The Fabric of Our Lives: The Great Outdoors

Last weekend, we took Jackson on his first camping trip! Ben and I love to camp but we haven't been in nearly 2 years. We decided that J was finally old enough to have fun playing in the woods & getting dirty, so we headed to Lake Hartwell for a single-night test run at Oconee Campground. Rather than rough it at a road-side, rustic site like we usually do, we opted for a campground that provided necessary amenities; there is a lot to be said for a picnic table, a bath-house, water spigot, lantern hook & groomed campsite.
I booked the last available site online on the Wednesday prior, so we were pleasantly surprised to find our campsite in a prime location, with plenty of shade & a gradual slope down to the lake (as opposed to the cliff-like drop-off of the neighboring sites). Jackson absolutely loved climbing up and down the steps leading to the tent pad and was all about exploring anything & everything. To simplify, we opted for a dinner of campfire hotdogs as opposed to the traditional steak dinner, and did a breakfast of oatmeal & cereal instead of bacon, eggs, grits & toast. We spent Saturday afternoon setting up our tent (which we dubbed as the Taj Mahal), picking pinecones for a to-be-determined holiday craft projects, throwing rocks, snacking & playing outside. Once the sun went down, it got a little chilly, so we piled on the layers to stay warm -- the fire was a bit too dangerous for a toddler, so we played on the other side of the campsite under the light of the lantern. Around 8pm, Jackson started pointing the tent, indicating he was ready to go to sleep, so we tucked him into his pack and play and he didn't make a peep until 8am. Despite the mid-40 temps, we woke up with cold fingers but were warm other than that. We spent a relaxing Sunday morning around the campsite and loaded up and left just in time for Jackson to nap the whole way home.

We can't wait to go back next Spring and stay for the whole weekend!