Camping… let the family drama begin!

Personally, I like to go camping. I do not get a chance to go very often. Other plans or lack of funds tend to get in the way of going camping. Not to mention, The Hubby? He is not a camper… or even an outdoor type person. That’s okay. He doesn’t stop me from going and I don’t make him go. No problem! Both happy campers (pun intended!)

My dad does go camping during the long weekends. So, the second year in a row, the Little One and I joined my side of the family for a camping trip over Labor Day weekend.

Now, technically, this trip was not her first camping trip. However, I do not think the Little One remembered too much of her first trip last year. So, she was pretty excited to be going on a trip with Mommy and sleep inside a tent! Here is a picture of her hogging the “bed” in the tent. Between her stuffed friends and herself, mommy barely had room to sleep! (Sorry for the bad photo editing… the picture was really dark and I severely lack in the proper photo editing skills.)

To be honest, I had a lot of fun hanging out with my brother and his family. However, I am internally grateful that my daughter was too young to understand the family drama that was happening around her. She didn’t seem to be bothered that she only got to see her Grandpa for like a couple of hours the whole damn weekend… since he decided not to join us at the last minute for the trip. She also didn’t seem to notice how dad’s girlfriend was annoying everyone around her by being so bossy or her lack of acknowledgment of other people’s plans or property. The Little One was completely enthralled with hanging out with “Uncle G” and his family. She had everyone on the campsite … heck! The campground even!... wrapped around her little finger.

I do think that The Hubby missed out on some fun memories though. S’mores ended up being a bust as far as the Little One was concerned. Roasted marshmallows were a bit too sticky / gooey for her tastes. Although, she did love to roast them (with mommy’s help of course) over the fire. She ended up eating the graham crackers and chocolate separately. It was also a great joy to see the look of awe and excitement in her face as she held her first sparkler. We couldn’t keep up with her demand of a new lit sparkler when the previous one died out.

Needless to say, without the stupid family drama, we had a wonderful time. Here is a picture of us after all our camping gear was packed up the next day.

Next year? Camping is definitely on the menu! Just this time, I am going to make sure that I am a primary planning person when it comes to these family camping trips. For next year, I’m sure the Little One is going to be old enough to notice this “behind-the-scenes” drama crap.

Oh, and I think I am going to see if I can get The Hubby to go at least during one trip… he just has to see her daughter in this environment/situations! Who knows! Perhaps he will like camping after all!