We heeded your advice and took Noah camping last weekend. After all, the poll said it would be the biggest adventure of our lives. How did it go, you ask???
Overall, camping went very well. Noah had a blast! He enjoyed body-slamming the pillows in the tent, picking up sticks, watching the other kids in the campground, and playing with his friends Josh and Ben. But his favorite experience of all was finding a toad and chasing it all around our campsite. It was great, but it was also exhausting and stressful. We were constantly following Noah around to make sure he didn't get into anything we'd all regret (like poison ivy, or a fire pit). That coupled with the fact that Noah didn't want to fall asleep and the fear we had that he'd wake in the middle of the night crying and wake everyone in the campground just put us a little too far on the stress-o-meter. We enjoyed our one night at the campground and the next day, we packed up for the cabin. With four walls and a roof, it's much less stressful for all three of us. Noah didn't get to see as much nature, but we did go for several walks and he made friends with the neighbor's kitty.
We've decided we'll stick to the cabin for at least a couple of years before we try camping with Noah again. It's a bummer to me as I've been dreaming of camping and hiking in the Rockies again soon, but I'll just have to wait.
