The last leg of our vacation found us camping in tents in Whistler's Bend.  Do these places have cool names or what?  I didn't really think of it at the time, but while working on this post and editing these photos, I noticed that it is already cool and cloudy and gray today, I wore leggings and boots earlier this morning and I just FEEL it........summer is over.  And so that would make this kind of the last "trip"of our summer, closing the chapter of summer 2014.

   Which is extra sad when you stop to think about the fact that you only get maybe 17, 18 summers with your kids TOTAL.  And they're off on other adventures of their own, and not tagging along with you on every camping, swimming, frozen yogurt run adventure you come up with.

Kinda terrifying, isn't it?


   These pictures were taken during a little mama/daughter time down at the river trying to help pass the time because Randy wasn't with us.  He had driven back home to squeeze in a day of work and everyone was missing him and I was tired of the single mom life.

   The girls were grumpy and tired and long story short, one of them ended up throwing a rock at me.  It certainly was not as idyllic and peaceful and perfect as these pictures portray, but really, is it ever??

   But that's the beauty of photos....I won't remember the little frustrations of those moments, but I will remember the breathtaking landscape on a sunny September day, with my little adventurers beside me.  I mean......WOW Oregon is so beautiful.  I feel like a total broken record, but I never really get over it.  Every time I venture out again I am astonished all over again at the rugged, wild, raw BEAUTY of this place that we call home.

We are blessed.




  Randy returned that evening and all was right in our little world.  We sat around the campfire late into the night as the children slept in their tents and all told stories and laughed and laughed.  It seems like growing older results in laughing a little less.  Maybe it's because bills and home owning and parenthood all gets a bit weighty and serious after a while and less of a laughing matter.  I don't know.

But that evening I laughed and laughed, and it felt GOOD.


   In the morning we had a big brunch, complete with a delicious egg scramble, bacon, and homemade sourdough french toast topped with strawberries and syrup.  Maybe a little bit of an over-achievement for a camping breakfast but that morning we sure weren't complainin'!  YUM.




   Later on in the day we took the kids to the playground to burn some energy and eat a picnic lunch.  I discovered later that it was also burning right through their nap window and so that turned out to be a little bit of a difficulty, but all was well in the end.  Randy and I floated down the river on inner tubes while others watched our kids (lucky us) and then we held down the fort (or the camp) while the others got to float.  Who says parents don't get to do fun stuff??






   All in all, it was a wonderful vacation and just what we needed to try and wind down our crazy, whirlwind summer.  And with a little more camping/summer fun under my belt, I can finally say I'm ready for the new season.

Bring it on, Fall!

 

   We're back from our mini vacation, and I wish I could say we are completely relaxed and rested and rejuvenated, but...that is just not the case.  We got back friday night and spent Saturday at our church's Heritage Day and then Sunday was busy as usual, and here we are on Monday, still trying to recover.

   The pickup still needs to be unloaded of some things, the laundry is not caught up, I'm canning pizza sauce today and continuing (sort of) to potty train, and the girls seem intent on devouring hidden packs of gum and coloring themselves green with markers, and so you know.....life goes on.

   The catch-22 of vacations is that they are really awesome but they are also a lot of work.  But I guess that applies mostly to vacations with children.  Because I think of our trip to Hawaii and I sigh melodramatically and get lost in wistful nostalgia of how EASY and SIMPLE everything was.

   But then the beauty of vacation with children is that you're not missing them every 15 minutes and wishing they could be there to experience what you're experiencing because, they are!  And so that is work but it is wonderful, and it is tiring, but it is so very rewarding.

I don't have time to blog about it now because of aforementioned pizza sauce canning, and children trying to out-do each other in a competition to tear the house apart, and the only reason I'm writing this little blurb is because they are taking a little mid-afternoon bath.  Oh did I mention they decided not to nap today??!

So I will just leave you with a few shots from Instagram.




Tune in later (on a less crazy, hectic, frazzled day) for more of our camping/coast adventure!

 
   I see all over Pinterest these lists and lists and lists of things you need while camping with kids.  And while I will admit it's a whole different ball park if you're taking a tiny baby, if your kids are similar to the ages of mine, then the SIMPLER THE BETTER.

Apart from the basic staples like a tent and food, you need pretty much 5 things:

1. Clothes (several changes for getting wet, sandy, etc. and sets for both hot and cold).
2. Blankets (and plenty of them).
3. Potty chair (saves you from the dreaded port-a-potty).
4. Baby wipes and hand sanitizer (obviously).
5. Diapers.

  Skip the entrainment, toys, games and books.  They're usually content with something as simple as going on a walk or throwing rocks into the water.  You're outside, after all, the world's their oyster.  And I didn't even take things like toothbrushes and a hair brush and all that jazz.  It was only going to be for one night and I just made sure I braided their hair real good so it wouldn't need to be done again.  Gross? Grungy? Great? You decide.

   We took sunscreen and bug spray and didn't use either one.  So you don't need those either, I would say.  I bought them little flashlights that they never used too.  So like a broken record here, simpler is better.



  I kept the food as basic as things could possibly even be, eggs in tortillas for breakfast and hotdogs, potato salad, beans, watermelon and s'mores for supper.  We all ate good and had full tummies, and the girls gobbled everything down and didn't complain.  I'm telling you, keep it simple!  You'll thank me later.


   The next morning we went hiking, and I guess I DO wish we would've had some sort of fancy schmancy hiking pack to carry Charlotte in, but we didn't, and we survived.  Jocelyn was a trooper, hiking most of the way, and when she needed a break, I carried Charlotte and Randy carried her.  We kept it short and manageable and only hiked a couple miles.  And being the neglectful mother that I am, somehow the only footwear in Jocelyn's possession right now are sandals, church shoes and rain boots, and so she hiked in flip-flops.  Someone needs to get that poor girl a pair of tennis shoes for goodness sakes.





   Oregon never ceases to amaze me with its breathtaking beauty.  I mean seriously you'd think I would be used to it by now.  I've been to this exact lookout before, seen this coastline, walked beneath the trees, gazed out across the sea.......but nope.  Still gets me every time.

   After our hike we took our tired legs to relax on the beach.  The sun smiled down on us and they just loved playing in the sand.  I may or may not have dozed on a blanket like the awesome, fun mom that I am while Randy kept them entertained.  Thank God for daddies.




    If you would have told me a few years ago that one day I would go on a camping trip with my husband and two small children and later say (and I actually did say this) "I think that was one of the best weekends of my life".  I wouldn't have believed you.  But it's true, it ranks right up there with the other best times of my life.

   It truly was the little things....watching the girls tackle Randy in the tent, roasting marshmallows from a stick carved by a caring neighbor,  seeing them loosen up around animals and even *gasp* pet a few puppies, watching them talk animatedly about things like "hiking" and "the beach" and "camping" and just hoping that somehow, somehow this will be one of those moments that freezes in their little memories.......the kind of memory that you can still see, smell and taste years and years later.  I just loved every minute of it.

And yes, it was work and no, it was not perfect, but it was delightful.

  I guess they aren't the only ones growing up.  For a long time I felt like I always needed to be around a lot of people to be happy.  I'm ashamed to admit it, but for most of my life, staying at home with my family never sounded as appealing to me as a good party.  I wanted to be wherever the action was, and with whomever that meant.

   I would jump from group to group of friends, always restless and skittish of putting down roots.  I wanted the freedom to be able to fluidly morph and meld into whomever I wanted to be at the time, and whatever group of people kept my attention.  So the thought of sitting at home with a husband and children never sounded quite as exciting or thrilling as the thought of traveling, meeting new people, making new friends, and living life as One Big Party.