Sunday, October 12, 2008

Camping...

This weekend we went camping- our very first camping trip as a family! Eric and I have gone lots of times in the last 6 years, but this was our first one with Malak- our new and improved family! :)
Mal was quite the campin' boy...he was wedged in the backseat between the dog and the sleeping bags for an hour drive to our campsite, he crawled in the dirt, although, amazingly did not eat any dirt, he slept in the tent, "swam" in the river...lots of fun stuff!

The above picture is Mal in awe of the beautiful waterfall we were looking at, we were trying to teach him to say, "wow" but I believe his version was, "waaah". He was super excited about it and we had to keep a firm grip in order to keep him from excitedly hopping his way off the edge. Which, coincidentaly was about a 2 foot drop into about 7 inches of water. :)

Note to self: Set up campsite before it is pitch black outside. We did not heed Lori Rooney's advise, and left a bit later than planned and ended up setting up our brand new tent, that we had no idea how to set up, in the darkness. Oh and Malak would not let me put him down, so really Eric set up the freakishly dificult tent up all by himself in the dark with some occasional "help" from Malak and I.
On Friday night it was bedtime, and so we hung a quilt around the Pack and Play so that Malak could not see us laying there next to him and fight the need for sleep. So we hung it up and layed him down in there and then quietly layed on our own bed to see how this was going to go down. Malak was apparently not feeling that need for sleep and started fussing a bit, I wispered to Eric that it is a good thing that he can't pull himself all the way up yet or this would never work...Malak promptly pulled himself all the way up for the first time, popped his head up above the edge of the bed, saw us staring wide eyed at his new trick and started screeeeaming bloody murder for all of the mountainside to hear. Sweet. Eric and I started laughing at the unfortunate timing of this new feat and of course, that sent him into another blood curdling screeeeam. So that was the only tricky aspect of camping with a baby...other than that we had such a relaxing time, just our little family. The weather was perfect, mid 70's, so we went for walks, ate good camp food, walked in the shallow river, layed on a blanket in the shade of a tree and just played and read for hours, had 2 animals romp through our campsite- an armadillo and a black cat..although I still think it may have been a baby Panther...who knows. (Once, I was sure I saw a black Panther in Portland, OR...turns out it may have been a black Lab...they look so much alike) :) Eric and I were able (after Mal went to bed) to just sit in the dark under the stars talking for hours- eating marshmallows, chips and drinking beer. It was a delightful trip and we are eager to go again!

21 comments:

Blog Shmog said...

So fun! Believe it or not I have yet to be brave enough to family camp with our little ones. You inspire me to at least think about it. :)

Oh ya, and I was going to tell you, I ordered the free sample of that makeup you talked about below. So far I really like it but I did have one question. I'm not a foundation wearer and didn't know it came in powder form. Do you just brush it on? Or do you have to rub it in? Maybe I just need to stay a non-foundation wearer. :)Clueless girl here!

Christie said...

Oh it looks like it was fun! And I love that Malak picked the least opportune time to learn a new skill - but yay for pulling up! One step closer to walking!

I shall e-mail you about walking sometime...or you can let me know when you're available.

emily said...

You guys are so great! What fun!

~Laura~ said...

That sounds like so much fun! We attempted tent camping once...ONCE, in the back yard. It didn't go as well as yours and we probably won't camp again till we can afford a motorhome. :)

Gina said...

So super fun! Glad Mal learned a new trick even if it did happen to be the most inopportune time ever.

Sam said...

As soon as i saw the title of this post i said "i hope they followed Lori's advice" and i read read read and alas you did not. but i am glad to hear it was so fun. how cute is that kid in his matching camo hat. LOVE IT

Nikki said...

Camping looks wonderful. We had an extremely busy summer this year and didn't get to take a camping trip even once, and we live five miles from a lake! Our kids were super bummed and have reminded us several times how they didn't get to go camping. We've promised them at least one, if not more, camping trip next summer with their new brother or sister. Your trip sounds heavenly and the weather was so wonderful for camping! So glad you had a good time. Especially liked the marshmallow part!

Jenn said...

Sounds like you guys had fun! Mal is so cute in his hiking boots. I laughed at the not sleeping story.

jen said...

seriously so much fun! and hooray for new Malak skills!!

mama becca said...

Sam just had the best time looking at these pictures! He was waiving his arm so hard that I thought it would fall off... and laughing... do you think they still recognize each other??? Seriously... it amazed me! Glad you had fun!

Sparkz said...

I love the camping picts. I can't wait to do that w/our baby. By the way I tag you!

Sparkz said...

Oh and it never fails that we end up setting up our tent in the dark! I know that feeling all too well!

Sarah and Tim said...

Looks like you had an awesome time. I love M's hat!

Susan and Chad said...

It sounds like heaven...

Amy said...

Can I just say you are BRAVE to camp with Malak! I can't imagine taking Silas... not only because he would be into everything, but also because I can't imagine the sleeping situation so much.

So, I just tagged you and I saw someone else tagged you too... No pressure, but it is an easy blog post. :)

Kaydub said...

The nice thing is, you only set up a tent in the darkness ONE time, and then you do every thing necessary to never ever do that again!
You guys all look so happy! Hmmm ... you probably are.

Kaydub said...

The nice thing is, you only set up a tent in the darkness ONE time, and then you do every thing necessary to never ever do that again!
You guys all look so happy! Hmmm ... you probably are.

Unknown said...

Malak is so cute it's riduculous! I wish Bennett could play with him, I bet they would have SOOOO much fun!

It makes me so happy to see your happy family!

Nikki said...

You've been tagged!

Did you got to the Queen for dinner on Tuesday? We weren't able to make it.

Have a great day!

Nikki

Christy. said...

We just got our leather cuffs the other day and they are adorable! Cohen isn't sure what he thinks of wearing a bracelet yet but I tell him that Silas (shubin) has one and then he slips it on for a bit. :0)
They are super cute and I hope you sell lots!!!
gladheimfamily.blogspot.com

Kaydub said...

mmm, camping is the best! It sounds perfectly delightful! I'm so happy just hearing about it!

marm