There is nothing like having a kid to change your style of how you do something, like camping. Sadly, the last time we went managed a camping trip was over a year ago when Jack was 18 months old.
Since then we just haven't had the time we would like to devote to these trips that we would like, so I am very thankful it worked out that our small group from church was able to get together for a quick overnight trip to Harrison Bay State Park.
Truth be told, we almost backed out at the last minute (or least I was ready to throw in the towel). Our day started with a quick trip to Atlanta (that we hadn't planned on), and ended with traffic that made us late to the campsite. Arriving after dark is never a great thing, but it is more doable if you are car camping.
I'm glad we made the effort to meet up with our friends, even if we were late. It had been a rough week and I was grateful to spend some time in the cool, fresh air, and time around a campfire with friends really made my day better.
Also, at almost-three-years old, Jack would have been incredibly disappointed to miss this trip, so that was another good reason to go.
Jack is in a phase where he insists he is a big kid and wants to do big kid things. Our small group has big kids (ages 7-11) and little kids (under age 5) and Jack loves to follow the big kids around. I'm not sure that they always love it, but they typically humor him.
About 4 years ago, when Daniel and I were living in a camper, we invited our friends, the Reynolds, to come visit us at the camper to make S'mores. Evidently that memory has stuck with the Reynolds' kids, because to this day, if we are having S'mores, they always seem to talk about "S'mores with the Moores." Now there is an even bigger group of kids that has this memory!
Having 9 kids at a campsite can be a bit worrisome – it's dark, there's a fire, bugs, etc. – but the kids all did really great. They played together for the most part and no one got hurt (at least not seriously, I think one of the kids crashed his bike at one point, but nothing major).
Overall it was a great evening. The kids all slept well and we woke up to enjoy another campfire, with hot cocoa. I look forward to our next camping trip as a group. Hopefully one of these days Daniel and I can get our stuff together to take Jack on a backpacking trip!
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