I have always loved camping. I used to camp 5 or 6 times each summer while in college. Since getting married (especially after having kids) my camping adventures quickly ended. It’s not that I didn’t like camping anymore, but going camping on a whim is more difficult when responsibilities towards others are a priority. Also, camping with small children sounded more exhausting than just staying home.
All that changed this week when we found out Braxton had an extra day off for the July 4th holiday weekend. Suddenly we found ourselves with a great opportunity to try out camping with kids. We went to Seaquest State Park in Washington State July 1-July 3, 2020 (It was nice because they have running water bathrooms that include showers). Here are the pictures from that adventure… and let me just add, I remembered how much I LOVE camping and we are definitely doing it again. Enjoy!
This is our beautiful campsite. We purchased an 8 person octagon shaped tent. It’s 6’10” in the center. This means Braxton can comfortably stand inside. It was perfect for our family. Also…so many really tall trees!!The kids LOVED the tent. It was very spacious and they took full advantage of running everywhere.We have this headlamp that turns on by finger motion instead of a button. Braxton and I struggled getting it to turn on. It didn’t matter how we moved our finger…it wouldn’t turn on, ARGH!So, of course baby turned it on. What she did, I have no idea. She needs to teach us oldies how to use modern technology hahaha.It’s kind of blurry because Tyler was moving as the picture was being taken. Here are the kids, absolutely thrilled with the idea that there is a bed inside the tent.The first evening at the campsite was kind of misty raining. Not enough to get soaked, but enough to feel like you were in a grocery store produce section. We decided to walk around the lake that had a “great” view of Mount St. Helens. Since we try to get an annual picture of our family by Mount St. Helens (and the Corona Virus shutting things down) we thought this would be a great opportunity to get our family picture here. Here it is…in all it’s glory.I was a bit worried about keeping munchkin warm through the night. I put a set of clothes on under her pajamas and wrapped her in her sleep blanket. It still wasn’t enough. So…into our sleeping bag she came. Let’s just say 2 adults and 2 kids on one queen sized air mattress wasn’t the ideal comfort. That being said, everyone being warm and sleeping was a success.Here we are in the morning. I wouldn’t say I had the best nights sleep, but munchkin did.After a yummy breakfast of cereal and milk we decided to go on a hike. Braxton picked a trail that looked long enough to be fun, but not too long to be exhausting. He picked up Tyler, I strapped Carolynn to me and off we went….on an adventure!Carolynn is so excited for the new things she’ll see.This is the picture I got when I said “look over here and smile” hahaha… I love my boys. Here is the map we used to pick the trail.So magical! I loved it! I grew up in Utah and I thought I knew green and trees. Nope! This place was amazing! I totally LOVED it.Tyler exploring on his own.
Along the way we found all kinds of cool things! Slugs, snails,twin trees, mushrooms (I mean…they really grow out of trees like that? What!? I thought that was only in the movies), and wildflowers. So many beautiful things!Mid-hike Carolynn needed to be fed (I’ll talk about this on another post). After getting her tummy full, this is her soaking in all the wonder of nature.First hike!All this hiking wore little munchkin out! While I was hiking I kept pondering on how lucky babies have it. I mean, they can just fall asleep anywhere and someone else will carry them. Also, carrying 17 pounds of dead weight gets tiring really quick.About this point in the hike it’s been an hour. We started wondering if we were ever going to reach the end of the trail. Here’s Braxton carrying Tyler after he tired out too. Lucky for us, it didn’t really get warmer than upper 60’s. So even though we’d been hiking longer than expected (and now carrying dead weight), the cool air made it much more tolerable.Sleeping baby, sweaty mommy. Still, I enjoyed the hike. It was so nice to get outside again and enjoy nature.Sleepy TylerWe made it back to camp! Tyler is enjoying a delicious peanut butter and jelly sandwich.Carolynn playing with some toys in her pack n play. She absolutely loved being outside.Snuggly Tyler.Checking out Daddy as he makes dinner (spaghetti in a dutch oven…yummy!)Napping baby girlHere we are the second morning. The birds woke us up at 5:30 am, but luckily my children like their sleep. We were able to sleep in despite the birds and the early rising sun.
Camping had it’s tough moments, but it was filled with far more delightful ones. We loved Seaquest State Park and will most likely make this a family tradition.
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