Camping

We went camping!  It was just for one night, but we really needed to do it and see if we could survive.  We haven't camped since Emmett was born, but before that we did it fairly often and did some backpacking.  Emmett wasn't a good sleeper as a baby and excitement and overstimulation always made it much worse.  The one time we tried in our backyard with him, a little before he was two, was awful.  So we have just avoided it.  Ezra is a much better sleeper, although a "busier" (that's the nice way of putting it) toddler.

Ezra is holding a ladybug

 Anyways Thursday night we got stuff ready.  Jim packed the car (our camping stuff was all pretty organized already) and I got some food ready.  Friday morning we headed out after breakfast.  While Jim and the boys got gas, I got a few last minute items; camping specific toys (a football and plastic dinosaurs), juice boxes and firewood.  We weren't sure how fast campsites get taken and how often they fill up, so we chose a general area to camp but not a specific campground.  The first campground was nestled beside the Henry's Fork of the Snake river and had lots of nice spots available.  We claimed one and set up camp.

 We set up the pack and play first to contain Ezra and got out the new toys for the boys while we set up the tent.  We explored the campground a little, walked a trail by the river, and watched an osprey that was fishing.  By then it was time for lunch so we ate the snack style lunch I had planned.  The boys were getting tired so after lunch we hopped in the car to do some sight-seeing/napping.  We drove all the way around Henry's lake, something we had never done before.  Then we drove down to Big Springs.  The boys woke up in time to get out and see that beautiful area.

 The Johnny Sack cabin was open and we had never been inside that, so we went on a short walk to tour it.  The boys liked walking around and seeing the amazingly clear water and Emmett spotted some of the fish.

Watching the beautiful, clear water bubble up

Emmett laid on his belly like the teenagers to get a good view

Harassing a grasshopper

We got back to camp and started a fire to cook dinner.  Emmett is our little firefighter but also very cautious.  He stood WAY back when Jim started the fire.  I had made up some chicken and veggie tin foil dinners and the boys had a cheese burrito.  While dinner was cooking the boys played in the tent and had lots of fun.  We had our queen size air mattress, which seems like luxury camping to us, but not compared to all the nice RVs!  Our campground was mostly elderly couples in RVs, there were only a few other tents and we didn't actually see any other kids.  The campground was closed to ATVs, so it was nice and quiet and maybe that is why we didn't see other young families?  All the elderly people seemed to get a kick out of seeing our boys. 

After dinner we made s'mores.  Then we went on another walk and watched a raft come down the river and land right near us.  It felt like we were sort of killing time until we could put the boys to bed.  Emmett was easy and fun to camp with at his age, but Ezra was hard to contain. 

At bedtime we got the boys in pajamas and read to them.  We decided to just go to bed too as it was getting dark and we didn't want to wake them up zipping and unzipping the tent.  So we all went to bed and they slept great!  I was planning on Ezra not staying warm enough, but he stayed asleep until 3 in the morning.  Then he cozied up with me and slept until about 7.  Emmett slept all night and stayed warm enough.  I was so surprised (and thankful) with how uneventful the night was.

Jim got up and got the fire going to cook breakfast.  We had breakfast burritos, oatmeal and camping donuts.  Emmett was really excited about the donuts, he had three.  Ezra loves instant oatmeal packets, so we had two overjoyed boys.

After breakfast we played in the tent and got it all packed up while Jim packed up the rest of camp.  We headed for Mesa Falls and Emmett was excited to go see a waterfall.  It was beautiful and sunny, we've had a lot of smoke at home from far away fires, but there wasn't any smoke up there. 

We walked to the brink of Upper Mesa Falls and hiked around a little there.

There were lots of stairs and lots of good views.

The "Inn" is now a state park interpretive center with lots of things to look at and lots of things to touch.

We ate a picnic lunch at the state park and then stopped one last time at the viewpoint for Lower Mesa Falls.  Ezra slept all the way home and we had plenty of time left in the day to get unpacked and do some things around the house.