First Camping Trip

***5 Months***

Ever since I was pregnant, Dave has been waiting for the moment he could take his son camping. We haven't been since July when I was six months pregnant. Once we knew the due date, Dave did the math and decided we would take the baby camping in March. What also worked well to do it in March besides the warming of weather is that Grammy was going to be here to visit! So, it's March and Vaughn is five months old so we went camping at Lake Pleasant this weekend. We chose a place that is only 35-40 minutes away just in case it didn't go so well. Vaughn did great though. He lasted both nights; all three days.

Lake Pleasant has a few campgrounds with hook ups but no sites you can reserve. We intended to leave our house by 2:30pm, but Vaughn and I were still in Oldtown Scottsdale at 2:30pm after visiting with Caroline and Liam who were here from Seattle for Spring Training. By the time we got home and finished packing, it was already 4:00pm.

We pulled into the park hoping there would be a site left, but there wasn't. Instead, there were only spots in the "primitive camping" area, three miles further north on the lake. Although there was no electric or water, we got a beautiful spot with gorgeous lake views and a ton of privacy. Dave positioned the camper so that the door was facing the water. It was an amazing site to see every time we opened the door. It only took a little while to set up. Dave ended up doing it all himself while Rocco, Vaughn and I toured the area.

It got cold fast! Before sunset, I already had two layers of clothing on Vaughn. Grammy and Uncle Dusty ended up making it to the lake around 7:00pm when it was already dark. They had a great surprise of beauty awaiting them in the morning. We cooked dinner over the fire, wore very warm clothes, sat by the fire and spent some quality family time together. Vaughn ended up with three layers of clothing on:
Layer #1: Onsie and socks
Layer #2: Fleece sleeper (thanks to Ryder)
Layer #3: Zip Up no legs sleeper; looked like a little wearable sleeping bag (thanks to Lexi)
Complete with: A beanie

 

Vaughn went to sleep around 8pm in the middle of our bed. He cried until we remembered to turn the sound machine on. It worked like a charm! He continued to sleep even when we came in and out of the camper. I kept checking on him because it was so cold. Surprisingly, his face and hands stayed warm. Being a hot baby worked to his advantage. I went to bed a little earlier than Dave and just laid beside Vaughn. When Dave came to bed, he decided there would be too much weight on the edge of the bed the way we we sleeping, so we had to turn Vaughn. He stayed asleep the entire time while we turned the blankets he was on. Dave and I kept looking at our sleeping baby, then looking at each other with the biggest smiles on our faces. Vaughn stayed asleep through all the disruption until Dave put a blanket on top of him. Therefore, the rest of the night, Vaughn got to sleep on mommy. He seemed to like that sleeping arrangement. Grammy slept on the double bed and Uncle Dusty slept on the full size bed. Although it was super cold and the donkeys kept hee-hawing (yes! there were wild donkeys very close to us), we ended up getting some shuteye.

Saturday morning was gorgeous. Vaughn woke up at his normal time of 7:30am. He was so snugly and smiley. We all got up and ate breakfast looking out at the water. It was still cold, but warmed up quickly. Grammy and I got showers when Uncle Dusty and Dave went to the store to get propane so we would be warm in the camper. Aunt Jamie ended up joining us when we were all back at the site. It was a very peaceful, warm day. Vaughn didn't nap well; I tried putting him to sleep in the camper but it was too bright even with a little fort I built over him. He finally slept for a little while in Aunt Jamie's arms. Thank goodness he loves being in her arms so much.

Vaughn did great again on Saturday night. We made some camp dinners around the fire (using only one sandwich maker since our two others MELTED in the fire Friday night; how does metal meant to go in fire melt?). Vaughn was in the best mood hanging out with his family. He really liked the campfire, too, just like his daddy! He slept longer by himself since we knew how to put him into bed better. Also, Dave turned on the camper stove so it was nice and warm. Vaughn woke in the middle of the night sometime where he got to spend the rest of the night in mommy's arms again. On Sunday morning, he was even more smiley than the morning before. He even was laughing. It was so cute even though everyone else was still trying to sleep. Aunt Jamie was across the camper and yet, Vaughn locked eyes with her and gave her the biggest morning smiles. All three of us then got up and enjoyed the morning talking (it's going to be amazing when their little Molly arrives and comes camping with us).

When we were getting ready to pack up camp, Vaughn hung out in his stroller playing with toys. Then, he got super sleepy and started to cry. We were almost ready to go so I was hoping he would last until we left so he could sleep in the car. Grammy went to change his diaper in the passenger seat of the 4-Runner even though he was was crying a lot. In efforts to distract him, I waived a toy in front of his face. Instead of distracting the baby, I distracted Grammy so Vaughn took the opportunity to pee all over the seat! It was the first time; but we decided the car needed to be initiated....haha! After the pop-up was hooked up, we were ready to go get some breakfast and use running water. We ended up going to the Good Egg.

Vaughn, Rocco and I slept the entire way home. Shortly after we got home, Vaughn nursed then went down for a nap. He slept for two and a half hours as he was super worn out. Sunday night was the first time since he was two months that he woke up twice during the night. His schedule was a little off or maybe he liked the taste of sleeping on my chest all night. We'll have to break that quickly!

I asked Dave if he thought Vaughn's camping trip was a success and he answered with a resounding, yes! As Vaughn gets more mobile and aware, we can just tell he is going to be quite the camper.