Corbin's First Campout: Day 1
It's hard to know what a two year old will think of any new experience, so we had a lot of anticipatory conversations in the month leading up to our big camping trip. One weekend we even set up the tent in Corbin's room and let him sleep in it overnight. He was very excited about everything we told hime about: cooking on a fire, sleeping in a tent, trees and rocks to explore, and lots of friends from church would be there. He really latched on to the idea that there would be wild animals around, though I repeatedly tried to temper this expectation.
We had to deal with stop-and-go traffic for the first 45 minutes as we left town. Corbin threw up, which I think was his first bout of motion sickness because he was fine the rest of the weekend.
When we got to Lake Mineral Wells State Park we checked in at the gate then found our group's campsites. We ended up with six sites along a road, with each site having spaces for two tents, a campfire ring, a picnic table, a faucet, and an electrical outlet. The first thing we did (after putting on some bug spray) was to explore a little around our campsite. Corbin wanted to look for animals. There were lots of little overgrown footpaths that connected all the campsites through the woods and eventually led to the lake. We took off down one and I pointed out things to be careful of like thorns and prickly-pear cacti. Corbin liked finding big rocks to jump off and just seemed to enjoy soaking it all in. We ended up at another campsite in our group, two families with 5 girls and their bicycles, scooters, and hula hoops. We said hi then went back to the road to walk back to our camp.
Corbin helped me set up our tent. Well, Corbin lost and then found tent stakes and tried to avoid thorns, but we got it up. Next we found some dry leaves to put in the fire ring. The state park system has a rule against collecting firewood there, so we brought some from home. Corbin seemed really fascinated with the fire. He kept putting more sticks in when I wasn't looking, so I had to set him straight a couple of times. Later on he discovered that if he dropped his food on the ground Daddy wouldn't let him eat it and he would get to throw it on the fire. Since he didn't make it a game or habit, I continued to let him do that.
By that time it was about 5:00 and the Norrises arrived at the campsite across the road. We go to Lee and Jennifer's house for our small group, and Corbin loves playing with Ms. Kitty (Jennifer's mom) and the boys (20 month old twins, Lock and Harrison). All the boys had trouble recognizing that there was a road between our campsites, so they all ran into it multiple times. Thankfully, it was just a road to more campsites and not to the lake or something busier. It takes the Norrises a lot of time to do just about everything (for obvious reasons) so I lent a hand when I could and offered to let them use our fire when they were ready for dinner.
It was just about dusk when Mark, another guy Corbin knows from our small group, showed up. We helped him pitch his tent, which was a weird shape therefore not a straightforward process--especially in the dark!
Now we could finally get started roasting our hot dogs! It was already 7:30 or so, but Corbin was doing just fine. I showed him how we could put the hot dog on the hanger and then put it over the fire, not on the log or in the ashes! Then we put it in a bun with ketchup and he ate the whole thing! He dropped his second hot dog after a few bites, so he got to throw it on the fire. By this time the Norrises had arrived with their "organic" hot dogs and marshmellows and we all had a good time. Corbin was very social with all his friends.
Lee and Jennifer took the twins to bed, but Corbin was still doing fine even though it was well past his bedtime. I started my Dutch oven peach cobbler and homemade ice cream. Well, the ice cream never really froze, but after 45 minutes the cobbler was excellent. Kitty just poured some of the "ice" cream on top of her serving and loved it, so that's what Mark and I did as well. Mark then went and found a few more people to share our cobbler, since Lee and Jennifer never came back. Corbin never tried his, though he usually eats peaches fine.
By this time Corbin was starting to get really tired, so after I rinsed the ice cream maker off we walked about 150 yards to the bathroom to get ready for bed. We changed his diaper in the tent and then went to sleep relatively quickly.
Next, Day 2: Fun with Friends in the Great Outdoors
We had to deal with stop-and-go traffic for the first 45 minutes as we left town. Corbin threw up, which I think was his first bout of motion sickness because he was fine the rest of the weekend.
When we got to Lake Mineral Wells State Park we checked in at the gate then found our group's campsites. We ended up with six sites along a road, with each site having spaces for two tents, a campfire ring, a picnic table, a faucet, and an electrical outlet. The first thing we did (after putting on some bug spray) was to explore a little around our campsite. Corbin wanted to look for animals. There were lots of little overgrown footpaths that connected all the campsites through the woods and eventually led to the lake. We took off down one and I pointed out things to be careful of like thorns and prickly-pear cacti. Corbin liked finding big rocks to jump off and just seemed to enjoy soaking it all in. We ended up at another campsite in our group, two families with 5 girls and their bicycles, scooters, and hula hoops. We said hi then went back to the road to walk back to our camp.
Corbin helped me set up our tent. Well, Corbin lost and then found tent stakes and tried to avoid thorns, but we got it up. Next we found some dry leaves to put in the fire ring. The state park system has a rule against collecting firewood there, so we brought some from home. Corbin seemed really fascinated with the fire. He kept putting more sticks in when I wasn't looking, so I had to set him straight a couple of times. Later on he discovered that if he dropped his food on the ground Daddy wouldn't let him eat it and he would get to throw it on the fire. Since he didn't make it a game or habit, I continued to let him do that.
By that time it was about 5:00 and the Norrises arrived at the campsite across the road. We go to Lee and Jennifer's house for our small group, and Corbin loves playing with Ms. Kitty (Jennifer's mom) and the boys (20 month old twins, Lock and Harrison). All the boys had trouble recognizing that there was a road between our campsites, so they all ran into it multiple times. Thankfully, it was just a road to more campsites and not to the lake or something busier. It takes the Norrises a lot of time to do just about everything (for obvious reasons) so I lent a hand when I could and offered to let them use our fire when they were ready for dinner.
It was just about dusk when Mark, another guy Corbin knows from our small group, showed up. We helped him pitch his tent, which was a weird shape therefore not a straightforward process--especially in the dark!
Now we could finally get started roasting our hot dogs! It was already 7:30 or so, but Corbin was doing just fine. I showed him how we could put the hot dog on the hanger and then put it over the fire, not on the log or in the ashes! Then we put it in a bun with ketchup and he ate the whole thing! He dropped his second hot dog after a few bites, so he got to throw it on the fire. By this time the Norrises had arrived with their "organic" hot dogs and marshmellows and we all had a good time. Corbin was very social with all his friends.
Lee and Jennifer took the twins to bed, but Corbin was still doing fine even though it was well past his bedtime. I started my Dutch oven peach cobbler and homemade ice cream. Well, the ice cream never really froze, but after 45 minutes the cobbler was excellent. Kitty just poured some of the "ice" cream on top of her serving and loved it, so that's what Mark and I did as well. Mark then went and found a few more people to share our cobbler, since Lee and Jennifer never came back. Corbin never tried his, though he usually eats peaches fine.
By this time Corbin was starting to get really tired, so after I rinsed the ice cream maker off we walked about 150 yards to the bathroom to get ready for bed. We changed his diaper in the tent and then went to sleep relatively quickly.
Next, Day 2: Fun with Friends in the Great Outdoors
posted by Daddy at
5/06/2007 12:08:00 PM
