurting her little ears. So, we turned around and went to the side of Glacier no one ever sees. It wasn't the beautiful gigantic mountains Glacier is known for, but it was nice and quiet.

The trip wasn't peaceful, but it was still fun. On that other side of Glacier, in the middle of absolute nowhere along a dirt road, we found a bakery with the most delicious scones and cookies. It was almost like a movie. We drove and drove, and, out of nowhere, this wooden building appeared with hippies playing guitars and ukeleles outside. Weird, but so was the whole trip.

We opted not to give Thomas the exhausting, emotional experience of being an 18-month old camper. This year, however, he is ready to go. Camping with a 4 and 2-year old is much more awesome, right?