Camping at Elk Crossing

We broke out the camping gear! It's been soooooooo loooooooonnnnng! The last time we went backpacking, camping, or even hiking was in 2011- our last year of college in Idaho and the same year we spent almost every summer weekend (that we didn't have soccer games) out in the Tetons. I kinda miss those days. Okay, I miss those days A LOT. That's why when Pablo told me that we were going to go camping with some friends I was more than enthusiastic. Plus, there was the exciting factor of bringing our babes camping with us for the first time. I wanted everything to be prepared, ready, and easy to keep organized so we could really enjoy ourselves at the campsite.
We went to Elk Crossing Recreational Park, about 35 minutes away from west Omaha. It was quiet, uncrowded, and free!


PJ and L

Along with Pablo and I, there were two other couples and all of us have boys. Our PJ, who is 10 months, baby J, 8 months, and L who is 15 months. We pretty much put down a blanket for PJ and J to sit and play and L ran around kicking a soccer ball. They kept themselves pretty entertained while we ate and chatted.



This fearless toad sat next to the fire almost all night eating bugs. We named him "Caliente" :)

                                                                                                                                                              The kids started dropping off one at a time. J went first sometime after s'mores and it was L and PJ left. Then L nodded off and it was just PJ. It was NOT his night. A combination of staying up 5 hours past his bedtime, new environment, going to sleep in a tent, etc that just rolled into a very sleepy, and yet very stubborn 10 monther. It took buckling into the car and getting a flat tire on the gravelly road at 1:00 in the morning to get him to sleep. So we got to enjoy some card games with the others. But when we all turned in for the night, PJ woke up again. It was a tough night, haha.
Once he was out and snuggled in-between Pablo and I, we could appreciate just how beautiful it was outside. We had left our rain vestibule off so we could straight up into the stars and the night was warm enough we didn't need heavy blankets. We were thinking of camping in Idaho, where we bought hand warmers one time and placed them in the layers of our socks at night to keep our feet warm, haha. Yeah, this was definitely nicer, haha. And the morning was just as beautiful. I woke up to PJ giving me a cheese face and all the trouble from the night before just melted away :)

PJ and J

 It was a beautiful morning and the day was already getting hot. We packed up the tents and ate our breakfasts, Pablo changed our flat tire for the donut in our trunk, and the kids played around some more. On the way home PJ went out cold and I asked Pablo if he would do it again and we totally would. PJ will get used to sleeping and we know more the next time around too. We'll have to check out some more sites around the area and spend some down- time with friends before the summer's out. Well, that's our how our first-time-camping-with-our-kiddo story goes. I'm glad we can take the frustrating with the good and come out still appreciating the experience and the fun. I left the camping gear cleaned and organized on a shelf in the house- you know, for next time ;)