Camping with an (almost) 2 year old

Over the 4th of July weekend we headed up into the mountains again, this time for some camping. We were feeling optimistic and planned for 2 nights up there. The first night we were on our own, and then the second night our friends the Rogers joined us. As you'll see there are tons of pictures, but let's be honest: I'm much better with pictures than words.

When we got there Thursday night it was starting to rain. Cal hurried out and set up the tent, just in case it got worse and not better. We sat in the car and enjoyed our take-out dinner while we waited for the storm to pass.

And pass it did. The sun came out and it was a gorgeous evening.

I'd been wanting some aspen pictures with drops on the leaves, and it was perfect for that (someday I'll get more of those up on my photo blog). Of course, while I was taking these pictures some kind of bug fell down the back of my shirt (I thought I felt something) and bit me, leaving a large bloody spot on my clothes. (Anyone know what a tick bite looks like?) Almost 2 weeks later, the bite is still there. Fantastic. But worth it.

We've camped in this campground before and knew it had a playground, so we snagged a campsite right next to it when we made our reservation. This turned out to be a good and bad thing. Great because it was fun for the kids. Bad because it wasn't exactly a safe playground where you could just let them play- you had to be right there with them. And there was no out-of-site-out-of-mind advantage here. They could see it and they wanted to play on it. And it was a little noisy from all the kids on it.

But we were able to distract with lots of other fun things. Zach had so much fun exploring. He loved the tent.

Practicing zipping it.

And learning all the in's.

And the out's of it.

He kept popping out and saying "Boo!" and cracking up. Too cute!

Near our campsite were some "BIG" rocks that were great entertainment.

What kid doesn't love to scramble on rocks?

Cal insisted on getting a picture of me. So here's proof that I was there.

Our campsite.

A view from near our campsite. I love Colorado!

A stranger volunteered to take a picture of all 3 of us while we were out walking around. (Quite blurry for some reason.)

Friday we drove into Estes Park (about 10 minutes away) for some food and wandering with the crowds. (Estes Park sits right outside of Rocky Mountain National Park). On the way is a great view of Long's Peak (one of the more famous "14ers"- peaks over 14,000 feet).




Friday afternoon the Rogers joined us. Zach and Owen did pretty well together. Zach loved pulling him around in the wagon, and playing with the fun toys they brought.

The boys treated us with dinner.

I was nervous to have a fire around 2 toddlers, but they did fine. Here's Zach learning that it's "HOT."

Owen discovered the water filled potholes in no time.

He couldn't resist.

And little Colin was a trouper as always. He hung out in the playpen happily.
(remember him here?)

We've decided that camping with young kids is difficult and a lot of work. But it's so fun to see them discover the world. Zach loved it too much to eat or sleep much at all (somehow, despite all the energy expended). It took him days to recover. Seriously. We're really glad we went and just might do it again this summer.