Camping!!

So we decided to give camping another try this year, only for one night. We joined my parents at Hicks Lake just past Harrison. Aside from the bugs, it was the prefect location. We had a great spot right beside the lake and the playground. The geese made the grassy beach almost unusable with their "deposits" and the playground was designed for oddly-shaped children with long legs and short necks but other than that it was perfect! We found a spot on the beach (not the beach with the geese) that was so great. We had our own section of the beach all to ourselves. The water was clear and the weather was warm. It was so good that we didn't want to give up our spot so we brought lunch to the lake and cooked our Kraft Dinner on the portable stove. We had a good little set up for sleeping too. The girls slept in one tent and we slept in another. Kiera cried herself to sleep after more than an hour of fighting it. Then we had some nice relaxing adult time of game-playing until bed. Then the fun started. Kiera woke up at 2:30 wondering where she was and too terrified to go back into the playpen. After some deliberating and realizing that we couldn't let her cry it out now that the rest of the campground was sleeping soundly, Jason decided to drive her back home to sleep and come back the next day. It was a good solution for sleep, just not so good on gas.

After they left I decided to wait outside for a bit to make sure they got out the gate okay. I was standing quietly beside the picnic table and not moving much I guess. I heard some strange noises coming from in front of me. I must have moved slightly, because I suddenly heard the sound of a frightened animal scratching its claws on the cement under the picnic table as I startled it. Terrified, I backed away from the picninc table and waited to see what would emerge -- and in which direction (hopefully away from me and hopefully away from Hannah sleeping in the tent on the other side of the table). Then I saw it, wandering into the forest to the next site -- a smallish black creature with a white stripe down its back. I had been a foot or so away from a skunk, startled it and managed to not get sprayed!! I was so scared my legs were almost too weak to carry me back into the tent. Then I spent most of the rest of the night imagining what every other sound in the forest could be. Needless to say I was pretty tired the next day.

It was a good time camping though and we were so proud of Hannah, sleeping in her own tent, in her new sleeping bag with no complaints (although, she was really trying to help Kiera get to sleep in some very unhelpful ways!) She loved camping so much, we know we have to take her again soon. Next time it will be a father-daughter trip though and Mommy will stay home with those under 2!!