This weekend we met up at Sly Park Recreational Area for our annual camping trip.   Jes had already set-up the campsite on Friday with the boys and then everyone else arrived later that day. I left the house around 8:30 am on Saturday with the dog and baby in the car along with a trunk filled with camping gear.  It’s just outside of South Tahoe and it took me only about 2.5 hours to get to the campsite. It was a balmy 90 degrees by noon but the mosquitoes were under control with the help of two citronella lamps.  Kumquat and the dog did great on the drive up and Kumquat was in a really good mood the whole afternoon.

We spent the early afternoon hanging out in the shade and Kumquat seemed to enjoy her new surroundings.  We then walked over to the “beach” area to check out the “lake”.  The reason for all the quotations marks is that it was actually a dried up wetland covered in goose poop and a muddy reservoir.  Jack and Tessa seemed to enjoy the water but we chose to hang out under the canopy to enjoy the breeze and mosquito-free area.

Kumquat even managed to take a nap while we were out there.

The biggest difference in this year’s camping trip was bedtime.  Everyone was in their tents trying to get their kids to sleep by 9 pm.  We were actually the last family to settle down and it was interesting to hear the other campsites partying-it-up until midnight.

I didn’t sleep very well since I was overtired from my first week of work with a baby who wasn’t sleeping through the night.  We managed to get all three of us in the tent rather comfortably considering it was a tiny two-man tent barely big enough for the two of us and a duffel.  Kumquat slept in our portable bassinet for most of the night but at 2 am she woke up crying and her hands were freezing.  I moved her into my sleeping bag and she slept so peacefully for the rest of the night.

In the morning, I let the baby and husband sleep in while I got the dog out of the car (that’s where he slept) and took him for a good long walk.  I’m not sure if Koa actually enjoyed the trip since he had been either tied up or in the car the entire trip.

He pretty much hung out catching flies or dealing with his little stalker, Rowan.

After breakfast, we hung out and it was fun watching the kids play.  We left the campsite around 11:30 am and stopped at In N Out on our way home.  Despite Kumquat’s great mood throughout the past 24 hours, she was super grouchy once we got home and needed a lot of attention to help calm her down for the night.

Overall, I’d say that we had a successful camping trip with a 3-month-old.  I am, however, glad that it was only 24 hours long.  It was just the right amount of time that both Kumquat and I would have been able to tolerate the heat, mosquito threat, and dirt.

Here is this year’s group photo, which shows that the number of children is catching up with the number of adults. Camping is never going to be the same as it used to with our carefree days and late nights.  We probably won’t be burning as much stuff and the boys probably won’t be taking the same ridiculous number of shotgun beers.  It’s a little sad but pretty cool to see our families growing too.

Here are the photos from our past trips.  It’s pretty fun to see how the 6 of us (Ryan, Michelle, Vyl, Bang, Jes, and I) have changed and aged over the years.  It’s also been cool to see that we’ve kept up with this almost-annual camping trip for almost 10 years now.  I’ve also been able to visit some of the most beautiful places in our country.  Yellowstone is still my favorite and we have many more places left to see.

Big Sur, August 2003

Yosemite, August 2004

Emerald Bay State Park, South Lake Tahoe, August 2005

Yellowstone National Park, July 2006

Sequoia National Park, August 2007

Emerald Bay State Park, South Lake Tahoe, August 2009

Lassen National Park and ReCamp, August 2010