Camping at Mt. Pisgah

Last year for Christmas, we bought ourselves a tiny house giant 6 person tent. The footprint of this tent is 10'x10', and is squared up on the sides and top vs. being a dome, making it feel much larger than a normal tent (especially the 2 person tents we are used to!). We also gave Cal a sleeping bag, head lamp, and Thermarest of his own to use for camping. He enjoys the outdoors as much as we do, so we figured it would be best to invest early in outdoor equipment for him so he can get some good use out of it. We've been excited to try out the tent, but have not had the opportunity to go camping since purchasing the tent...until last weekend.

Getting the tent prepped

Laying out his sleeping bag

Getting his air mattress and pillow ready

Doug was itching to take the boys camping. Graham enjoys being outside and has done well on all our hikes, so we decided to go ahead and take him now. Worst case scenario...we pack up our stuff in the night and leave, or one of us sleeps in the car with him if he's screaming and waking up the campground. (Graham has been good about sleeping through the night, so that factored into our decision to take him now versus when he is older.) We stayed at the Mt. Pisgah campground on the Blue Ridge Parkway during our vacation last year. We enjoyed the area so much that we went back last October for an overnight trip. Because of its proximity to Greenville (an hour and a half drive) and being able to get up in elevation for beautiful views, we opted to return there again for this trip.

What a great time. Callen loves helping Doug with all the tent set up. He hammered stakes into the ground, helped gather firewood, and even assisted with sawing of the firewood for a fire. Cal is also working on his fire making skills, but with lots of supervision from dad. He had a big time playing in the tent...you know you have a big tent when your kid can run laps in it!!! If there was dirt to play in, Callen was sure to find it. He had layers on top of layers on top of layers of dirt. But, he was having a blast and that was what was important! Graham did great too. He napped a little bit here and there, but was quite content to sit in his bouncy seat and watch the action. He didn't help out too much around the campsite this trip, but I'm sure Doug and Cal will have him busy working on the next trip.

Hammering in the stakes

Getting the campfire ready

Helping Doug saw some wood

Admiring his work

DIRTY!!!

Happy boy!

Snoozin'

Staying warm

Enjoying dinner and drinks!

Silly boys

As dusk approached, Cal kept asking Doug if it was nighttime yet. He was so excited to see the stars. Doug kept telling him not yet, but Cal continued to ask every few minutes. Finally he saw the first star in the sky!! Pure happiness. Before long the entire sky was filled with stars without any light pollution to distract our view. What a beautiful and peaceful end to a great day.

A dad and his boys

Learning the art of roasting marshmallows

Tasting a 'marshmallow sandwich' (we didn't have enough chocolate for s'mores!). He took about two bites and was done with it. Not his favorite.

It's finally getting dark. Bring out the headlamps

Cal will never smile for the camera unless you are doing a selfie with him...then he smiles nonstop!

Telling Graham goodnight. Cal LOVES his brother

Cal crawled up into Doug's lap and fell asleep looking at the stars. To say I had a happy husband is the understatement of the century. Doug was beyond happy to snuggle with his little buddy.

Two sleeping boys

What a great first camping trip as a family of four. We knew Callen would have a big time, but it was such a relief with how well Graham did. He woke up with chilly hands and feet, but never seemed uncomfortable. He was such a trooper. We probably won't be going camping in the winter (unless we go south), but I have a feeling we will be back in the woods sometime in the spring! Anyone want to join this time?