Tents, Trinity, and Teeth!

The Boys with their catch

Our first family camping trip

The boys and their fish

Sophia and I next to our new giant tent (Sleeps 8!)

A happy moment for our teething girlie

Summer wouldn't feel complete if we didn't take our annual trip up to Trinity Lake. So we braved it with our baby girl in tow! From the beginning, it was a challenge. Even packing was different. Now we all know that when you go anywhere, the goal in packing is to take as little as necessary. Well this proved to be challenge number one. If you know me, you know I am a list maker. So the best way for me to tackle the "wants" or "needs" of packing for Sophia began with a list. We figured out, after lots of discussion, what things could be double used, like her car seat carrier became her high chair, her napping spot and play place. Her pack and play tripled as a bed, playpen and changing table. We just had to be creative!

So, after packing our gear, camping gear, and Sophia's gear, we were pretty much ready to go. Or so we thought. The morning started out bright and early, as it always does, and we hit the road. We made a stop for breakfast and were on the road. Everything seemed to be going off without a hitch. And for some reason, this totally surprised me. I was expecting a terrible car ride, and a fussy baby. And then, just outside of Redding it hit. With a tremendous force. Sophia began crying like I had never heard her cry. She could not be soothed. Sitting with her didn't help, her pacifier didn't help. A new diaper didn't help. A bottle didn't help. And then it struck us...could she be teething? We pulled over and I began playing dentist. I started probing around her mouth for signs that her first tooth was on its way. And sure enough, I found bright red, puffy gums. perfect.

So we dosed her with some baby tylenol, pulled out all of her teething rings, and hit the road again. Matthew kept amazing patience as we climbed Hwy. 299 through the twists and turns with our screaming little girl, and I did all I could to console her until she fell asleep.

So began our camping adventure. Upon arriving at camp, we took full advantage of every second that Sophia was napping, because as soon as she was awake, all bets were off. Was she going to be happy and content enough that we could continue, or is she going to start screaming and we'd have to sleep under the stars?

After three hours we had managed to set up camp. Our two tents and move our suitcases into them. 3 hours!

The rest of the week was as normal and traditional as it could be with the newest family member in tow! Matthew, Grandpa Don and Uncle Josh went out fishing in the morning, we swam in the afternoon, and cleaned up before dinner in the evenings. As needy as Miss Sophia was during the camping trip, I'm glad that we decided to go. Grandma Mary and Grandpa Don gave us plenty of breaks so we could still enjoy our time, and though it is a lot more work to camp with a baby, we are looking forward to the next trip. Just hoping Sophia's teeth make better appearance times in the future!