back from the wild
Hi friends! Happy Monday! Hope you had an amazing weekend with some fun and relaxing on the agenda. <3 We enjoyed our first family camping trip! Before I get into that recap, here’s some adventures from the weekend:
My Friday morning started off with my first full post-digital-nerve-repair-surgery BODYPUMP class. The verdict? Not only did I survive, but it.felt.awesome. I was ready to modify the clean and press (I’m still clawing the barbell even though I can put weight in between my thumb a thousand times better than I could before the surgery) and to my surprise, it was like I never left. Everyone in class was cursing and grimacing in pain with the 100th biceps curl, and I was in the back row smiling like a creeper. It felt so good to be back!
I probably won’t start teaching BODYPUMP again since we leave soonish, but I can definitely sub again in the meantime. I’m pretty stoked about it.
After class, I had an awesome work productivity blitz,
(Betsy got me a Moniker waffle because they always smell incredible, and it was just as delicious as I thought it would be)
spent lots of time playing with P, and that afternoon after the Pilot was home, I headed to work for a group fitness meeting. Our fitness director is so encouraging, and we have occasional meetings to discuss tools and strategies to become better instructors. When we arrived, she had an envelope for each of us with positive feedback our class participants shared about our classes and teaching styles. It was really heartwarming to read, and it’s encouraging to receive positive feedback about something you love so dearly. After our meeting, we headed over to Solare for cocktails and pizza. We also shared some of our most embarrassing teaching moments and there were some gold stars in the mix hahah.
Saturday morning, we started packing up for our first family camping trip! The Pilot has taken Liv on a daddy-daughter trip with some friends, but this was P’s first time camping. We met up with a huge group of friends and their kiddos -there were 8 little girls, 2 babies, and 1 little boy- and had a blast.
The weather was mild and pleasant, so we were able to bundle up outdoors, play games,
watch movies,
cook dinner over an open fire,
and s’mores our little hearts out. (S’mores is a noun and a verb.)
For the record, Reese’s on a s’more is everything.
I didn’t snap a picture, but before we left the house, I made a huge batch of house guacamole, and used Julie’s recipe to marinate chicken breasts. (I followed it exactly and just added sprigs of fresh rosemary to the bag. It was a huge hit!) I also washed a bag of sweet potatoes and double-wrapped them in foil to throw on the fire. When we were ready to eat, everything was in the cooler, prepped and ready to go. It made it so much easier.
Even though I think I slam-dunked the meal prep portion, we still have a lot to learn about camping. To confirm our noob status, we bought a tent that day. We have a smaller tent, but knew we couldn’t fit the pack-n-play in there. So we opted for a bigger option, and it was a little ridiculous.
Here’s the inside with a queen-sized mattress, Liv’s kiddo cot + air mattress, said pack-n-play, plus tons of room to spare.
It actually ended up being a nice hub for occasional breaks with P. She had lots of room to stretch her legs after being held so much, and crawl around. (I did totally end up letting her crawl around in the dirt, but it was nice to have a bug and plant-free option.)
We had dinner, the adults enjoyed some wine and beer in solo cups, and the kiddos played so well together.
When the sun went down, we broke out the glow sticks and turned up the dance music. It was our own little campfire rave. 😉 (Also, the glowsticks were key with the preschoolers running around. We could see where they were at all times since each kid donned necklaces and anklets.)
I wasn’t quite sure how P would do with the sleeping arrangement, but I think the extra activity and stimulation wiped her out. She crashed pretty quickly.
As far as sleep goes, I slept the worst out of anyone in our tent. Liv definitely did the best. She crashed out and had a comfy snooze until 8am. During the night, the winds started going CRAZY and were super loud. They woke P up a few times, so she and I had a bit of an all-nighter. (The Pilot could fall asleep after helping out with P, but I couldn’t do it.) I think if it wasn’t so windy, she would have easily slept through the night in the pack-n-play. (Since it was cold, she wore two layers of footed pajamas: one regular and one fleece. It seemed to do the trick! We tried to put a beanie on her, but that lasted about 4 seconds.)
The next morning, the winds were still so strong that no fires were allowed. So, we ventured down to the lodge and had breakfast in the cafe.
Some of the crew:
It was an interesting little place. It was founded in 1926 (!) and was packed with taxidermy, rows of books, and tchotchkes. Also, what happens if you don’t tip?? We didn’t want to find out.
After breakfast, we explored a nearby meadow with exquisite rock formations. The kids loved climbing to the top of the rocks, and running freely through the meadow. It was absolutely beautiful.
