Our Greatest Adventure

Going fishing with dad

Before Nick and I had kids we were adventurers.  We hiked, camped and fished a lot.  We loved it.  And we envisioned that we would continue to do so when we had children.  Well, as many parents discover, what you think you will do when you have children differs from the reality of what these endeavors require on the part of the parents.  Basically, it’s a lot more work than you realize.

The desire to bring our kids along on these adventures hasn’t subsided however, and today we did it.  We have been talking about taking the kids camping for a while but between work schedules and the rather daunting nature of camping with children, it hasn’t happened yet.  Today we decided to ease ourselves in and so we had a camp-in.  We planned a fun filled day with the kids, the culmination of which would be camping in the backyard.
The kids thought this was a great idea.  We started the day slowly and made our way up one of the forrest roads near our house to fish and have a picnic lunch.  Tessie, especially, was ecstatic in the backseat.  She pumped her legs in her car seat and recited our plans over and over with a huge smile on her face. 

Splashing the day away

When we found an empty campsite we pulled in and unloaded the car.  Tessie happily munched on chips and sushi but Christian was so excited to fish we couldn’t get him to eat anything.  “Go fishing, go fishing!” he repeated while practically jumping out of the camp-chair we had him propped up in.  Nick took Tes fishing first while Christian and I played in the water and watched chipmunks trying to steal our lunch.  Tessie quickly tired of fishing and Nick and I switched kids.  It’s fun to spend time alone with Tes, it doesn’t happen that often.  I rolled her pants up and helped her wade out in the river.  We laughed and laughed over nothing.  By the time the boys made it back Christian had caught his first fish, with Daddy’s help of course, and Tessie was splashed out.  We loaded the kids back up and headed home.

Once home I put Christian down for a nap and Tessie and I set out to pitch the tent.  She was so full of wonder and excitement the whole time I was threading tent poles through the tent that any doubt I had that camping in the back yard would be enough disappeared.  She was a great helper and we had the tent up in no time.  Tes spent the next hour just lying in the tent, giggling and talking to herself, having more fun that you would think was possible in an empty tent.  Nick worked on clearing an area for our new fire pit and by the time he was done we had a whole new section of yard.  The three of us wandered back inside and rested while Christian finished his nap.

Nick made us an excellent dinner of grilled shrimp, filet mignon, cous cous and salad with hot dogs for the kids.  We ate outside together next to the river and talked about our day.  Christian started to get fussy so we moved our operation to the fire pit.  As soon as Christian saw the fire he was mesmerized and calmed right down.  Nick got his guitar and we sang songs.  Christian requested the wiggles and Tessie made up songs about camp fires.  I toasted marshmallows and the kids got sufficiently sticky.  It was wonderful.

While I wiped the marshmallow goo of Tes and Christian Nick set up the beds in the tent.  We carried the kids out to the tent in their jammies, stuffed animals tucked under their arms.  We all snuggled up and read books by the lantern.  Our dog Lucy even stuck her head in to see what was going on.  When books were done Tessie crawled into her camp bed and I tucked Christian into his.  With short goodnights and kisses the kids both fell right asleep. 

As I am writing this I am sitting next to the tent in my back yard, the sound of the river in the background.  My heart is so full I think it might overflow.  This amazing day wasn’t without it’s melt-downs and threats of time outs, but it was a full day of my family.  It might not have been the same kind of adventure Nick and I use to take, but it was the greatest adventure to date.  And now as I am getting ready to crawl into the tent with my babies and my husband I feel luck to have such a beautiful family.