Campin

It was time for us to head out into the wilderness with Ruby and Owen.  Okay, so "wilderness"  is a stretch...  especially as you take a look at our hunormous tent that can hold TWO pack n plays AND a queen sized air mattress.  It was awesome.  So far we are very happy with the return rate on the purchase of the second home. Ruby and Owen did really well- went down for bedtime in their cribs and everything...until mom and dad came to bed.  They just knew we were in the same room, woke up, and slept with us on the mattress for the rest of the night.  It was fun for all of us and no habits were formed.  They went down great in their cribs again when we got home. Phew.

Here is the view of the inside of the Weathermaster 6 from our, that's right, screened in front porch.  Owen looks really happy about the accommodations.

Our first trip, to "work out all the kinks", was to the Unitas for a night.  It was freezing.  No really, there was frozen water on top of some of our gear in the morning.  The babies slept amazingly well despite Ruby not keeping her hat on.  Mom and dad's sleep was another story.  Ruby got my thermarest (lesson learned- bought the queen mattress for second trip) so mom slept basically on the ground and both of us were stuck in the same position for 11 hours due to cramped quarters and trying to keep the babes under the down sleeping bags (again- lesson learned- down COMFORTER for trip 2...we were really roughin   it!).  The weather was pretty good aside from when it rained on us (hard) at two crux moments- setting up the tent, and cooking dinner.  That was awesome because keeping two babies happy while trying to take care of regular camping activities is not enough of a challenge for us.

These two still put everything in their mouths, so on both trips, they often were quarantined to playing on a tarp...which didn't stop Owen from crawling off, but at least bought us time to grab him before the sticks and dirt became his next snack.

Kickin it in the camp chair in the screened in porch.

Don't let my smile fool you.  Making formula is one of my least favorite baby chores at home, let alone camping.  Powder gets everywhere, I have to make sure I use the right water, and then our little ones still like their bottles at least luke warm, so it just seems like a major process to get this all together every four hours.  But we figured it out.

Ahhh...finally, the City of Rocks, ID.  We joined an annual trip that a bunch of our friends here have done.  The kids outnumbered the adults by one- it was wild.  (clockwise) Above you can see Justin corralling kids off the ledge and back to camp, Chris and Stephan helping Gretta climb a sick route, and the whole gang hangin out at camp.

The scenery was stunning.  Seemed like were on another planet.  This place is definitely worth a visit if you are ever in the neighborhood.  For this group, this trip is traditionally a climbing trip, but this team DuRoss did three really beautiful hikes and spectated a few climbs.

Two young climbers- Gretta and Finn.  So cute.

Owen helps dad make coffee in the morning (adult formula).

Owen and Ruby take in the sights with their pals.

Ruby is just starting to get interested in crawling.  So, she is a little rough on the sitting up to tummy transition.  This is what happens when you try this transition in the dirt and kinda eat it.  She almost never cries when she falls (MUCH different than Owen)...she just takes it in stride and keeps on keepin on.

The Weathermaster's view at the City of Rocks.  We'll be back.

"How is it that one match can start a forest fire, but it takes a whole box of matches to start a campfire?"  

~Christy Whitehead