I am not sure we can say it was the official start to our camping season since Mama could not make it, but we began this year's camping adventures at
Yellow Jacket Campground in the El Dorado National Forest.You heard that right: without Mama.I will admit I was a bit worried that I was in over my head. Camping with young kids presents enough of a challenge as a complete family unit and without Mama there–the only level-headed one among us–well, let's just say things could head south, fast. At the same time, I figured, how hard could it be? We love the outdoors, we will get dirty, stay up late, and eat lots of s'mores.Three things I do not usually possess helped make it a fabulous three days: patience, unselfishness, and bribes.[Warning: self-reflective interlude; skip to next paragraph to continue on with camping.] The first is probably self-explanatory. I know I've mentioned it before (probably multiple times) that it is clear to me that
the crucial ingredient to successfully raising a child (success as in not flinging yourself off a cliff or ruining your child) is patience and it seems to be the one thing I am most wanting. Unselfishness is also fairly obvious, however, I will admit I have become a very selfish person over the last several years. It has been a matter of survival in my quest to complete graduate school. Countless hours of reading and writing has left very little time for a "normal" family life. (I don't have the energy to explicate, and I'm sure you're not interested in reading about, my definition of "normal.") So anything that requires me to divert my focus away from completing
the most difficult thing I've ever done, causes me angst. But this time, I went in thinking every moment of the day should be devoted to ensuring the kids have fun. (Besides my general state of selfishness, I also have specific idea(l)s about what camping should be: mainly drinking by the campfire after really long days of really long hikes. Both of which don't mesh well with kids.) And, of course, bribes is fairly obvious as well. A Prize Bag® and sticker charts are a fabulous way to help contain my children's natural desire to be naughty. (More on these last two factors in the future.) In short, taken together, these three things were magical.Admittedly as well, we weren't gone for that long. We left Monday morning and came back Wednesday afternoon. I will say that weekday camping is where it's at. The campground was practically empty. It was delightful. The other little twist to the whole thing was the addition of Grandpa and his camper trailer. The kids love that thing. In fact, they love it too much. All they want to do is play inside.In the end, there wasn't much drama. We got up there, set up camp, hiked around, found a fabulous waterfall, ate s'mores, observed and enjoyed nature, and had a grand ole time. Heck, maybe we'll make it this yearly tradition. Pffh. As usual, the photos are more interesting than my description so check 'em out:[A note on the captions: we are trying out our camp names (a revered Girl Scout tradition). Lola = Cricket and Ollie = Stitches. Grandpa and I don't have one yet and if you ask Julie, Ollie's camp name is Moonshine. But since I am the author of this here post, we're going with my name. Also, the pics at the end in quotations are ones that Lola and Ollie took with her camera. One of the ways I kept them out of trouble while we made dinner was told them each to take ten pictures of their favorite things around camp.]