Camping Success

What a wonderful weekend! This camping with other parents idea was a really good one!

Chance and I picked up Cameron on time (!) at the C-train station without getting into any major traffic snarls or accidents. We were on our way at 4:50 PM and arrived at the campsite at 5:30 PM.

We were the second family to arrive, so we got to take our pick of campsites. We got the trailer set up and Chance ate his supper a little later than usual (6:30) sitting in his Chariot. Peas and sweet potatoes and barley. While we finished setting up camp and ate dinner, Cam came up with the brilliant idea of using the truck box as a modified playpen for Chance (of course he was supervised, as the truck box is not very deep, and given enough guts Chance might have been able to haul himself out). As we were not about to bathe our babe in the mountains, what with the chilly nights, we decided to let him stay up a little later than usual so that he'd readily go to sleep. More people arrived through the evening, and Chance started to get a little fussy around 8 PM (normal bedtime is 7:30).

So we got him changed and let me tell you, there's nothing cuter than a skinny little baby romping around in nothing but a diaper and a toque. No pictures, the camera was buried in the bottom of my pack. Unfortunate. Despite the noises of others setting up camp, chopping wood, kids playing and their mom shouting after them, Chance went right to sleep and was soon cozily tucked into his playpen. Cam and I enjoyed a cup of camp coffee by the fire with some of the other parents.

Chance woke at 11, 2:30 and 5, then was up for good at 6:20. A pretty normal night. He slept in his playpen until 5, then joined Cam and I on the wing of the trailer. We woke up to a cool morning, but Chance was quite snug in his snowsuit. Yes, his snowsuit.

Around noon the group got organized to go for a hike along the Ribbon Creek Trail which departs from Kananaskis Village (used for lodging in the 1988 Olympics). We went ahead of the group as Chance was in a good mood and we knew that we should seize our opportunity to make some good distance. The trail was very flat and wide (allowing us to use the Chariot) and a nice river was nearby usually. We stopped for a nursing-in-the-bush session and then lunch at the end of the trail. We encountered the rest of the group on the way back, and were informed that they had sighted a 2 year old black bear in the parking lot just before they hit the trail. Lovely.

We returned to camp and Cam napped while Dani chatted with some of the new campers. The rest of the group arrived around 5 PM. Chance went to bed a little after 8 again and stayed asleep until 3:15, woohoo! Unfortunately he felt so well rested that he wanted to play. So Cam and I laid on either side of him and gave him the flashlight to chase. The shadow puppet show must have been hilarious. Chance got sleepy around 4, but couldn't seem to get comfortable. No amount of nursing or rocking helped for very long. Cam and I changed his diaper, but that didn't help, So I pulled out a little bottle of teething tablets and dosed him with 3 - he was out like a light until 7:30. I know those teeth are bothering him. When he smiles at you, you can see his gums change colour from pink to white to pink to white. They must be painful.

We were all packed up and on the way home by 11, Chance napped the whole way home. I went out for milk and bread and fueled up the truck, and came home to a baby who was changed and into some comfy pants for napping, with a tummy full of bananas. Cameron figured he would like a snack, and he was right. Chance ate nearly half a banana. Woof!

And he's been alsleep for an hour now. Cam went for a nap too. I fixed up dinner and finished Cam's beer that he left on the kitchen counter. Finders keepers. :)