The Valentine party of 7 survived our first camp out.....just barely. At the end of October Rob took a few days off. We were not sure of our plans but decided that we would surprise the kids with camping out in the backyard. Just 36 hours prior to our "camp-out" we decided that the backyard was lame & we should head to the east Texas piney woods. We ordered a tent & had it stashed in the office until the big reveal. The kiddos were all lined up on the couch with their eyes closed when Rob carried out the perfectly packaged tent in a bag with handles. They were all so excited to open their eyes but were clearly disappointed when Rob said "It's a new pack n' play!" It looked exactly like one, ha! He then turned the bag around to show the picture of our new tent & they all squealed as they shouted "we are going camping!" It was so fun! We ate dinner then headed to Walmart to pick up some necessities which included some kid sized camping chairs, sleeping bags for the boys & yummies to snack on.
Once the kids were in bed we got to work with the official packing which continued in the morning until we headed out the door around 10am. Oh my goodness, what an ordeal! Rob & I agreed to set our expectations extremely low like so low that if we made it out of the driveway to actually go camping we far surpassed them. We did just that!
I hopped in the Expedition with two girls, a cute baby & and an old dog & gave a two thumbs up to the driver of the "boy truck" as Owen & Anson called it. He held up his hands with his fingers crossed in response. I laughed out loud & thanked the Lord for the dad who was up for camping with five children seven & under.
All of those children & an old dog were mostly well behaved while en route until they hadn't eaten for an hour. Why are they always so hungry? We made a quick stop at Sonic to grab lunch, checked in & started to set up camp. Here are the campers minus Arlo & his favorite member of the family (me). They were snacking on some fishies, go figure.
Our destination...
Tyler State Park- a place full of history for Valentine family camping. Nearly 10 years ago we took two trips back to back, brought two dogs along each time & experienced a good amount of rain BUT we did have fun! A post from 2014 recounts our camping trips which were full of frustration or hilarity... or both in the same moment: Roughing it
A camping trip really changes when you add a small herd of children to the mix. Here they are....
Ol' Bella girl was along for the ride & we were pleasantly surprised by her good behavior. In fact, she & Arlo (the two we were most worried about tolerating a big camp out) were the easiest to tend to! She barked ONE time & you could barely hear it. Bella will be 12 in March & physically has seen better days but she did great "hiking" with us. She spent about 99 % of the time like this...
We loved looking at her white snout resting just above the "orthopedic foam" tag on the bed, haha! We just love her. She & Bennett joined us on our previous trips to Tyler State Park & we actually ended up at the same camp site we had stayed when they were puppies. It was really special to have her with us & felt as though we had come full circle returning with a tent full of little ones. She enjoyed herself.
I told the girls that the best part about camping is that you are outside with nothing to do or rather nothing you HAVE to do. That might be my favorite part! There are endless opportunities to explore & play yet it was challenging to do so. We ended up at a site directly nextdoor to a young couple with dogs....used to be us back in the day. They looked extremely relaxed, they weren't whining, they had their feet propped up in front of the fire & were probably holding hands & smiling at each other without a care in the world.
Just 100 yards away we were trying to keep the boys from falling off the cliff behind our site, to get Arlo to stop crying & go to sleep in the tent & tell the girls that we were sorry that two members of the family (not to point fingers but they might have been the ones nearing the edge of the ravine) made it difficult to have fun. Rob & I were far from holding hands, haha! We joked once we were home & swapping stories that it was like we went on two separate camp outs, me with three boys & him with two girls. That arrangement allowed the girls to do a lot more exploring while I kept Arlo from eating dirt &kept those twins from causing the tent to collapse.
The favorite activity by far was the marshmallow roasting or "marsh-mow-low" as Owen says. He also says that he sleeps on a "poh-low," has a "bow-lee button" & a sister named "O-low-ise." Robby taught them how to catch the "marsh-mow-low" on fire with the sole rule being to not fling the burning squishy sugary treat high into the air. This is an extremely safe activity for young children. For obvious reasons Charlotte ended up being the only allowed to attempt this feat & she performed it with grace & burned four of the mow-lows for the campers. I think the burned ones are disgusting so I roasted my own & ate it while holding a baby & trying to keep children from falling into the fire. Rob was a team player & did all the cooking, phew! So many moving parts to figure out with this camping business!
Here they are waiting for s'more time to begin...
We basically had no game plan for sleeping other than hoping to sleep. The tent was a great size so there were lots of options. Here is the play by play of what we ended up doing....
