When mom’s away, the boys will play…

It was the father and sons campout weekend that can only be called such because one of the sons is under 18 months old!J

Stef was out of town for the weekend, so naturally that meant play time with the boys.  Of course we couldn’t just sit around and slowly drift into March Madness (due to the fact that it was still a week away) so we decided to simulate the best camping situations we could muster. For those deciding to pursue a similar campout simulation, this particular outdoor adventure will require a fair amount of patience and a significant amount of flexibility and innovation, but is certainly worth the ride; if you are up a challenge.

Friday night was barbequing hot dogs, roasting marshmallows for s ’mores, and sleeping in the tent.  None of these things are traditionally very difficult in their own right, but being outnumbered 2 to 1, and throwing ketchup, mustard, a scorching hot BBQ grill, roasting sticks, hot, sticky marshmallows, and a very independent 16 month old into the mix, makes for a grand old time!

Hot dogs on the BBQ were not an issue.  Feeding them to the boys posed some minor setbacks but nothing to write home about. Trying to roast marshmallows on a propane BBQ grill while the wind is blowing…not necessarily a brilliant idea, but it does work…eventually. 

Sleeping in a tent with a 4 year old and a 16 month old when it is going to get down to 33 degrees…bad idea. Talmage was thankfully flexible and slept in his own bed.  So, Sawyer and I slept in the tent. I worried about Sawyer and woke him up several times to make sure he wasn't cold.  My favorite answer came around 2 am. Me: "Sawyer!"  Sawyer in a very muffled voice: "What!?!"  Me: "Are you doing okay?"  Sawyer: rustling in his sleeping bag until he finally emerges, "What?"  Me: "Are you getting cold?"  Sawyer: "No dad! If you start to get cold you just crawl down to the bottom and its cozy!" Of course!  What was I thinking!

So, we braved the cold until 3am when the baby monitor ran out of juice. Not wanting Talmage to wake up to no one listening, we spent the rest of the morning on the couch; quite cozy due to our brilliant efforts in igniting a perfect flame any boy scout could be proud of (by flipping the switch and enjoying the gas glow of the fireplaceJ).

Of course since we were all so well rested the next morning, we needed to continue our campout themed weekend by enjoying a good hike.  So, after breakfast we headed for Farmington Creek Trail.  Little did we know, until arrival, but Farmington Canyon is not yet open to car traffic in early March…oops!  This is where the flexibility aspect of the improvised camping trip kicks in.  Instead of hiking the 3 mile trail we had planned to hike, we hiked the 3 mile trail from the car to the originally planned trailhead of the real hike…and back to the car. This may seem like a fail, however, due to the adventurous nature of a 4 year old Sawyer and an equally adventurous 16 month old Talmage, the getting to the starting line ‘trail’ turned out to be just as much fun as doing the ‘actual’ trail!

Adventures with kids may teach us many things, but they almost always include one overarching lesson: learning to enjoy the journey. Plans never quite go as planned, but there is always joy to be found in the journey.