Birthday Camping

Last weekend we met our family friends for a weekend of camping in the woods. We chose a charming bare-boned cottage with only wooden bunkbeds, a fire pit and picnic table in the front. We were celebrating Baba's birthday and wanted it to feel special and adventurous. 

We drove off towards the mountains with a cooler full of do-it yourself pizzas, s'mores, banana chocolate chip muffins, and other campfire fixings in the trunk. Extra blankets and sleeping bags were piled high. A backpack full of diapers and cloth wipes sat at my feet. A bassinet sat between Sister and Brother Butterfly. We only had to stop once to console Brother Butterfly who despises his carseat even more than he loathes the bath. We were psyched. 

Shortly after we arrived we realized that camping trips can be difficult for small children. There are no routines and more safety rules. Naps are hard to come by. There are early morning shrieks that wake up the family from sleeping in an unfamiliar bed. Applying both sunscreen and bug repellent repeatedly on four children felt like we joined the debate club. 

On our last morning, I grabbed a seat next to our friend Heather and looked on through the haze of the campfire smoke. The children had invented a game with Baba's birthday balloons, and were running barefoot through the trees and howling with enormous delight. I looked over at my husband eating his campfire bacon and eggs, a rested look on his face. I took another sliver of Heather's homemade orange and chocolate chip birthday cake made from her favorite cookbook. Brother Butterfly cooed in Heather's lap while we chatted, both of us putting off the packing up for at least a little while longer. 

"I feel teary leaving this place with you all," she told me, as the campfire crackled near us. My eyes teared up too. Camping trips with small children is tough. But being in the mountains surrounded by dear friends is pure magic.