- put Arlo down in his pack n' play while we were around the fire until he screamed so much we were forced to get him out so as not to disturb the young & in love next door
- I got in with all three boys, got Owen & Anson's sleeping bags situated then laid down next to Arlo's bed thinking he would calm down....more screaming
- I got ready for bed then laid down with Arlo on my mat. Anson passed out in about 3 seconds while Owen was still bouncing of the walls.
-Rob came in & said it looked like a huge storm was headed our way & should be upon us in about 15 minutes. This did not come as a surprise to us since it rained nearly every time we camped! All the kids & Bella stayed in the tent while we tried to figure out the rain fly of the brand new tent that did not come with instructions. Arlo was crawling all over the place & all four were squealing while Anson didn't move a muscle. I was jealous ; )
- We got the fly on then huddled up with the iPhone Weather Channel app only to see the rain disappear on the radar. All that work for nothing, though it was better to be prepared than experience a major down pour inside our tent!
- I'm pretty sure most of the kids & I fell asleep fairly soon after the almost torrential rainstorm
- The next 9 hours were full of Arlo occasionally sleep crawling away from me & snuggling up with Owen. While in his assigned sleeping spot, he drooled all over me, my sleeping bag & mat I was on! Overall he did really well & I was thankful he didn't make more than a few little noises.
-Rob was the escort for the nighttime trips to the bathroom with the girls while I held down the "fort" if you will...I was happy to be covered in baby drool than venture up the hill to the creepy bathroom in the dark!
-We were grateful when the sun was beginning to peek over the horizon & we didn't have to keep five children quiet any longer. Tummies were grumbling & were ready for breakfast!
Breakfast consisted of a yummy batch of Arkansas & breakfast tacos we made before we left then heated up. It was pretty delicious! We were not sure what to do with Arlo to keep him from scooting on the ground all over the place. Robby's idea was to strap the booster seat onto the picnic table which was a fantastic place for the littlest of the bunch. He actually spent a good bit of time there observing the rest of those crazy kids & he never voiced a complaint!
Once everyone had first breakfast we got ready for a little hike....before they got hungry again ; ) There was a trail just down from our site close to the water & it was the perfect terrain for old puppy paws & little kid feet, or so we thought. Anson fell every ten feet. Like, no joke, EVERY ten feet. There were a lot of tears & whining which promoted him to the shoulders he preferred to ride on instead of walking in the first place. He does love to be outside but it was a rough day for that handsome fella.
I enjoyed my walk through the woods holding onto these precious tootsie cakes.
He was a good rider & eventually couldn't hold his eyes open for another second. He fell asleep right at the end of our hike & I told Rob that I would need to continue for another hour at least to insure a well rested baby. Sweet boy even if he drools like a St. Bernard.
Muscles Eloise hauled around logs huffing & puffing the whole way but refusing to put them down. Char & Owee got a little silly with chasing but I flagged them down in front of the old truck that each of the Valentine babies came home from the hospital in.
Once we returned, our neighbors were gone & the kids could scream loud & run free as they wanted to all along. They resorted to a favorite outdoor game of dinosaurs. They each picked a rock that was their "teh-wit-tory" as Anson says with a growl. They were happy as they could be & we were much more relaxed knowing it was impossible for them to bother anyone.
We made it home in the early afternoon & took about 24 hours to recover. Once recovered, we set up camp in the backyard for the night which was fantastic. It was a cooler evening, Arlo slept inside with the baby monitor on, the bathroom was closer & didn't have spiders in it & if we bothered our neighbors we had the option to relocate or could rest in the fact that they are already used to our shenanigans.
All in all it was a decent first attempt. Figuring out how to camp with our crew is a priority in the coming years & we are glad to have the first adventure under our belt.
A few take-away's from the trip:
- don't forget paper towels
- bring bubble wrap for Anson's knees
- offer ear plugs for the neighbors or better yet pay $15 bucks a pop for each of the campsites in our little cul de sac & not have to keep the herd quiet- their voices carry extremely well at campgrounds!
- remember that it's just a relocation of the regular chaos
- bring a snack per hour & benadryl for bedtime & a mini-potty for night time use
- it may be more fun to have extra grown ups around for the next couple years
- it may have been a better idea to camp in our backyard instead of someone else's for trip #1
If it's not enough that the kids are looking every which way, Bella really showed them up with the way she expressed her disdain for a family photo.
There is currently no trip scheduled for the coming year but it's a given! Just need to recruit those extra adults & stock up on bubble wrap!
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