First Family Camp Out: Frenchman's Lake

Being up in Reno has opened up some new possibilities for us that we hadn't considered very much living in Las Vegas. We decided it was time to try camping. I haven't been camping since I was probably 15. Eddie has been more recently, but we'd never planned to go as a family. Nate was so excited about camping even though he's never been because he knew there would be a tent, hot dogs and marshmallows involved. He asked us every day for a week if we were going camping today.

On Friday night after spending most of the day getting camping gear loaded in the van and prepping food, we had a thunderstorm complete with marble sized hail sweep in for about 2 hours very suddenly. This was going on at the same time as our 100 degree temperatures. Well the storm came and went, trashed our garden, and threatened our camping trip. Luckily Saturday was clear so we drove up to Frenchman's Lake around 1pm. The nearest town is Chilcoot, CA if you want to find it on a map.

We were lucky to find a campsite that was a short walk to the lake, close to a bathroom and had many trees for shade. We had driven by some others that were not any of these things in the beginning so I'm glad we found this one. It was pretty warm, but really not too bad in the shade or at the lake. We set up our tent and everything and then went to the lake for about an hour and a half.

Funny picture of Phantom getting his ball out of the water.

After the lake we came back and got busy building our campfire so we could start dinner. Nate loved it. Nate had a hot dog, of course, but Eddie got creative and cooked onions and peppers with sausage and beans on the grate. It was really yummy. After dinner we roasted marshmallows and Eddie made hot chocolate in about a minute on a little backpacking burner he has (not for backpacking, but he keeps it in his 72 hour kit). We all agreed that everything tastes better cooked on a campfire. 

We brought some papers we needed to shred and burned them instead. 

Phantom loved hanging out and chasing squirrels and digging holes.

Enjoying some hot chocolate by the fire.

After dinner we walked up the hill behind our campsite and could see out over the lake. It doesn't get dark until after 9 pm so we had a late night since we wanted to be able to sit around the fire in the dark. Nate was a tired little guy to begin with (no naps is not going very well right now) and he was really tired by then so that meant he was a wild and crazy kid. We finally settled down in the tent after 10 pm. Nate slept with me (which means I really didn't sleep much) and Phantom slept on Nate's pillow and sleeping bag. Hmm a little backward I think.

We had an early morning since I couldn't seem to stay asleep on the edge of the air mattress so when I got up everyone else did. It was pretty chilly so we bundled up and made some hot chocolate while we got the fire big enough to cook bacon. We had breakfast, hung around for a little bit and packed up. We were home  around 11 am. We all napped after lunch today, and we are all still pretty tired. We'll definitely have to get to bed a little earlier tonight.

Wearing Eddie's beanie since I hadn't thought to bring them for Nate and I.

We are going to try to do at least one more camp out this summer and possibly make a trip up to the cabin in Idaho.

On a side note, Nate is obsessed with the Magic Tree House books right now. They are easy chapter books that were really popular when I was teaching. I got the first one from the library and we read it to him. I also got the audio books so he listened to the first book. Ever since then he's been pretending to be Jack, the main boy character. He's been dressing like Jack and wearing a little backpack around and writing down things in his journal like Jack. It is so funny. We've now read the second book also, and he's been listening to the audio books non-stop. He even requested quiet time early so he could go in his room and listen to the stories. I love this crazy, book-loving kid.

We've been having Nate "read" some very simple books that have a picture and a word since he was picking up sight words on his own without us even working with him. He likes to read to us at night now after we read a few books to him. He can read on, off, cat, Nate and Mom without picture clues. He surprised us this morning and spelled Mom from memory this morning while he he asking Eddie to write words in the dirt while we were camping. If he decides he's not interested in reading we'll back off. He doesn't need to read yet, but if he wants to we'll work with him. I'm going to introduce some phonics using a program called Zoo Phonics and see if he likes it or is ready. If not we'll stop for now.

Nate and I are taking the week off from play dates to slow down, catch up on stuff around the house, and just breathe. We've been so busy that we both need a break to recharge. I'm looking forward to the break. In just over a week Mom and Dad will be here and my birthday is next Sunday. Fun times ahead.