Wednesday, July 8, 2009

Into the Woods




Camping was unexpectedly successful. Jamie may have expected it to go as well as it did, but I was trepidatious. Duncan appears to be relatively well adjusted, resilient, and open to new things, but he has his moments, and in those moments, he literally digs in his heels and refuses to participate. Camping could either have gone well or horribly wrong; in my worst case scenario, we would have been forced to return at 9 p.m. on the first day.  Happily, I was wrong.

For the most part, Duncan reveled in being in the woods. He enjoyed all the new and different things; tents, air mattresses, sleeping bags, camp fires, camp stove. It turned out that Lake Taghkanic has great rest rooms, at least where our camp site was. Each unisex lavatory had its own shower and toilet, which proved to be the perfect set-up for a three-year old's burgeoning potty training skills and bathing. The camp ground was relatively uncrowded on the Sunday through Tuesday before Independence Day so we didn't have to feel we had a captive audience for any family drama that erupted. Sleeping proved to be a bit tricky, as it always is when Duncan is involved. Given the novelty of the scene and the impossibility of light-proofing a tent, Duncan went to sleep after nine the first night and around 8:30 the second night. And don't think he would sleep in. Just don't entertain that fantasy. I didn't.  

The weather cooperated pretty well. It didn't rain at all except for a few showers here and there. On Monday, our plan was to spend most of the day at the beach so we were a little concerned when we woke to gray, gray skies. By the time we had breakfast, took a walk, and played on the playground, however, the sky had begun to clear, and we headed to the beach. Duncan had fun playing in the sand and watching the other kids. He's still a little anxious about the water, but he did venture in. We had lunch on the beach and then went out in a rowboat. Duncan proudly "rowed the boat," which means he managed to hold one oar while Jamie kept us from tipping over.  Duncan and Jamie grilled hot dogs on the fire, we fought the gnats, and we roasted marshmallows.  Good, clean (sort of) fun was had by all.

S'mores, campfires, and tent-sleeping seem to have made their mark.  We survived two nights on our first trip and felt brave enough to book a second trip.  I've been wanting to go to Old Sturbridge Village for a while so we're going to camp at a nearby campground and spend a day there.  I don't imagine we'll sleep any better, but Duncan is pretty excited to go camping again.  




No comments: