Easter Weekend-A wicked long post

I actually had five days off in a row so we decided that Easter weekend we would try Benji out at camping.You hear horror stories of people taking babies and kids camping and figured we'd have one of our own. We went to Samuel P. Taylor park in Marin County near the coast. It is situated in a redwood forest, with a river running through it. It's a little drive-in place, lots of families with kids, and hike and bike trails. We packed up and left Thursday morning and got there by 3pm. The sun was out but the camp site is so shaded all day that it was quite cool, but the air was fresh and clean. Adam and I set up the tents, one small one for he and Olivia and the big one for me and Benjamin, with his pack-n-play in it.





I started a good fire and let it burn into coals and then cooked the most delicious foil dinner I've ever had. I think I have perfected them. First olive oil lightly drizzled on the foil. Take boneless chicken thigh meat cut into 1 inch cubes still slightly frozen (or just really cold), thinly sliced onions, potatoes, baby carrots, chopped mushrooms and string beans, sprinkled with a bit of creole seasoning.Don't over stuff or make too big. Cook about 30 minutes directly on coals, rotating every 10 minutes and wallah! Serve with sliced baguette wrapped in foil warmed by the fire. Deelish!

For dessert we had S'mores. I don't know about you, but I've never been a huge fan. I just don't think they taste that good, but they are tradition when you camp, so we made them. After all these years I have figured out what was wrong. I hate milk chocolate. I LOVE dark chocolate. I placed the grahams in a pan near the fire with two squares of Hershey's dark on them and then roasted two marshmallows. When the mallows were ready and the chocolate had a sheen on them I sandwiched them together and got heaven! The best S'more EVER!

Olivia loved them too.

Bedtime went pretty smoothly, Benji went to bed about 8pm into his crib easily while we stayed up and had hot chocolate. Olivia made friends with a little girl who joined us for a while, then we settled in for the night. He woke about 12am and seemed warm enough and I nursed him easily back to sleep. Then he woke at about 3am to eat again. It was significantly cooler and his hat was off and his poor little hands were freezing. They felt like little balls of cold sugar cookie dough. I felt so bad, even though it didn't seem to bother him. I never sleep with my babies but I put that little guy in my mummy bag with me and kept him toasty the rest of the night. He slept till nearly 8am, of course I didn't sleep so great with no room to turn or stretch out. We had a yummy breakfast of pancakes and fruit.



Then we went out on a two mile hike. It was so green and lush. We exerted ourselves just enough to stay warm, but not sweat.








Back at the camp Olivia played with the little girl and one of her friends on and off throughout the day.We took Benji on walks and he took naps when he needed in the crib. Adam and I even got a short one too. In the afternoon, when it was a little warmer we decided to try out the bikes. I have a trailer I used with Olivia as a baby. Benjamin wasn't quite big enough for it and complained a little while we rode but it was kinda fun.



Later at camp I realized I forgot the most important ingredient of our dinner. The HOTDOGS! Ahhh! I was so mad. I had to make grilled ham and cheese sandwiches and then I served them with beans. It was OK but I was so looking forward to a big fat dog roasted over a fire with mustard on it. Adam and I stayed up late ( I made another S'more) and hung out by the fire after the kids went down. That night wasn't as cool, but I had swaddled him up good and he stayed that way when I went to bed, but at his 3am he woke and had wriggled free and had cold hands again. I tried to swaddle him back up, but he would have none of it so I just stuck him in the bag with me again. So tired! For breakfast we had cancer eggs. We call them that because we boil scrambled eggs in plastic bags til cooked. Undoubtedly, I'm sure bpa is leeching into the eggs causing all sorts of estrogen dependent cancers and such. We added real bacon bits, cheese cubes, mushrooms, and spinach. They were so good. Sorry, no pics, they did not really look as appetizing as they were. If you ever want to try them: three eggs, a splash of milk, small handful of each bacon bits, cheese, spinach and mushrooms placed in a heavy duty zip lock bag (avoid ones with the zipper, they melt). Shake till all mixed up and then place in a large pot of boiling water till eggs firm. You can placed 2-3 three bags in at once, depending on the size of the pot. Then we packed up camp. My advice to anyone camping with kids is bring a portable crib for the babies or toddlers. Also bring a high chair. You can't hold the baby all day, but you also don't want to put them on the ground to roll in the dirt. I thought it was a fabulous time, albeit a lot of work and sleep was lacking. I am finding that the work is well worth it when we have down time to spend together as a family, not doing anything, just being together, not distracted by phones and computers and media and work and homework,etc.

We spent the night at Adam's mom's place Saturday night and went out to dinner at one of our favorite places we used to go when we lived in Novato. In the morning we went to church at our old ward. It was strange. We hadn't been there in about a year and a half. It some ways it was totally the same and in some ways totally different. I always remember it as such a stagnant ward where I never really felt like I grew spiritually. But going back after I've had a change in my own heart and a strengthened testimony I realize that it was probably me that was stagnant. You can feel the spirit anywhere, you just have to be in the right state of mind. It was fun to see old friends again. Adam's mother put on a great Easter lunch for family and had an egg hunt for the kids and we thoroughly enjoyed it. Olivia adores her Nana, who spoils her more than she deserves and I think Benji just melts her heart. He is such a happy baby and his smile is so contagious. Sadly, I got no cute Easter pictures of the kids dressed up cute, nor one of our family. I hate it when things like that slip from my mind. We came home Sunday night and I had one more day off to enjoy before going back to the grind. It is days like this that make the hard work worth it.