Are we having fun yet?

Ok, so here is our third time camping in as many summers (not including the Clam Bake!). Here is the van, for a 2-night trip! No, we didn't bring the kitchen sink... but we did borrow an air mattress and a few kitchen items. This trip was a learning experience. Over all the kids gave it about a 9, and we gave it about a 7. We went to Millersylvania Park, which is just south of Olympia. We got there Fri afternoon, and set up. Our site is VERY close to our neighbor. It was a little awkward. We said hi, but they didn't seem the friendly chatty type ( a couple without kids). The kids wanted to go swimming so we went over late afternoon. It was a really nice day, and the park is very pretty. On the way back to camp Kyler found a caterpillar, and named it Tickles. He decided it liked him petting it because it raised it's head up.

The first thing we learned was that you need to bring cooking utensils. We borrowed a camp stove and some pans, but forgot about the cooking things. It took 4 campsites to find a corkscrew. For dinner we made do with a plastic fork and had some great chicken quesadillas. We walked around the camp, played Uno, and enjoyed the evening. When it got dusk, Kipp made a great fire, and we had Smores, of course. We stayed up until about 10, then got ready for bed. The funny thing is, while we were eating our dinner (about 7pm), our neighbors disappeared into their tent and didn't come out again. We could see a light on in there, but they didn't make a fire or do anything.

The second thing we learned is that we need a better air mattress. It was new last summer and worked fine, but at the clam bake we discovered it had a hole. The one we borrowed was a little too small, so we tried to battle it out during the night. This means pumping it up again at 2am, and about 5:30am. But no rain! And we were warm! All plusses. Also there was a bathroom just up the way, with a sink and flushing toilets and everything! Wahoo! This time we actually brushed our teeth.

The morning was cooler, in fact, rain was predicted for the evening, but it was overcast all day. We started another fire, and ran into the lack of utensil thing again. Scrambled eggs were going to be harder, so I went across the way and asked to borrow something (they had a spatula). Much better! We cooked bacon and made some great eggs. Didn't see our neighbors until about 9am, and then just for a few minutes. We ran to get some more ice to put in our cooler, and packed everything up for the day since it might rain while we were out. Since we had borrowed the camp stove, we had put it in our car the night before, and decided to put it in the tent for the day, along with our chairs and stuff like that. Our neighbor asked hopefully, "Are you leaving?" Just for the day, we told her, WE'D BE BACK.

When we got in the car, it smelled funny, but we didn't know why. We went letterboxing in the area, and brought a picnic lunch. The next thing we learned was that we needed a better first aid kit in the car, and that Kyler is a baby (but we knew that)! He got a large splinter in his hand. I do admit it was pretty big, about 1/2 inch, and on his palm. But we're out in the middle of nowhere. So we called the nurseline (great benefit), and she really recommended getting it out, don't get it wet (wood will swell), and try not to get an infection. So we headed back to town to find a drug store or something we could use to get it out. The very kind pharmacist gave us a syringe to use as a needle (very small, sharp, and sterile), and we ended up buying some tweezers also. Kyler freaked when he saw the syringe, although we tried to keep him from looking at it. He was screaming his head off before Kipp even touched him! I had him in my lap, and Ilea was trying to read him a story to distract him. Kipp started working and I was afraid someone would call CPS. Kipp was able to loosen the skin, and in 2 tries had the whole thing out! It was pretty big! So glad it all came out. We had to go to Starbucks after that to get him a chocolate donut, and we needed a little reinforcement for our own strength by then. So off to more letterboxing. This time, it started raining while we're out. Over the next 3 hours it rained maybe 4 or 5 times, usually only about 5 - 10 min, sometimes pretty heavy though. We took shelter where we could, and decided maybe it would be more fun to eat dinner out.... We looked in the entertainment book for Tumwater, and lo and behold! there is a good sounding restaurant, and it's in the very parking lot we are sitting in! But, no, all the lights are off because it's closed Sat and Sun! A pasta restaurant, called the Mason Jar. Oh well. We ended up somewhere else, watched the sky, and enjoyed a great dinner.

Back to the camp about 6:30, and it's not raining. We bought some more wood, and walked around the camp more. When we went to get the chairs out of our tent, we learned the next thing. Camp stoves leak gas! Our tent was strong enough to knock you over! We opened everything up. THAT'S what that funny smell in the car was....Played Uno, and wondered where our neighbors were (both cars were there, but no people). Had another great fire, and the gentleman neighbor came out of the tent about 9:30pm. He decided to have a fire (they had 4 or 5 bundles of wood), and built it in the dark. He played the guitar quietly, and it was very nice. We got the kids in bed around 10 again, and tried to battle the air mattress. I had a genius idea of putting the smaller, but able-to-hold-air mattress on the bottom, sideways, so that when our mattress gave our, our torsos would still be on the other mattress. The extra air in ours would go to the bottom, and fill it up and it should even out OK. So we learned that night that air mattresses have a life of thier own! Needless to say, it didn't work out that way. By 2am, it was like laying on a recliner, with our pillows sticking up in the air, and our bodies slipping down to the bottom, and nothing comfortable at all. We let the air out of the bottom mattress, and filled up the top one, knowing we would need to do it again by about 6am. But no rain that was promised, and we were warm.

Sun morning got a great fire going, and saw blue sky. We had sausage, bagels, and cereal. We walked around and found the best sites to stay at next time. We finally packed up about 11:30 or so and left for home. We were tired, but everyone had a pretty good time. The kids thought it was great (of course, a folded blanket on the ground is fine for them). Our neighbors were weird, and very close, but it didn't stop us. The kids did great, and it was a beautiful place. Back to real life now...and a soft bed....