talked about going camping over the weekend. Ollie was so excited! And it was Maddie's first time camping, so even though she didn't really know what was coming (foreshadow), she was an enthusiastic participant. On Friday night, Andy (just back from his 10-hour flight) and I made loads of lists... food to pack, food to pick up at the store, camping gear, bedding stuff, etc. So much stuff. On Saturday morning it took ages to get it all together, and we actually had to make some tough decisions and leave some things behind -- no coffee or hot cocoa in the morning = 
don't have to pack the mugs, cooking stove, pot, cafetiere (yes, we were going to bring one), etc. The car was more packed for one night of camping than for our 3-week visit to Maine recently. By about 11am we were finally on our way, with Andy behind the wheel saying something about how he used to camp for a whole weekend and just leave the house with a backpack. Harumph.
We found our site at Stokes State Forest, deep deep in the woods, a decent spot with woods separating our site from the others around. Th
at was nice but overall there wasn't a lot of "charm" to this particular area of the campground. Between signs at the camp office, various brochures we'd been given with our welcome packet, and more signs at the campsite, we'd gotten overall about 734 warnings about bears, so that was cool. The kids were happy and bouncy and wonderful, helping with all the unloading and organizing and tent-making. The only big trauma was when Maddie fell off the steps of this stupid platform thing 
(some people put their tents on platforms, apparently), and fell sort of forwards on her head but with her body going the other way, that sort of horrible way kids fall sometimes where you think they're going to break their neck. A little bit of crying and she was fine, thankfully.
After we got the tent up and had a nice little lunch (grilled cheesedogs), we headed out in search of ice cream (but secretly to give Maddie nap time)... our plan worked, and they BOTH fell asleep in the car. We got some ice cream after they woke up, and then wove our way back to the campsite, by way of High Point State Park, which is right next to Stokes. We drove by a sweet little pond there, and Ollie couldn't resist stripping down to his undies and going for a swim. Maddie joined in, too,
mostly to get her feet wet. Ollie swam and frolicked for a good half hour before some park rangers came driving by and stopped to tell us that this was a fishing lake, not a swimming lake. Whatever!! It was the best part of the day, regardless.
Back at our site, we noticed a lot of clouds coming in (more foreshadow). No matter! We got all the sleeping gear set up, and Andy grilled us some super yummy cheeseburgers. Just as we were starting to eat, the raindrops began to fall, and we started hearing distant thunder. Good timing, we thought! Have our dinner, get in the tent, no problem. By the time we all made a mad dash for the tent, it was coming down hard. We were chatting happily in the tent until we realized that it was NOT waterproof.... definite leaks. Hmmm, maybe it won't be too bad. But then there were more leaks. And we realized that we'd either have to
endure a night of moist sleeplessness (with bashing rain and potential thunder and lightening), or throw in the towel and head home. We were fairly indecisive still, so we flipped a coin, 2 out of 3, and going home won out. Lady luck did well by us that night... it rained hard all night long, and for nearly 3 full days afterwards as well. When Andy and Ollie went back to our site the following day to pack up the tent and get the rest of our stuff, Andy said there was at least a gallon of water in the tent. We're getting a new tent now, so we should be all set next time, rain or shine. Anyway - it was an adventure, and we had fun, and that's what it's all about.
