This weekend we traveled to Williams, AZ, to Dogtown Lake for our first camping trip with Ada. It was a toddler camping weekend! Our friends the Sages and the Goffs joined us with their toddlers in tow also. The Gautreaux Group arrived late evening Friday and set up the tent by the glow of headlights while the Goffs and Sages sat by the fire and the kids played. Saturday we had a rough morning: lot of tired munchkins and parents creates lots of whining, crying, and impatience. We couldn't get the kids to nap, so the kids dispersed to their respective cars and were driven around for naps. The afternoon was fantastic. The kids played in the tents and the woods and whatever while the adults sat in chairs, went for walks, and just generally enjoyed being in a life where we get to go camping and our kids ran around in a dirt patch in the trees.
Ada slept in her sleeping bag for the most part -- the second night was better once I figured out she didn't like the slippy feel of the sleeping bag interior and made an adjustment.
The kids were incredibly respectful of the camp fires but had a lot of trouble with the little boulders around the campsites. Many bandaids were dispatched, regardless of need, and after a while they seemed to figure out how to walk more purposefully around them.
We have a few additions to add to our camping gear, but overall, the new tent was great! Our old stuff still worked, and our new camping buddy was a trooper. Here are some of the better photos from the weekend. They could use a little cropping and toning ... but overall you can see we had a great weekend!
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| Ada asleep in MY sleeping bag after the first night. On night 2, she slept in her own sleeping bag. |
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| Sophie contemplating the fire. |
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| Friends by the fire. |
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| Parental overseeing of friend by the fire. |
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| A view of our campsite. |
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| A view of our campsite and the orientation to the Sage's site over yonder. |
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| Crossing the rocky boulder to visit Julian at their site. That camper is not theirs. The new swanky REI tent is. |
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| Reading in the tent. |
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| Julian checks it out. |
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| Julian, not enthralled. |
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| Damon and Sophie by the water. |
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| Kate pondering the water. She's due around Halloween. Another camper! |
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| The kids loved throwing rocks into the water. I figured they scared the fish towards the fisherman on the banks. |
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| Osprey were swooping around the water. I didn't see any of them dive but we saw one fly away with a fish. Later on during a hike, Joy found a fish in the woods with talon marks. |
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| The yellow flowers were like a carpet. |
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| Julian and Jeffrey have a little walk. |
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| I liked these gnarled roots. |
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| Ada enjoying a ginormous marshmallow. |
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| Shot of her camping woulds. She and Sophie had a lot of scrapes on their legs after the weekend of scrambling around in nature. |
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| Looking up from my camp chair. |
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| Camping poodle! The kids enjoyed walking Lily around. Lily enjoyed nothing. |
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| In the evening we went back to the water. Ada decided she needed to be carried ... on my shoulders. |
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| Camping families! From left: Jeffrey, Ada, me, Kate, Sophie, Damon, Ryan, Joy, Julian. |
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| Sitting by the fire, waiting for it to die down before we went to sleep. Ada didn't like going to sleep in the tent by herself, so she would snuggle in by the fire waiting for us to turn in. |
