Memorial Day Camping Trip

Camping on Memorial Day weekend with the Petersen side of the family has become a tradition (we didn't sleep over last year with baby Reese, but we did spend the day) and we've been doing it since I was pregnant with Clayton. (And probably before but I can't remember that far back!)

We got this huge tent to accommodate our family:

Daddy, proud of setting it up for the 1st time on our backyard a few weeks ago

Here are a few pictures documenting the fun times we had!

Yes, my boys need planned activities to go camping. Just exploring nature is not enough to keep them occupied 24/7, and you can forget eating and sleeping so we had to keep them busy and engaged. I had the idea of a sensory bin. I bought a 20 lb bag of rice and filled a plastic tub up with it and added small containers, measuring spoons (for digging and filling) Also the leaves and flowers from some fake flowers  (for "planting") and pipe cleaners. Reese enjoyed throwing it (he liked the sound it make when it landed on the tarp I think) and Clayton really got the hang of doing a lot of fun things. We buried cookie cutters and even poured "glasses of milk" to "drink." I have to admit that it was fun to just run your hands through the rice. I can't wait to try out more types Sensory Bins this summer!

Clayton is pouring "milk" into my cup

Mr. Smiley!

The best part about doing it on the tarp is that when we were done, we just dumped the rice right back into the bin. Clean up was a breeze!

There are no pictures from it but down the way from us there were a group of people camping with their horses. Clayton and Reese loved to go for walks to go see them! The first time we went to see them, as we approached, Clayton informed us that the "horses have big tails." So proud of him for observing and commenting on what he saw. Reese became a pro at imitating the sound of the horses' whinny.

Grandma Dianne was kind enough to supply a little blow up pool for the boys to splash in. It was a perfect place for them to cool off and a just big enough for Mommy (and Aunt Amy) to dip our feet in.

You can see our tent there in the back. Look at that water flying out!

Of course flinging the water out was the most fun

And of course the ever classy shot of a toddler riding a trike in a diaper

We had planned on staying 2 nights but ended up leaving on the second evening due to such a high chance of rain during the night and following morning, plus the boys were done. They slept slightly better than "bad" and had hardly eaten anything because apparently eating outside isn't an acceptable toddler activity. It was a good thing too because Grandpa Mark informed us later that when they woke up in the morning there was about an inch of standing water where our tent had been. It's a lot of work to take two small children camping, but when they were having fun they were having the time of their lives!