Family Campout

Being the last long weekend of the summer and the last Saturday before soccer gets underway, the girls begged Jon to take them camping. In the past, I have not gone with them because I felt it was to big of a challenge with Braden. He is walking now and loves to explore, so I decided to be a 'good mom' and go. We found a camp spot, pitched the tent and gathered some fire wood. Braden had a blast filling the fire pit with dirt, rocks and twigs. Just as darkness was approaching, we started to roast some hot dogs, brauts and marshmallows. I was extemely concerned about having a fire with Braden for fear he would fall in, but be did awesome. I gave him a plate of Cheetos and he did not get out of his chair! We tried playing a memory game, but Sydney had a hard time understanding the concept, so we just enjoyed the fire and each others company. By 8:30, the girls were complaining of how tired they were and they wanted to go to bed. There is no room in the tent for Braden's playpen, so I knew we were in for a long night with him having freedom to move around the tent. By 9:30, Braden was not having fun anymore.....he cried and cried and cried. By now I'm feeling that pressure of everyone in the campground can hear him and there was nothing I could do to silence him. Finally around ten he gave up and went to sleep. Then the nightmare began, at midnight, he woke up out of a deep sleep screaming. Nothing we did would console him, walking, rocking, a drink of water...nothing. Jon and I were both so tired and it was pitch black and I did not know what to do. Finally I made the short walk to the van in the dark with Braden and locked ourselves inside, turned on some music and that still did not work. I wanted to try and stick it out, but there was no way I could deal with this for six hours before there would be daylight. Jon came up to the van to check on us and could tell that things were not getting better. At 1:30 in the morning, we decided to pack up camp in the dark and make the one hour drive home. The girls were devastated that they were not going to get to go fishing. Jon took the tent down while I stayed in the van with the kids. Needless to say, by the time we got all packed up, Braden had fallen asleep on my lap. He slept all the way home and slept until 9:30 this morning. What a stinker!! Jon's last words to me before we left for the campout was, "I hope this will be an unforgettable camping trip". Well Jon, that is exactly what it was! It definitely was a good time. Even though it didn't go they way we had hoped, I would be willing to give it another try next summer.