Diamond Fork . . . Dream or Disaster?!

I have to say that Ben and I have had very high aspirations this summer when it has come to camping.  We imagined ourselves going several times a month . . . and trying out new places that would be a little adventuresome.   We both really like camping . . . and so we liked talking about all the things we would do . . . as a family:)

I'm not quite sure why it is already the middle of July and this weekend was our FIRST trip out to the wilderness . . . but it was.  We thought we would have a trial run.  Go somewhere relatively close by . . . just camp one night . . . easy meals . . . etc.   We wanted to see how the kids would do . . . well mainly how Gwen would do:).  We went to Diamond Fork.

At the beginning, things were going GREAT!  We built a fire, cooked hot dogs, etc.  Then when we were putting up our tent we realized Gwen needed her diaper changed . . . she smelled terrible! I went to get the stuff I needed only to find that we had forgotten her diapers and wipes at home . . . along with our toothbrushes, extra clothes, and soap.  We were RELATIVELY close by (60 minutes roundtrip) but it didn't seem worth it to go home and then come back.  Luckily, Ben found some people in the campground who had kids . . . and diapers to spare!  We were in luck.  We could deal w/o toothbrushes and soap and extra clothes . . . we're pretty tough:)


We enjoyed the rest of our evening hiking and eating smores!  We were all having a great time. Finally it was dark, we were tired, and it was time for bed. The girls went to bed really well (Gwen only cried for a minute and then sucked her thumb while looking at the stars through the top of the tent). I was so excited! We were going to be able to do more of this! A few hours into the night . . . Gwen woke up:(  She not only woke up . . . she wanted to SING (mostly "I Am a Child of God"), TALK, and who knows what else. This went on for HOURS as Ben tried to help her fall asleep in his sleeping bag. I REALLY like to sleep at night . . . so of course this was killing me!

. . . Morning finally came.  Our girls wake up as soon as "it's light outside."  Ben had taken the girls out of the tent to start building another fire and making breakfast so I could sleep in a little. (I'm so lucky!)  Things were going okay . . . but when my kids are tired . . . meltdown's (especially with Halle) happen VERY easily and frequently.   All morning it seemed like someone was screaming bloody murder or had fallen and gotten hurt or had almost lost an eyeball . . . or you name it!  To give them some credit, they were calm too . . . it was just such a mixture of everything!  Needless to say . . . Ben and I are not sure just how adventuresome we are going to be when it comes to camping the rest of this summer (at least with our kids:).   Hopefully the girls will at least have this one memory of camping this summer!