Diapers and Dragons

Tuesday, June 1, 2010

The Good, The Bad, and The Whiny

Yo.

I'm back. Amazingly enough, I'm back in one piece and of sane mind--well, as much as I usually am, which I suppose is up for some discussion. I'm sure there are quite a few people who would have a few opinions to express on the matter. Shut up. It's not your blog.

Heh.

So how did the Great Camping Adventure go? Well, as Boy Crazy said in her post about her weekend, I'm a fan of selective memory. Therefore, I am choosing to remember
  • multiple small children running about bare foot playing tag while MTL and I cooked breakfast/lunch/dinner
  • The Widget sitting contentedly on the beach, just out of reach of the water, piling sand on his legs/torso/curly head
  • DramaBoy finally getting brave enough to wade out in the water up to his waist
  • both DramaBoy and The Widget eating their hotdogs across the top (corn-on-the-cob style) rather than from one end
  • roasting marshmallows over the fire
  • The Widget wanting a marshmallow properly toasted, taking it in his hands, then handing it back with an "ick" face, complaining that It's squishy! It's too squishy! despite assurances that its squishiness was, in fact, a desirable characteristic
  • The Widget marching about in board shorts and a hoodie, face adorably framed by the hood
  • DramaBoy climbing everything in sight like the monkey he is
  • sitting by a fire sipping cold drinks while laughing over MTL's family's stories (his sister et famille and his parents were there as well, which raised the adult-child ratio to a marvelous and anxiety-reducing level)
  • eating a delicious if very messy Choco-Raspberry Burrito grilled over the fire (though we'll use foil on the grill next time and add more cinnamon)
  • toasting on the hot sand while the kidlets splashed about in the lovely clear lake
  • getting into a water fight with MTL and his kids (mine stayed safely out of range on the beach)
  • moments of pure, unadulterated happiness
And I simply am choosing NOT to remember
  • the whining
  • trying (with limited success) to remove sand from scalps and every possible crevice of small dirty children
  • protests over eating the food we brought versus the (apparently superior) food brought by MTL's sister and parents
  • the whining
  • biting flies and mosquitos
  • trying to get three small exhausted children to STAY IN BED and GO TO SLEEP when (horror of horrors) the sun was still up and other people got to stay awake
  • the whining
  • dealing with fighting and complaints and various difficult requests from two kidlets in the back seat while driving for hours and hours without anyone in the passenger seat to help
  • the sheer exhaustion (shared by MTL) that resulted from tending camp, cooking food, bathing children, ferrying children to the potty, being woken in the too-early hours of the morning by small kidlets, driving for hours, and generally Being In Charge While On Vacation
and did I mention
  • the whining?
That second list? Didn't happen.

It couldn't have, because MTL and I have agreed that camping is something we want to do frequently. We're even going to prep some permanent camping bins and make some lists (yay! lists!) to make sure we don't forget certain key items. Like, oh, a can opener. Or dish soap.

Thank God MTL's parents were there in their fully-stocked RV.

I should note, however, that we plan to make a good number of those camping trips kid-free. Then we can spend hours reading and relaxing and doing things whenever we feel like it rather than on Kidlet Time.

Hopefully that means we can take the h out of whine.

And that, dearest readers, would be something to remember.

12 bits of love:

Beth said...

You're a brave woman! I used to camp with my moppets when they were tots back in Africa, so I know what a hard slog it can be!

But now that they're all older, it's a breeze!

Adults-only camping does sound fun, though...

BTW- my verification word is "snimorph", which is kind of cute.

Ed Pilolla said...

sounds like you had a great weekend, i guess. but really, what wonderful memories for the little ones. yes, selective memory helps in all areas of life, i guess, perhaps with people choosing to dis-remember me.

Logical Libby said...

We now have bottle openers in each car -- because that is always what we forget.

And I would never go camping with kids.

momZombie said...

Glad the second list did not happen. I love camping but the second list makes me think twice about kids+camping=relaxation.

Unknown said...

Wow...you went camping? With kids? I think you may in fact be deserving of a medal of some sort.

I simply cannot imagine camping with my kids. It will NEVER EVER EVER happen. But, kudos to you for going and actually planning to go again!

I love the part about your kids eating their hotdogs like corn on the cob....that is hysterical and I never would have thought of that. Next time I will eat mine that way too just to see what it is like. LOL

Katie said...

Oh boy. I have not braved camping with my little one yet. Afraid of bugs, that one.
But...I LOVE to camp, so maybe I should just suck it up and choose to forget the bad stuff. I think that is a great idea!

Pants With Names said...

Dave's trying to make me go camping this summer. I'm resisting and have already played the pregnancy card to no avail. So now I'm getting underhand and reminding him that the last time we went camping was in a force 6 gale, driving rain and he forgot the tent pegs. Just as I was thinking I'd get away with actually having to camp.. he suddenly said that he could improvise on the tent pegs by melting plastic forks. I laughed so much at that point that I forgave him buying some tent pegs and making me actually camp.

Glad you had such a great time. Sounds a blast.

Heidi said...

C would love camping. I do not ;)

But yay for you for sticking it out and having a great time!

Draft Queen said...

yay for surviving camping. Yay to me for surviving you being away all weekend.

GingerB said...

The camping sounds great, even better kid free. I want to go this summer but am not sure I can stand the stress of my newly walking toddler crashing into so many pointy rocky surfaces. Ugh.

Unknown said...

Whining? What whining?

Kathleen said...

I'm exhausted reading your second list which didn't happen but which still convinces me that camping is too much work with small children. We shall do it anyway. For the sake of the children.

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