Camp out!

We just got back from our first camping trip with Perrin. We've been wanting to take him camping for a while because it seemed like the type of thing he would really enjoy (and we weren't wrong about that). But we also thought it would be a good idea to stick to just one night away our first time (and we weren't wrong about that either).

When we got to the camp site (Toad Suck park just outside of Conway), Perrin probably thought he was in toddler paradise: playgrounds and bugs and dirt and water and dogs and kids! Woo-hoo! He went into explorer mode right away and had to test/examine/taste/throw everything. I saw him bending down and looking intently at something so I said, "Perrin, what do you have there?" So he picked up whatever it was and brought it to me. I was expecting a rock or leaf or something, but it was a giant, squirmy daddy-long-legs. I quickly retreated and asked him to please, please put that thing down. So what did he do? He threw it at me. Yep.

After Mr. Long Legs made his escape, Perrin began sampling the bountiful snacks of the great outdoors. Meaning he put a rock in his mouth... and when I had pulled that out and told him not to eat rocks, he starting licking a tree instead. So I gave him a proper snack and then took him to the playground to distract him from further incidences.

Trey and I spent most of the afternoon and early evening chasing after Perrin, so we were all pretty exhausted by Perrin's bed time. Here was the real test of whether or not camping with a toddler was a good idea or not: would Perrin go to sleep on his own in the tent? The only way we can get him to sleep these days is to stick him in his bed and close the door and just leave him until he nods off on his own. So we decided to give it a try. We laid out pillows and blankets all over the tent floor so that it was like a giant bed. Then we gave him a kiss, said good night, and zipped him in. At first he stood watching us through the mesh flap on the front of the tent. Then he disappeared and we saw the tent swaying back and forth, back and forth. I'm still not sure what exactly he was doing in there, but I believe he was trying to escape. After a few minutes, he got really quiet and the tent stopped moving. Success!

Trey and I stayed up for a couple more hours enjoying the fire and watching the stars come out over the river. When we finally came to bed, Perrin was snuggled into the far corner of the tent, sound asleep.

He slept like a champ until about 5AM when he woke up and suddenly realized he was in a tent with Mommy and Daddy. What fun! He starting shrieking, "Mama! Dada! Mama! Dada!" and began using us as his own personal jungle gym. Then he snuggled up next to me and began poking my nose and saying, "nose! nose!" I ignored him, hoping he would get the hint and go back to sleep. So instead, he started sticking his finger up my nose. You just can't ignore that. Finally he moved on from my nose and started pointing out other features: eyes, hair, and "bub brows" which apparently means eye brows. Once he got bored with that game, he started yelling, "coookieeeeee! Coooookieeeeeee!" I was a little afraid he was going to wake up all of our fellow campers, so I finally got up and fixed him breakfast in the dark. (I didn't feed him cookies though, in case you're wondering.)

We're back home now, pretty tired but not too grouchy. Overall it was a pretty good trip. Perrin obviously had a blast. We just might take him camping again sometime. After we've fully recovered from this trip, of course.