It’s hard to believe that not too long ago I was trying to convince Liv not to eat rocks,
(now it’s just keeping P from ingesting them)
and here she is now, climbing to the top.
After our little hike, we packed up and hit the road back home! It was a memorable little getaway, and another way to enjoy our friends and nearby surroundings while we’re out here.
I hope you had a great weekend, too! Are you a camper, or not so much? I would say maybe we’ll go out camping when we’re in Georgia, but there’s that whole “gators in the wild” thing. #lodgeftw
xoxo
Gina
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We’ve done our share of tent camping and this year bought our 1st travel trailer. It has bunk beds for the kids. Not to mention a bathroom and running water. we are never turning back!! Ha,ha
you’re doing it right! haha
HAHA that tent is huge! I’m not a camper myself, but if I had a palace tent like that I could totally get on board with camping.
right? a lot of jokes were made about our tent condo hahaha
Looks like such a fun trip! The tent looks awesome!
thank you! and yes, the tent was awesome haha
Sounds like you guys had a fun camping trip. I have great memories of camping with my grandparents as a kid.
i have a lot of fond camping memories, too, so it’s fun to share the adventures with liv and p 🙂
I’m all about the queen sized air mattress for camping! Your sweatshirt in the last photo with P in the ergo is so cute–where is it from?
thank you! it’s about 4 years old from lululemon. it’s the scuba hoodie 🙂
The camping tent is AMAZING! I would have been up all night too. I’m such a light sleeper. Happy Monday!
i used to be the deepest sleeper but with kids, i hear everything now haha
hope you had a great weekend!
We love to camp (although there are currently no kids in the mix lol). I’ve heard stories that my parents took me camping as a newborn and that it did not go well ha. Looks like you had fun!
i can’t imagine doing that with a newborn hahah
What a sweet little camping trip!
I LOVE camping and this year my hubby and I (plus our little pup) went backcountry camping for the first time. It was unreal. So peaceful!
it’s so peaceful to get away from it all and just enjoy the outdoors and fresh air 🙂
Love camping.
Add hiking and it’s even better.
yes! love hiking 🙂
Where did you guys go camping? I’m always looking for new spots close enough to San Diego to go for just a night. Also, would you recommend the campground?
ohh i want to hear the answer to this too!
i think the name was mt. laguna. it was laguna/el campo; 50 miles east of san diego
i think the name was mt. laguna. it was laguna/el campo; 50 miles east of san diego. it was nice to be so close to san diego in case we needed to come back. 😉 and yes, i would definitely recommend it!
Your camping trip looks like so much fun! Random question, where is your striped sweater from (the one in the bottom pic with you & P)? You recommended a black Zella sweater ages ago that I bought and have literally worn thread bare, so any cute/comfy sweater recommendations from you are welcomed:)
i know which zella one you’re talking about! so happy you loved it too 🙂
it’s super old from lululemon. i love their scuba hoodies, and they have a ton of different colors
For me, not so much! Lol Looks like you all had a great time though! We had a great time college football tailgating… acting like we were in college still!! So fun 🙂
haha that sounds perfect! where did you tailgate?
In Columbia, Missouri… home of the Univ of Missouri Tigers… although I’m actually a Kansas Jayhawk! (my husband went to Mizzou)
Love that striped sweater you’re wearing in the last pic. Are those thumb holes?!
thank you! YES! i’m obsessed with thumb holes haha
I’m definitely not a camper but I feel like I should try now that I’m older (and wine seems to make anything enjoyable). I probably would be like you with the jumbo tent and air mattress. Me and the outdoors (i.e. critters, wildlife and anything that would eat me) are not quite compatible unless there are palm trees and blue/green water.
Josh really wants us to go camping. I’d much rather stay at a hotel! haha
i actually don’t mind the tent, but the wind killed me haha
That tent looks absolutely amazing!! My family and I have wanted to try out camping and we are looking for a tent condo. Do you mind sharing what brand that one is?
i’m pretty sure it’s coleman! (i added a target link to the post)
tom set it up really quickly too
I remember when my husband I upgraded out tent from a sleep 3 size to a sleep 6 (it’s just the two of us and our dog) and it was such a big deal that we could STAND UP in the new one. We went camping with some friends once and we were like, “Look, you can STAND UP in our new tent!” Yours looks amazing.
that was a huge deal for us too, especially since tom is so tall. he could completely stand in it!
You’re looking amazing mama!! That camping trip looked like so much fun. I haven’t been in ages–I didn’t have the best experience with it many years ago–maybe one day.
Striped sweater is the bomb.