Camping Days 1, 2, & 3

We've been "camping" this week, as I mentioned in my last post. (Camping during the day, coming home to sleep at night.)

Day one was great. We arrived at 3:00 to check-in, with my parents and sister. We set-up, which for me meant playing with Stephanie since there wasn't much I could do to help. Then we went in the pool, which was great for my pregnant body. Stephanie LOVES water, and had a blast. She wanted to run right to the water as soon as we arrived. She played on the pool stairs for a while, but then wanted to do it without holding our hands. We tried swimming with her in the shallow end, but she just wanted to swim by herself. (Ummmm, sorry kid, you're 1. It's not happening.) She finally relented to riding in the raft/float thing that my mom had bought. After swimming, we had dinner and a campfire, and then Dan, Stephanie and I headed home.

Monday we were up right away, I packed a few things for the day, and we headed to the campground. We ate breakfast as soon as we got there, and then went back to the pool. My sister and niece (who is Stephanie's age) were there too, so the girls had a lot of fun together. After swimming, I was EXHAUSTED. I think it was a combination of the heat, the pool, and walking around a lot more than I'm used to. I took Stephanie into my parent's camper in the afternoon, with the hope that she'd take a nap. I laid down next to her and closed my eyes, but she just jumped around, did some yoga poses (she does downward facing dog. I'm waiting for the day she rolls over in a somersault), and yelled to everyone out the window. After about 20 minutes of this, I had Dan take her for a walk while I took an hour nap. I woke up and felt much better. We played for a while, had dinner, and walked to the camp store. At that point my back was throbbing, and I was exhausted again. We headed hoome a little earlier than the night before, and Stephanie went right to sleep.

This morning we got a much later start, since Stephanie slept until 8:30. But the day progressed almost exactly the same. That monotony is part of what I love about camping. I was still tired, and my back still hurt, but I had a lot of fun.

We did this exact same camping thing last year with Stephanie. But that was so much easier, since she was only 6 months old, wasn't crawling yet, and was able to fall (and stay) asleep much quicker and easier. I actually brought a book to read, and had a lot of time to relax. This year is all about chasing after her, preventing her from jumping/running/falling into the fire, and finding activities to keep her entertained. I'm also 7 months pregnant, which means my body doesn't move as fast, and as I think I mentioned (haha) i've been getting so tired halfway through each day. Oh, and the back thing doesn't help. I don't know if it's because i'm carrying so much weight in my belly, or if it's the unsupportive camp chairs, or all the walking, but i've never had lower back pain like this before. (It's actually probably a combination of all of that.)

All in all, I have to say i'm having a lot of fun, and Stephanie is absolutely loving it. She gets to be outside all the time, which to her is the best thing in the world. There's lots of dirt/sand to play in, delicious food to eat, and a pool to swim in. She couldn't be happier. And honestly, that makes all the preparation, exhaustion, and back pain worth it. To see her enjoying herself makes me a very happy mommy. It's also been nice to spend so much time with Dan and my family, who have been amazingly helpful and patient with me, since I can't chase after Stephanie or help with food prep/clean-up the way I want to. Despite the complainy nature of this post, I have to say that watching my daughter experience one my favorite summer pastimes is an absolute blessing, and i'm definitely enjoying the experience.

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