Camping, Retro Style

My parents, the proud new owners of a '60s camper.

Last weekend we all took my parents' new camper on its maiden voyage. It was my first camper camping experience and it was a lot of fun. Really it just stirred up my old dreams of ditching life as we know it and bumming around in a camper! This was also the first camping trip ever where we couldn't have a fire because of a burn ban, that was strange. I'm pretty sure the boys didn't really think we were camping since smores on the fire weren't involved.

The Bohemian and I

Before

After
Graham experienced a right of passage on this camping trip by ignoring his papa's calls to come back, hurling full speed down a giant hill on his bicycle, and going off road and down 10' of heavily wooden hill before coming to a crashing stop. I saw it about to happen from the camp site and was a sight to behold waddling at full speed to go retrieve him.

The boys dining in camper style

They loved the camper and treated it like their personal playhouse.

Snips and snails and puppy dog tails, that's what little boys are made of...and here's some photographic evidence.

Confessions Of A Landlord Part II

Sums up my sentiments pretty precisely.

Vacation plus home don’t always add up to vacation home. For other people, but not for us. For us vacation and owning two homes means we work through every vacation, that we enjoy our actual home less than we would otherwise, that any home improvements we do are to be enjoyed, or simply destroyed, by other people. Labor Day weekend we attempted to paint the exterior of our rental house with the idea that we'd throw a little camping in the mix. It sort of turned into a comedy of errors, with lots of rain and mixed up schedules we barely managed to prep the house for painting.

My dad lucked out and got the last available campsite which put our tent in an unusually precarious position: on a rock with a tree at our door, a cliff dropping off to the lake behind us and a good sized crevice in front. It was actually a pretty cool place to be perched!

Our water logged campsite. I would've been much more relaxed and amused by all of this (I really do love camping) if it weren't for the stress of trying to get some work done.

In spite of being dragged all over creation and spending a day and a half watching us scrape and paint the house, the boys still managed perfect behavior and survived with their love of camping in tact.

One bonus to our camping trip was getting to meet the Log Lady!

Another rare sighting! Our good friend graced our campsite with his presence. He actually came ready to work but we got rained into a cup of coffee instead. I was just glad to see him, he's more like a brother than a friend.

Me and my honey

My other honey, Mr. Cash Pugface

Breakfast rainy day camping style.

We were a bit relieved that the forecast for last weekend involved lots of rain, meaning we actually got a weekend home together. This weekend will be attempt #2 at painting the house. This time The Bohemian is on his own, the boys and I have a birthday party to attend.

The Season For Smores

We went camping with the crew this weekend and it was a lot of fun. Even our two dogs went. On the top of the table is Carl Dog and me holding Mr. Cash Pugface. On the seat are our good friends with their daughter, our boys' best little friend. Then The Bohemian with the boys and Maya dog at his feet.

The boys were so excited to help Pappa set up camp. Heck, it took us so long to get packed, leave town and drive to the campsite I think they were just excited to finally be there!

All my beautiful boys trekking to the river.

Lil' Spitfire and Pappa test the waters and throw sticks for Maya, who loves the water.

The Bohemian and Carl Dog doing some silliness or other. Yep, they're always this dorky!

No camp out is complete without smores! I help Mr. Golden Curls perfect the art of the burnt marshmallow.

Lil's Spitfire waits on deck.

Finally, Lil' Spitfire gets his turn.

My tiny boy wanted so badly to help Carl Dog carry the giant logs for the fire but was finally satisfied with this one that was just his size.

The second day we took Carl Dog's raft to the river and the boys loved it!

Pug on the rocks. I was really concerned that Mr. Cash would overheat on this trip, since I've heard that happens really easily with Pugs, but he did great and loved it! He even liked the water and got to meet a fellow camping Pug. I'm pretty sure Mr. Cash felt tough!

The second afternoon we were joined by our good friends who have a daughter Mr. Golden Curls' age and Carl Dog broke out another winner, water guns!

The Bohemian with our camping buds.

Mr. Cash had a sweet setup, his cage in the shade under the picnic table. We tried to put him on a run with Maya, didn't work so well!

Though he liked his camping experience, Mr. Cash was glad to be back in the car with the A/C. And both dogs slept like the dead for several days.

The Campitarians

Morning sunlight and campfire smoke

This weekend we went camping! The weather was perfect and it was so much fun. The Bohemian spent the weekend feeling super-manly at Bikes Blues and BBQ while the boys and I roughed it in the wild with my folks. OK, you got me, we weren't roughing it exactly but with a 2 and 4 year old a tent, latrines and limited running water is majorly roughing it.

Dew covered spiderweb in the morning sun

The original Campitarian. Mr. Golden Curls, what a goof. He wore his "camping hat" (aka plastic bowl) all weekend. We decided he was starting his own cult since we went camping on a Sunday and he looked so freaky!

Not even camping can keep the folks from a Razorback game!

Lil' Spitfire has a live one! It's not camping until there's a campfire and smores!

Ooie Gooie Goodness, that smore's nearly as big as his head.

Dirt covered, scraped knee boys enjoying some smores

We have a visitor! Our good friends join us at the campsite and we get to introduce their little girl to the wonders of the smore! She was born only 3 weeks after Mr. Golden Curls so they've been buds from the beginning.

Grandpappa helps the kiddos

Grammy helps the tiny one up the steps. I promised the boys some swimming so on the last morning I kept my promise, and rued it, it was freezing!

The boys were lovin' the camp chairs

The Bohemian having a macho moment, well, macho until I started running through the grass like a big dork trying to take his picture!

Thanks Carl Dog for giving me this much better pic of the Bohemian!