A Fall Camping Trip

On Sunday we arrived home from our first family camping trip with Steven. What a wonderful time we had! We camped at Potholes State Park near Moses Lake with our dear friends Matthew & Taryn Lundh. Steven came down with a cold the night before we left town, but other than that, he was pleasant as can be for an 8 month old on his first camping trip.


The weather was almost perfect the entire time. When we arrived at camp on Thursday, as soon as the hatch on the Expedition was open, it started to rain...so camp set up was in the rain. After unloading everything, the guys realized that the camping stove had failed to make it into the SUV. The girls & Steven got in the tent, snuggled under the sleeping bags listening to the rain, while the guys drove to Moses Lake for a stove. Thankfully, the rain let up long enough for us to eat some yummy chili and for the grown-ups to enjoy some hot cocoa and cookies. It rained all through the rest of the night.


Friday morning we woke up to pretty much beautiful weather. The guys had left to go fishing pretty early, and didn't have much luck. They came back for breakfast and everyone made the trip into town to Walmart for some misc items that had also failed to make it into the SUV (Taryn is no longer allowed to be at work the morning we leave and are packing up - I was too distracted with Steven to not see what wasn't making it into the car). We grabbed some Starbucks while in town and headed out for some picnicing adventures at one of the many lakes around Potholes. We ended up at Upper Goose Lake and had a great picnic and the guys got to fishing and caught their limit of trout which we ate for dinner that night. Taryn and I each caught a fish as well (had to help the guys out) and if we do say so ourselves they were the best fish of the bunch! While the guys were fishing a friendly older fisherman came over to show the guys how to clean the fish (which we desperately needed if we were going to eat these fish). Through the fish cleaning process it came out that he was not only a Christian, but a gun-toting Republican as well (his gun was in plain view on his belt). Got to love God's country. The fish were a little bland, but definitely tasted good after the work that went into catching them.




Sunrise our first morning at camp



Enjoying the outdoors

 

Hoping for the big one



The friendly "gun-toting" Republican we met at the lake





The first cleaned fish with the man who caught it





The view of where we had our picnic lunch





Steven getting tickled by auntie Taryn




The boys cleaning the rest of the catch

Saturday the guys went fishing again and caught a bunch that came home with us to cook up later. We got in the car and drove and drove all over the area to see the many lakes (so many!) and the wildlife in the area. We mostly saw bees, hornets, spiders, cows, and the occasional bird watcher (quite the find!). We finished up the day with some amazing smores and banana boats around the fire. Probably my favorite part of camping.

It was a bit colder the 2nd morning



The Lundhs - a lovely couple



Enjoying the sunshine!



One of the many beautiful lakes we encountered




Steven taking a hike the easy way




Our family on Medicare Beach



Sunday we packed up (oh, and as soon as we began to do this it started to rain....). We decided to take the long way (Hwy 2) home so we could hit Leavenworth on our way home. So worth it! It was a beautiful day! We ate some German food, walked around and in some shops, stopping for ice cream and some hot sauce (Nathan knew what he was getting into...Matthew did not...that's why we got ice cream). We walked to a little park in town to finish our ice cream and take some pictures. The drive home was beautiful as all the leaves on the trees along Hwy 2 were changing colors. The closer we got to the west side of the mountains, the wetter it became and our sunny weather was over.



Trying on an elephant hat in Leavonworth...not sure what he thinks




Outside Ludwig's where we ate lunch




My smiley boy




Tuckered out after a long weekend



So how did Steven do this entire trip? He was a champ!! The nights were a little chilly, and he certainly didn't sleep better than he did at home, but he made a point of going right back to sleep after he nursed and thankfully didn't wake the camp up too much. By the last night he was in bed with us the whole time 'cause it was just too cold for him to be on his own. He enjoyed this a ton; however, it made it difficult for Mommy to sleep so there were lots of naps on the way home for her. Even though there were quite a few bugs and mosquitoes around, Steven avoided any bites (can't say the same for the grown-ups), thank goodness! There were a few meltdowns after long stretches in the car, but they never lasted horribly long. All in all, he was a great little dude the entire trip, cold and all. Now, if only he'd chosen to not share his cold with everyone else...I guess that's what we get for kissing the cute baby so much!

Since getting home, we are having to adjust Steven back to the real world of not being held and fed whenever he cries (amazing how quickly they revert!!), and have I seen some tantrums the last couple days as a result. To top it off, I think we have some teeth coming in (on the top now) and that is making our nights especially enjoyable as I'm sure you can imagine. He won't be this age forever, and someday I will hardly remember my sleepless nights...at least, that's what I keep telling myself. Still, even with his fussiness, I am enjoying the extra cuddling and snuggling he's been giving me and fall in love with him all over again every morning.

I love my little family!