Camping is a Lot of Work
We got to the camping grounds, O’Neill Regional Park in Trabuco Canyon, around 2:30. We set up our tent and everything. The kids loved playing in the tent.
It was hot though. The tent we got was huge! It took a while to get set up. The kids were so excited and extremely dirty within a few minutes. We brought their tricycles so they were excited to ride. It was a bit hard in the gravel though. The kids were busy exploring and they really liked our friend’s dog, Cookie. Nicole remembered that this was the dog that ate her hot dog 🙂 After setting up we went to find the park. The kids biked over and had fun playing at the park. Nicole really wanted to ride one of the bigger kids bikes, so she had a little tantrum. After the park we went back to the camp site. The kids were having a hard time entertaining themselves. Bret had to run to the store to get hot dogs. So I gave the kiddos turns on the big kid bike with training wheels. After Bret got back from the store, he helped the girls with the grill. So I took the kiddos to the grassy area and played ball. Justin was so into kicking the ball, playing soccer. They both loved watching Cookie run after the frisbee and the kids got a turn to throw the frisbee. We had dinner, hot dogs, mac and cheese, burgers…..we all brought food and helped. We ate a late dinner, so it was getting close to bed time.The kids jumped off some wood stumps for a bit and Justin landed on a rock. We were worried he hurt his ankle but he was ok, thankfully. We got the kids glow sticks so we turned them on. The kids loved them! Nicole slept with hers. We also brought their flashlights (the pig and the zebra). We lit the campfire, then I discovered I forgot the smores-oh man. Well we got the kids into their jammies and Justin went to sleep pretty easily but Nicole was wired. I think it took her about 45 minutes to go to sleep. I guess she was too excited too be camping to sleep. Finally she went to sleep so then we hung out by the campfire with all our friends. We discovered though our air mattress had deflated. We didn’t put the plug on well enough. We decided we didn’t care and we would sleep with out it rather than taking the time to blow it up. It was nice just chatting and hanging out with our friends. Our kids slept all night. I think we went to bed finally at 12:45 and it was really as uncomfortable as we imagined. We both had rocks in our backs. We also put on our rain cover as we had a big window and it was getting really cool. This was not fun in the dark. Bret and I both tossed and turned all night. We got up about 7:00 this morning. The kids both had big smiles on their faces when they woke up. Maybe cause we were right there. The kids were in good moods and went out to play. Someone brought a T-ball game and NIcole and Justin loved it, playing in their jammies! In fact I will probably try and get them one. They hit the ball really well. Justin sticks out his tongue while hitting-so funny.
They also did bubbles and played with their friends while we cooked eggs and bacon. Bret packed up while I watched the kiddos and we were on our way home. It was mildly fun but I don’t think we are in a hurry to camp with kiddos anytime soon. And we are exhausted. We got home around 9:30 and put the kiddos in the bath. We took showers and got clean. Then we went to pick up our friend Ryan and got to Katie, Mikey, and Sarah’s 4th birthday party at Chuck E Cheese. The kids had a great time. Justin and Nicole played lots of games and rode some rides. They didn’t even want cake as they were too busy playing games. Later we went to Grammy’s house for dinner, while there Bret set up something on her TV. The kids didn’t seem like they were going to play by themselves too well, so I played with them. I had a blast with the kiddos in the pool. Nicole has taken such a liking to the pool. She was jumping off the edge and I was catching her. Justin too but he wasn’t as into it-at least not tonight. Nicole was kicking. I think we were in the water for over an hour. I was spinning and jumping the kids like Shamu. I had a blast and they did too. We had dinner then just hung out in the play room the rest of the night. I am exhausted from camping and so are the kiddos.