"Camping"

tent nap

Three or so weeks ago, we took Ms. Elliott on her first camping trip.  We went with Brad's family, and stayed in a campground at the Washington Coast.

Traffic on the way down was horrible, so we were all trapped in the car for twice the amount of time it should have taken. We got there at Baby Girl's bed time and she was not a happy camper (pun intended). She starting melting down almost immediately.

Before we left, I had expressed concerns about camping with an infant; how do we keep her warm enough at night? how do we handle naps? what if she wakes up a ton at night (which she probably will because we're not at home)?

Brad has a really hard time when Ellie cries. It makes him very upset.  It was colder at the campground than we had anticipated, and we weren't sure how to get her to go to sleep in the tent.  I tried nursing her to sleep, which worked.  Until I put a hat on her head and woke her up.

When it got to be 9 pm, and she was still awake and crying, Brad proposed she and I stay at a hotel down the road. Now, I don't know if I mentioned it before, but camping is not my favorite, so when given the chance to sleep in a bed as opposed to on the ground, I jumped at the chance.

We checked in, and went right to bed.  And little Miss slept straight until 6 am. It was glorious.

The next morning, we went back to the campground and hung out with the family. At nap times, I took her back to the tent and laid down with her until she fell asleep.

We had a pretty good day at the beach. Elliott loves the outdoors, so she enjoyed all the different views while the family passed her around.

I've been trying to convince Brad to buy a camping trailer for the last few summers.  I think one night of camping with an infant has finally won me the argument.

Bam.