Fathers and Sons' Campout

Our ward had its annual 'Fathers and Sons' campout this weekend, but it was cancelled because of the wind. The problem was that I had already been talking to Adam and Ethan about it all week. I sat them down and decided to let them choose. They wanted to go camping! They had no idea what was in store for them, but they were excited none the less. I borrowed a tent from Corky and packed the Mercedes up and we left for Valley of Fire, Friday after work. We got out about 7pm. I was hoping to make it there before dark. I almost did.

The wind was blowing really hard on the way out there. I brought Emily's car just in case we needed to sleep in the car. Somehow I managed to get the tent up. There seemed to be a god sent lull in the ferocious winds. After I got the tent up I had the boys get in so it didn't blow away while I got some heavy stuff from the car. My idea almost worked. The tent blew over while they were in it. This is when the boys decided they wanted to go home.

Anyone who knows me, knows that I ain't no quitter. I told them that they wanted to go camping and we were camping! I wasn't able to stake the tent down because we were on sand covering sand stone. I got some heavy stuff in the tent and got the air mattress blown up. Ethan was quietly crying and telling me that he wanted to go home and sleep in his bed. Adam petitioned to sleep in the car, but I had already got the tent up and we were camping!!

I opened the windows on the tent hoping that the huge gusts of wind would stop blowing the tent over on us, but it just allowed the sand to get in. I zipped the windows back up and just let the tent blow on us all night. I am still amazed that the poles didn't break. The weather wasn't too cold.

Ethan fell asleep pretty quickly, probably only because Emily was praying for us. Adam stayed awake longer and whimpered every time the tent blew down on us. I held his hand for a while before the sand man took him to away to dream land. I slept as much as an adult could with huge gusts of wind.

I woke up too early and tried to sit still until the boys woke up. I should mention that we didn't brush our teeth and I had to drag the boys out of the tent and promise them that they wouldn't die to pee. And Ethan woke up in the middle of the night for a drink of water and wanted a fruit roll-up. I thought, why not, we are camping. That was a very bad idea. Apparently he put it in his mouth and that was about it. I found a huge slobber mark on his pillow and the air mattress and the fruit roll up stuck on me and the tent.

Luckily the morning was beautiful! The boys went exploring while I broke camp down. They were finally glad we went camping. I had brought some assorted bagels for breakfast. I ate one then had the boys come over, but when Ethan smelled the onion bagel, he gagged and did a mini throw up. Needless to say, Ethan skipped breakfast and Adam did too. After that we climbed on all the rocks, ignoring all the “keep off rocks” signs, and explored. We found lots of foot prints and saw hawks, chipmunks and lizards. Ethan and Adam were both great at bouldering and loved to hike and explore.

I would have to say that it was a success overall. Memories were made without too much emotional scarring. Emily even let me take a nap when I got home.