alternate title: how to camp with babies...
don't. just don't do it. if you have a baby who doesn't sleep through the night, don't go camping with her. she will wake up more than she already does and then she will attract all the bears in the forest with her "dying rabbit' cry/scream. it is not fun and you will spend the entire next day trying to recover from your sleepless night.
other than that... camping was AMAZING! gretta absolutely loved it, especially her new camp chair with owls on it. and payson arizona is gorgeous, it looks more like sundance, utah than arizona. i'm so happy i finally got to go to that side of the state.
so here is what we did on our camping trip.
we left at about noon and drove to our campsite. it only took 2 hours from the dry desert of phoenix to end up in the most lush green campsite surrounded by pine trees. we even picked some blackberries it was that green!
we set up our tent just in time to cover it with the rain fly and keep our belongings dry from the wonderful sprinkle of rain we got. we didn't even mind that it was raining. it was just perfect. we hiked around a little bit and threw rocks in the adorable creek right by our site. gretta was in heaven and london seemed to like being in nature and not cooped up in the house too.
you see, summer in phoenix is (almost) as bad as winter in north dakota. most people add a few pounds in the winter because you aren't as active and outside as much with the cold and snow. here in phoenix, people add their "summer coat" for the few hot hot months during the summer when it is always above 100 degrees and you really can't go be active other than the pool, but who wants to get skin cancer anyway?
so that is why payson was such a nice getaway and it is also why i end up heading up to prescott once a week in the summer. i can't help it!
we cooked some yummy tacos on the fire and ate dinner and we were all a little sleepy so while it rained some more we got things cleaned up and the girls in their jammies. i think we all ended up falling asleep as the sun went down.
and that is when the horrible part started. i was terrified about bears. all over the camp grounds and even on our picnic table were signs about the bears and how you can't have any food or water out at night because it attracts bears. its even against the law! i couldn't stop thinking about what i would do if a bear came. it was not fun. add to that feeling a baby who would wake up every 30 minutes and screech and cry. i was convinced the bears would come and get us. spencer finally told me to say a prayer and try to relax. DUH why didn't i think of that? i did and immediately i fell asleep, thank you heavenly father. but then a while later i felt a tap on my back and spencer saying "do you hear that"!? omg, there was something walking through the woods nearby. we were staring out our tent forever trying to see it. it had to be big. we shone the flashlight out and we heard it climb a tree really fast. so that's when we knew it was a bear.
we each grabbed a sleeping baby and ran to the truck. holy crap! we slept each holding a girl and it was the most uncomfortable thing in life but at least i wasn't scared anymore. when the sun FINALLY came up we were so happy. it was a beautiful morning. goodness! i'm such a wimp! but anyways, it was funny and scary and an adventure. and i'm glad we now know to wait until london is a little older to go again. or get a cabin! haha
that was long sorry. camping is fun:)
