Finally.....after almost three and a half years of wedded bliss we made it to the mountains for something we thought would be a regular part of life for us.....camping!!
We have gone camping a few times during the last few years, but never just our little family. So since Tyler had some time off of work, we decided to make a quick over night trip to the nearby mountains and some much needed rest and relaxation for my hard working sweetheart!
Immediately upon arriving, Emilee headed directly for a fast moving creek running through our camp site. She ran fearlessly as she cried "Waa Waa! Waa Waa!" which is baby for water! She wasn't happy dipping her fingers in while being held by mommy, she wanted to immerse her entire body! I knew that we were in for quite a challenge. She deffinately kept us on our toes the entire evening.
When darkness finally came, we set up her bed between our two sleeping bags and hung a battery operated lantern in the tent so she had a little light. She settled right down with her bottle and peacefully fell asleep! Tyler and I sat around the fire for about a half hour more before sneaking into the tent and settling into our sleeping bags. Within ten minutes I needed to pee!! Oh no......I forgot about my constant nightly trips to the bathroom. After leaving the tent to pee multiple times, I was starting to get really cold and really frustrated! I could not stop shivering and finally left the tent in a frustrated huff. My sweet Tyler was already outside warming rocks in the fire to put down in my sleeping bag, but I was so cold I knew I needed to warm myself in the truck if I was ever going to be able to sleep.
When I returned to the tent he had stuffed his sleeping bag into my bag and loaded it up with warm rocks and water bottles wrapped in towels. That's right......he sacrificed his own sleeping bag for his obnoxiously cold wimpy wife. Instead he laid down the sun shade for the windshield, laid on it and then covered himself with one wool blanket!! I felt like scum.
By now it's about 1:00 a.m. and we are finally.....finally getting back to sleep when what do I hear, but a sweet little voice in the dark. "Hi....hi mama!" I rolled over to see Emilee sitting up in her bed, her big blue eyes beaming in the moon light. She was more than thrilled to wake up between mommy and daddy! She thought it was time to play and quickly threw herself onto her daddy squealing with excitement! Oh.....it was hard to be upset seeing her so happy, but we were exhausted and not exactly up for a tickle fest. After about an hour and a half she reluctantly settled back into her bed and drifted to dreamland. I think Tyler and I got about 3 hours of sleep that night.
Wow!! What a memory. No sleep, lots of work, and a new found respect for our own parents! It is a wonder they ever took us out to do anything. It is true that you have to work for anything worth while and as far as I am concerned being surrounded by my little family on a cold, restless, moonlit night is something to be cherished....at least now that we've survived it!
