Camping, The Not-So-Fun-Adventure...

We decided to go camping at Lake Mendocino for the 4th of July with the family. This is Brynn's 4th time, and Cannon's 3rd. This is a trip that I think I could have skipped.
Its hard work camping with two kids under the age of 3. The constant dirtiness, fire ants, yellow jackets, wasp nests, hungry mosquitoes, poison oak, late bedtimes, no naps, and dirty bathrooms are all easy to handle when you are living in the woods. Temperatures above 100 degrees? Not my bag, baby....
We were lucky enough to have access to a boat and all the lake water you could ever want, but even that wasn't enough when it was still 90 degrees at 7:30 pm. The kids were beat, and bedtime couldn't come soon enough while we were there. To top off the whole event, our air mattress (the only way that I was going to get a good night of sleep) popped because of the heat, and we were stuck sleeping on the hard packed dirt.
Ok, so I really do like camping. I love the campfires, the s'mores in the evenings, sitting around laughing and talking with loved ones. I love the smell of the dust and the oak trees, and listening to the sounds of the night life from inside my cozy tent. I enjoy waking up early in the morning and seeing what life is like outside of my house before 7 am. I love cooking and living outside. I like to be able to show my kids different plants, and animals, and watch nature in a controlled sort of way. I love being out on the water, floating lazily in the sun, knowing that I will regret the sun damage in a few years, but being too warm and happy to care. The thing is, when its that hot, you can't enjoy one single thing. There is no place cooler to go, no cold drinks to quench your thirst, and everything is sticky and sweaty at 8:30 am.
So, when we packed up the car, and discovered that we had parked on a swarm of red fire ants, when we had to throw away everything in our not-so-cool-cooler because it was so hot inside that the bag of shredded cheese melted, we started to re-think our upcoming planned camping trip in August. Is it really worth it?? I guess to have countless great trips, and just one bad one makes me willing to give it another go. We will see.


Brynn at 8:30 am...No Joke!

Brynn at 8:30 pm...I am really not kidding...More tired and hot, but still just as dirty!

Daddy and the Tank after a hard day of heat.

There are no pictures of me, because I actually melted away.