Ordinary Life in the Wild: Fall Vacation 2011 - Part One

Run and Treav hiked up the mountain to the top of a nine-level waterfall.

What are the ingredients of a camping trip?

Bugs, check!

Hot Dogs, check!

Grill, check!

Marshmallows (4 bags), check!

Tents, check!

Flashlights, check!

French press (a must for us non-early risers), check!

Frisbees, check!

Kids who wake up at the crack of dawn because there are no black-out curtains in their tent, check!

I could go on and on...

We started off our fall vacation this year with a three day camping trip. A first for this family of five. I think this was the 3rd time in my whole life that I had ever been camping. Apparently, according to Treavor, RVs and Campers don't count. Camping isn't hard-core enough if you don't sleep on the ground, I guess!

The weather up here in the North of Thailand has quieted down. No more gigantic monsoons to dampen our trip. Cooler weather. (Yes, we put on long socks and sweaters for the 60-65 degree morning weather. We are used to the tropical life!) Even the mosquitoes left us alone, for the most part.

The ants, on the other hand, had some kind of bitterness toward Man that they had to take out on us. I counted no less than 8 different kinds of ants while we were there. Thankfully, though, they stayed away from the inside of our tents. I prayed and prayed and banished any kind of snacks from being consumed inside of them. Another camper staying under the pavilion beside us said that the ants were all over his head one night after they pitched their tent in the grass, like us. He moved. Though, we moved our "eating spot" down the hill and that seemed to work.

We hiked, played Uno and dinosaurs in the tent at night, read stories, captured bugs, grilled food, sat by the fire and stared at the stars. Kyla loved sleeping in our tent, and kept us up all night with her tossing and turning...and teething. But, even with less-than-perfect sleep, we had fun and thoroughly enjoyed the great outdoors.

Creation. Breathtaking. Awe-inspiring. Relaxing.

The campsite:

all our gear. we had some stuff, and borrowed some things from friends and had all that we needed!

hopefully, one day, my boys can actually help pitch the tents by themselves! soon!

little man in training

the canopy for our eating/playing place

all tuckered out.

the boys had one tent, we had another. at $2 per night, it definitely beats a two-bedroom hotel price.

awake and happy.

dinosaur fights by flashlight.

some of you may squirm when you see the squatties we used. but, just think...if there were no bathroom, what would we have to do anyway? I'd take this over a whole in the ground, any day!