Camping!

We tried to organize a fathers and sons camp out part 2, but everyone we invited was too busy. Either that or they just didn't like us. :-)
So we made it a family camp out instead!
I was hesitant of my ability to be a very good camper. But after a long conversation with Ben (trying to plan a summer road trip somewhere), I remembered again how much I want to pass on the culture of camping ingrained in me as I was growing up in our Frandsen home.
So we made reservations at Buescher State Park, I made our list of stuff to bring, we went shopping for supplies, and Ben brought down our camping gear from the attic. He was a little skeptical. Ben likes to fly by the seat of his pants when it comes to camping. Camp stove? Those are for sissies. Cooler? Let's risk the food poisoning! (Just kidding... kind of!) Camp chairs? Our boys have to become men sometime-- let them find a rock to sit on if they must sit!
However, I am the daughter of the most organized camper that I know-- my mom. I don't know how she organized 2+ week camping trips for our entire family (at our largest, there were my parents and eight kids trekking around the country in our extended-back 15-passenger Ford XLT van). She had it down to a science. So I wrote a list, the boys and I made tinfoil dinners, we got out a big cardboard box to pack our supplies, bought ice for our cooler, and tried to do this camping thing right.
We got off a little later than we wanted to-- Ben needed me to cut his hair before we left-- and then we hit a bad traffic jam on the way out. We were there by around 7:30, found our camping site, and unloaded our van.
We got a great spot, even though we were "late arrivals." We were under big trees with a small, slow-moving stream running across the back of our site.

Interesting red soil out here in the "Lost Pines."


Mister soon found a place to "chillax" for a while.


Mosey did a good job taking care of Squirrel. At first we had the two dogs tied to a rope (opposite ends) attached to the van. Mister is pretty sedate and wandered around a little bit before settling down to relax in the grass. But Squirrel is true to her name and is, well, just squirrelly. She had herself all tangled and twisted up in that rope before 5 minutes went by. The boys kept having to untangle her.


Finally, Mosey took pity on poor Squirrel and released her from that confusing rope that kept strangely getting shorter and shorter and shorter, and instead walked her around on the leash.

Brigham was our tent-man, and Joseph and Ben got started on a fire. Mosey flitted about, helping where needed.

Brigham got the tent set up all by himself. Good job, buddy!


Joseph and Ben powwow about how to get the fire started.


Mosey was excited when it finally started to burn!
A note about his sandals--the boys got new sandals a few days ago. My big boys cannot stand flip-flops that go between their toes, and I tried to dissuade Mosey from buying these, thinking they'd be hard for him to keep on. But he was adamant that he wanted these particular sandals, and he mastered the art of flip-flop-wearing immediately. Funny the differences between these boys.

We were only about an hour east of Austin, but even that small distance made a huge difference in the level of humidity. It wasn't hot, but it was humid. It was very hard lighting a fire. Even the paper towels we brought wouldn't burn!! Finally Ben got one going, and then after that he used the lighter fluid to keep it going. We had a charcoal starter which we used to get some coals going for our tinfoil dinners. But as it was, it was dark by the time we actually got our food on the coals.
The folks camping next to us came over and offered us two big plates of brisket and baked beans which we did not turn down. Yum. Texans are awesome. Finally our food was done, although by that time the boys were ready to cut to the chase and break out the s'mores.
Ben and the boys slept in the tent, but I opted for the back seat of the van. I can't really sleep on the ground-- the getting up and down off the ground is a little daunting.
It was a pretty good night, except for the dogs that started freaking out about 1:30 AM, forcing Ben to get up and walk with them down to the lake and back before they would calm down.
And the twice I had to get out of the car and wheel myself over to the bathroom a couple of hundred yards away. Thank you MS spastic bladder that never lets me sleep longer than 3 hours at a stretch. :-(
In the morning it rained a few drops and we worried about it getting worse. Joseph, not having slept long enough the night before, was pretty upset. "Four bad things happened on this trip! First we didn't leave on time, second we got in a big traffic jam, third we got a bad campsite (at first the boys wished we had been in a different area of the park, but I think by the end we were pretty sure we were in the best part), and now it's starting to rain!!" Oh, the injustice of the universe! How can it be endured?!
But the clouds cleared up and we made breakfast-- eggs and sausage (thank you camp stove!!), and dough-boys over the fire (thank you camp stove again-- our lighter broke and the matches wouldn't light in the damp air).
It turns out the boys are huge dough boy fans. I wasn't sure we'd make them-- it was such a hassle to get the fire lit again. But I'm glad we did, because they were sure a big hit for the boys. (Dough boys are refrigerator biscuits that you wrap around the end of a wooden dowel, roast over the fire or coals, and then fill with jam, cinnamon sugar, applesauce, or whatever you want).


Joseph is still figuring out proper dough-boy-wrapping technique.


But, honestly, does it matter much what they look like when they taste so good?


Brigham, ever the perfectionist, was determined to master the making of the dough boy.


Brigham patiently roasted his over the fire.


And look at that! Perfect.


Brigham proudly sported raspberry-jam-cheeks for the rest of the morning.



Mosey likes the dough boys, but is still more loyal to the old fashioned s'more. He and Arctie made s'more s'mores after breakfast.

After that the boys caught frogs down in the stream and tried to catch some fish (unsuccessfully). They found walking stick bugs and caterpillars. Brigham had to climb a few trees, of course. Finally we packed up the van and headed out around 12:30. We thought we might rent a canoe at the lake, but it was getting hot and the boys were all very tired.


On the hunt for frogs and other critters.


Joseph found the first frog.


And then Mosey was hot on their trail.


He caught one!



He was oh-so-careful with the little frogs. Happily no repeat of the great baby-frog massacre of 2004 (long, very sad story of Joseph and Brigham, barely 3 years old, gleefully stomping on a bunch of baby frogs, not quite understanding the permanency of death...).


The trees were crawling with these giant black carpenter ants, so Brigham didn't climb too high over the water for fear the rotten tree branch would break!


He found a fuzzy, black caterpillar. Look at those grimy fingers! That's part of the charm of camping for little boys. I didn't even make them wash their hands before eating. I figure they're just developing a lot of healthy antibodies to keep them well in the future, right? :-)


Brigham and Ben work on tying a hook on the end of the fishing line. Ben and the boys were great fishermen when we lived in Florida, but the Texas fish are more cagey-- they haven't managed to catch one yet. And look at that-- Ben is sitting on a camp chair!! You're getting soft in your old age, Ben. :-)

So, it was a success! I can do the camping thing as long as the bathroom is wheelchair accessible from our camp site. We'll go again for sure, although it's getting pretty hot, so we might have to wait till next fall for all of us to go again. I think Ben might even be sold on the camping stove and camping chairs. :-)