A-camping-we-will-go

Our cousins Jennifer and Henry, on Kyle's side, live about four hours away near the magical land of Truckee. Truckee is full of streams and lakes and trees and somewhere around October the magic fades and everything is covered in snow. We made it just in time for perfect weather. This was our second time camping at Stampede Reservoir and to make it even more special, our friend from Louisiana, Kyle's childhood friend and his cousin Jenn's best friend, Kim Hebert, joined the camp. She flew in for about a week and we met them for a few days of camping.

Before we left town we rented a tandem kayak because simply camping with a baby for the first time wasn't enough, we wanted to add to the adventure. I love sitting around the campfire and cooking and eating, but I like to do something during the day as well.

 We initially planned to leave our house around 10am so that we could visit our friends Nate and Danielle on our way to camp. They have a 4 1/2 month old baby boy that I am just dying to love on. Every thing was working against our plans and we ended up leaving at 4pm instead. We packed the truck full of gear and picked up the kayak on our way out of town.

Auntie Kim and Bug on the stump. She loved that thing!

 We brought Razzle, our dog, with us and since we don't trust him with Ariah we decided one of us would sit in the back with the baby and Raz could ride shotgun. It actually worked out perfectly. I drove and Kyle got 4 hours of quality time with bug. They danced and sang and played until they both passed out. About an hour before we got to camp I stopped for gas. After returning home yesterday I realized I left my car keys (for my truck not Kyle's) there so as an added bonus I got to cross something off my ongoing list, get extra keys made for Tahoe.

We pulled into camp just in time to set up in the dark. I had a pretty crappy attitude about leaving home so late in the day but it all worked out just fine. Jenn saved us a spot closest to the water so that we could sit on the beach while Cupcake napped and still see the door of our tent. She even raked the pine needles for us, it was a very warm welcome indeed. As if that weren't enough, they had casserole dishes of Henry's famous ribs (my all time favorite, right up there with Kim and Granny's gumbo and my mom's chicken pot pie), green bean casserole, corn bread and Oysters Rockefeller. We ate better in the woods than we eat at home. Cajun camping is the way to go!


After dinner Kyle  put Ariah down for the night. He didn't come back to to the fire and when I finally came to bed, there he was curled up with Ari. He covered her little legs up and tucked the blanket around her, they were snug as a bug in a rug. Ariah slept until morning, though she did wake us up by putting her hands in our face a few times. It was so neat snuggling with our little bug. Since we stopped co-sleeping a year ago she always sleeps in her crib. We have both missed having her so close and this was such a treat.

We woke up around 8am and shared the morning and breakfast around the campfire. You are probably thinking we had something simple like eggs and grits for breakfast but you'd be wrong. We had tatertot casserole. It is as good as it sounds, just think tatertot meets cheese and sausage. Baked in an oven served with coffee and mimosas.

The cord going to our tent for the baby monitor.

The plan for the day was to play on the beach. After spending a half-hour trying to set up the baby monitor, I gave up and Kyle came and put Ariah down for her morning nap. While she was sleeping Kyle and I paddled across to the island. We explored the island some and then headed back. The baby had just gotten up when we returned.

On the island.

There was a ton of food to make for dinner so we got started early. Kim rounded up a crew to help make shrimp kisses: shrimp with cream cheese and jalepeno strips wrapped in bacon. In order to cook them Kyle started a charcoal fire. I had brought the charcoal but not the lighter fluid so this was the first attempt at lighting the pit. A bed of pine needles, the whole bag of charcoal and WD40 as lighter fluid. It definitely caught on fire but not the coals.

The next fire starter was the oxygen acetylene torch. See Ariah trying to adjust the knobs for daddy? She sat under his feet the whole time. This is what eventually lit the pit and people would come by and ask what we were welding. 

 Bug on a stump. Ariah loved this stump. Daddy (or Kim, I can't remember)  put her on it once and it was her favorite place to be all weekend. She would just sit there for 20 minutes and sway, play with her belly and look around.

Me and my girl

Ari's milk had a huggie

We really wanted to get Ariah out on the boat so after lunch we put the boat back in the water. I wish I had a picture of us trying to go down the rocky hill with both of our life jackets on I learned that you put them on just before you get in the boat because they are impossible to maneuver in. The picture of Kyle and Ari is after we got back to shore. I really wanted a photo of Ariah's first kayak adventure.

When Ariah woke up on Sunday morning I got her all dressed and as she ran up to our campfire where everyone was sitting, she kept saying, "Call, call!". She was actually saying Kyle! We are now on a full time "daddy" stint so that she replaces, "Kyle" with "Daddy". It was cute that she learned it but I would hate it if she called me Ang instead of Momma.

Before we even pulled out of the campground she was sound asleep and she slept 3 of the 4 hours home. There was a little shop at the campground and Ariah acquired an eagle and a raccoon in addition to her favorite puppy dog.

This was the most fun I think I have had with Kyle and Ariah. She was such a good sport about everything. My favorite days seem to be ones without TV's and phones. I like watching TV and I am thankful to have a cell phone, but there is something to be said about quality time with my husband and baby girl. Everything feels different when all there is to do is hang out together and enjoy each other. No distraction or interruptions. Unless of course you consider the LSU and Saints game being blared from our car stereos a distraction, but we didn't. 

This is just a little added bonus. Cupcake found Daddy's wallet and took EVERYTHING out. And then she brought him 1 dollar at a time until she had cleaned her mess.