Camping

This weekend we had a new experience as a family (and as a married couple) - camping! James used to to camping with Boys Brigade and I did camping with youth group but everything was set up and organised by the youth leaders so this was definitely a new experience for us, and one that I was quite nervous about.

Some young families and young adults from church were having a weekend to hang out and to have it be an affordable time, it was decided that we'd be camping. When James I heard we both immediately said no way, but then after chatting with some others who were going, we convinced ourselves that we would give it a go, if we could borrow a tent that had 3 rooms. One of my mums' group mums goes camping with her family and they had a 3 room tent. I asked her if we would be able to borrow it for the weekend and she was more than happy to lend it. So the Nobles were going camping.

In the lead up to the weekend I was pretty much in denial. I really didn't know what to expect but I was pretty sure that it would be hard, particularly at bedtime. We packed the car on Thursday night and then headed up the coast at around midday. Both kids had a nap in the car which worked well. 

Once we arrived at camp James and a couple of the guys worked to set up the tent while Nomes and I looked after the kids who were so excited to be camping. There was a lot of running in and out of the tents that were already up and into the caravan when Kelly had set it up. It is a lot of effort to set up a tent! 

After it was all set up, we headed over to the pool to have a swim and to cool down. Daniel and Eliza loved playing in the pool! There was a kids paddle pool area that they enjoyed and then a deeper part where they liked swimming around with me. I can't wait for them to be able to swim independently and confidently. But it was a lot of fun playing with them and the other kids.

We then headed back to the site for our dinner - chicken burgers. They were very tasty. Now it was bedtime. We did our normal routine and by 8:30 the kids were in bed. Eliza was quite upset when I put her down so I sat with her and tried to calm her down. She was ok with a cuddle but when I put her down she would start to cry again. After 3 goes she finally seemed to settle. Daniel went down well but then he called out after around 5 mins. After a cuddle, setting up the torch so he could use it without holding it he seemed to settle in bed. I headed back to the rest of the group and within a few minutes I could hear Daniel calling out and crying. I headed over again and this time he needed to go to the toilet. I took him to the toilets and he did a wee. We then headed back to the tent, had him climb into bed and went back to the group. After a short time I could again hear him calling out. He needed to go to the toilet again, but this time Eliza woke up too. I sent Daniel over to James and sat with Eliza to help settle her. She eventually did but by this time I was exhausted and stressed out of my mind. It was now 9:45pm and Daniel was still awake. What was the night going to be like? James came back with Daniel and put him to bed. He lay with him for a while to help settle him and that seemed to work. By 10pm Daniel was asleep and so was Eliza, James was exhausted and I was in tears, exhausted and anxious. We decided to head to bed. The night was not a great one. Eliza woke up at 11:30, 12:30, 2 and 3. Daniel woke up at 3:30 and each time the kids were calling out for Mummy so I got up. At 4am I fell asleep and didn't wake up until 6 when Daniel woke up. So 2 hours sleep. Not the best at all! My brain said 'Let's go home' but being realistic I didn't say anything to James because I know he put so much effort in to putting the tent up. It was not worth going home after one night. 

Saturday was a fun and busy day filled with breakfast, giant pillow running and jumping, park play, swinging, chatting and eating.

Swinging with friends

A tired little girl resting on Daddy

We then headed back to the site to have lunch. Eliza was sitting on my lap having her lunch. She slowed down a lot with her eating and her eyes were struggling to stay open. She then placed her head on me and fell asleep. I loved this time of holding her sleeping as I hadn't done that since she was a baby. I'm not surprised that she was so tired after the number of wake ups last night.

We then headed off in the car for a drive so the kids could nap. Eliza amazingly transferred into the car without waking up. We went for a drive for around an hour. Daniel fell asleep in a few minutes. We loved his sleeping position.

After nap time drives for each of the families we headed to the beach. The water was cool and there was a lot of seaweed so I wasn't keen to go in the water. Eliza was happy playing in the sand up with James. Daniel was having fun running in and out of the water and then asked if we could go for a walk along the beach. It was very nice just walking along the shore with him. On the way back we saw a man fishing and he managed to catch a fish. He saw us watching and showed us the fish he caught. We headed back to the group for a little bit longer and then everyone headed back to the site for showers, dinner and then bed. I was quite nervous about how bed would go tonight but fortunately both kids went straight down and slept through. We had a fun night playing cards and chatting with some of the other people there. James and I also had a good nights sleep which was great.

In the morning we hung out with the kids in the tent - reading books in bed, had breakfast and then started packing up. It takes a long time to pack up a tent too! I have no idea how others do it with kids and just as your family. Once everything was packed up we headed to the Entrance with some of the other families and had a play in the water park. The kids loved it! I wish there was a water park closer to us.

We finished the trip off with fish and chips and then jumped back into the car to head home. The kids slept for the drive home which was good. Camping was fun, the kids enjoyed it and it was worth sticking around for both days. There is a good group of kids who are Daniel and Eliza's friends. There is a good group of parents who support and travel with us. There is a great God who we are all united by. Will we go camping again? Probably. Will it be any time soon? Nope. When the kids are older then we might consider it.