I’ve never considered myself an “outdoorsman” (or woman) but I have enjoyed my share of camping trips, hikes in the woods, and outdoor adventures…particularly over the past 8 years in which I’ve called California my home. Ramsey is slightly more enthused about the importance of squeezing backpacking into our family life, so he and I recently took a leap and decided to take Riley on her first overnight camping trip!
We headed down the California coast to a beautiful spot tucked in the enormous redwood trees in Big Basin State Park. Together, with our friends Mike and Brig, we enjoyed a calm afternoon and evening of setting up tents, starting a nice campfire, playing some guitar, and cooking a tasty meal of burgers, dogs, kebobs and corn on the cob. The weather was perfect (brisk but sunny) and Ramsey and I agreed we had made the right choice to take Riley with us. We even made a little “sleeping bag” for her out of her stroller bundler and we dressed her in many layers before putting her down under the open sky…
Surprisingly, she slept like a champ! She went down around her usual time of 6pm and slept perfectly still until around 10pm when we decided to call it a night ourselves. She stirred for awhile after that, finally aware that she was nowhere near her cozy little crib at home, but we eventually got her back down to sleep from midnight to 6am by feeding her and trading her between our sleeping bags to let her know we were right there with her.
Looking back, it was a worthwhile trip and made me consider a few things about parenting. First, sometimes we have to do things for ourselves even when they aren’t necessarily easy or enriching for our children (Riley will not remember this camping trip but we sure will!). Second, having wonderful supportive friends to share such experiences with makes it all the more worthwhile. Third, even though I didn’t sleep due to nursing and checking on Riley, those moments of cuddling with my little 14 pound bundle of gummy grins aren’t going to last forever, so I’m enjoying them while I can :)
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