Saturday, August 8, 2009

Is that the river I hear?

We ventured out with the kids this weekend on their very first camping trip. We made it a group trip with our good friends the Rigtrup's, Baker's, and Jensen's (we missed the Allen's who were sick and had to dog out). So first of all, when the Paternoster's think of camping, we think rural, quiet, virtually no one else around. Well, when we pulled into the state park, we thought it was interesting, to say the least. The camping spots were right on top of the other, and it was packed full!! But the best part? The lulling freeway a few hundred feet away. We designated the freeway as the "river," since it had such calming sounds. haha So anyway, after the initial shock of camping in a state park in Washington, we pulled in, unloaded our crap, and set up our tent. Brooklyn and Troy had a blast running around with the big kids and getting nice and dirty. Thank heavens for running water at least! We roasted s'mores, then made the attempt of getting the kids to bed. Now, Erik and I went into the camping trip with great expectations of virtually no sleep. I'm "happy" to say, those expectations were upheld! Thanks kids!! After nursing and rocking Troy for about a 1/2 hour, I gave up, and Erik went in to lay down with Brooklyn. She was pretty easy and fell right to sleep. Troy finally gave out around 11:30. Layed him down, and he was out for the count...or so we thought. Make a long story short, the kids did NOT sleep well, at all. They really like sleeping in their own beds. So we all "woke" up grumpy and tired to say the least. But we powered up with some omelets-in-a-bag and pancakes, and we were ready to take on the day! We ended up having a great time despite the lack of sleep and couldn't have had better company. And we even learned a few things for our future camping trips...DO NOT TAKE A 1 YEAR OLD AND 2 YEAR OLD CAMPING...EVER.


Ok, ok, I'm being a little dramatic probably because I'm sleep-deprived. It was actually really fun, and not that bad with the kids at all. I think we'll try again next year.
Troy found a fun toy.
Don't you love the look of pure joy on their faces?!
"Aunt" Stephanie
Chillin' by the fire.
What Troy did most of the time. Thank heavens he's a mellow kid.
Messy, messy faces.


The girls.
And a little shout-out to Toni...Happy 29th Birthday!!!! Sorry I'm a doufus and forgot your cake.

7 comments:

banananutmeg said...

now I'm skeeerd! We're taking the kids camping next weekend. I've only been camping like...yeah once. I slept in my parents 34 foot, air conditioned RV. Does that count?

It should be interesting to say the least. Especially with a 4 yr old, 2 yr old, and a 2 month old.

The only time I camped was on memorial day weekend, and the tents were on top of each other also. Not what I had imagined at all. Thanks for the warning!

And you look goooooood!

Kelly said...

We had a great time! I must have been in the restroom with someone when you left, darn. You should have stayed, we had a nice hike and your kids would've fallen asleep in the backpacks! We'll pick a way better place to go next year... we're with you on that one!

Cassie said...

Marcie, I am very impressed you went camping with a two year old and a one year old. And that is all I have to say:). love ya.

Erik & Marcie +3 said...

I failed to mention, that even though we were close to the freeway, it was still beautiful!!

Cass, you act as if your husband never drags you to remote places with kids. You're MY hero! :) lol

B.S. said...

I think that we are going try our luck this weekend, I too am expecting the kids not to sleep at all!!! Oh and btw, you look absolutley beautiful in these pics!

The Wi Family said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
The Wi Family said...

Looks like fun! And what a fun group too! We're attempting the whole camping thing this next week with my family....And Bryce can only stay 1 of 3 nights :( At least I'll have lots of other help...