Camping SUCCESS 7/4 - 7/6

She LOVED it! She absolutely loved it. We have returned from our long weekend adventure in Sequoia National Park. It was a wonderful time had by all. There is so much to cover I am not sure where to begin so we'll start in the beginning.

***Please be forewarned: 1) This IS A LONG POST as I don't want to leave a single thing out and 2)one of the things I like most about camping is the notion I have that one does not need to get beautiful. I appreciate so much just waking up, throwing on some comfies, and going. I did however find myself thinking that if nothing else I should atleast put on a decent shirt, but it never happened.

A while back we were chatting with some friends from church, talking about going camping when Josh, who is from Pakistan, asked, "I don't mean to sound stupid, but where do you shower?" To that I wholeheartedly replied, "I don't!!!" Ah, nature!

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When we first arrived at the Princess Campground in the Sequoia National Monument Sarah wouldn't stop smiling. She really does love being outside and just looked around while Rich and I set up camp. While she couldn't get enough of the trees I couldn't get enough of the yummy smell. It reminded me of Christmas.

After setting up camp we headed out to Hume Lake where Sarah had her first experience in the hiking backpack we borrowed from our friends the Lovetts. We took a simple little trail that went around the 2 mile lake. It was a perfect day. The hat I brought for Sarah turned out to be a little large; maybe her head's not as large as I think it is. When I folded the brim up it fit just right but didn't stay very well. Luckily I brought another one that we used for the remainder of our journies.

All I wanted for my birthday was a camping trip but Richard also got me this adorable purse that I was not expecting! He had it in our luggage so when I opened it up to get out our sweatshirts, there it was. I had seen this bag months and months ago and resisted purchasing it and then regretted that decision. I hadn't seen it again, but he had and remembered my love for it. Good guy!!!

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Saturday was jam packed and we realized what a trooper Sarah Jane is. We dragged her to see the General Sherman and all over the Moro Rock area. Richard had never been to Sequoia and I hadn't been since I was a youth with my family. I did have tiny memories of what I was in for, but Richard didn't. I don't think he imagined that the Sequoias would be as large as they were and he was pleasantly surprised.

My favorite part of the trip was Tharp's Log. It's a cabin in a Sequoia tree. AMAZING! A man lived in it for 29 summers before it became a national park, while his livestock grazed in the meadows nearby. What a simple life he must have led, but I can't think of anywhere more beautiful to spend it.

We climbed around on trees and more trees, drove and strolled through tree tunnels, we saw 2 bears, Sarah had playtime on her big green tarp, we played dice (I won all 3 games--that never happens), and we made Jiffy Pop AND S'mores.

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On Sunday morning we had blueberry pancakes for breakfast. We had the same thing this morning at home and they weren't nearly as good. How is it that everything tastes better in the mountains? We packed up camp and headed out. First we went to Stump Meadow, but we think it should have been called Stump Graveyard and then we went to our nation's Christmas tree. Did you know we had one? It's called the General Grant. It too is large--it's #3. At this point we decided we had to go in and purchase a patch for our backpack. That's the souvenir we get when traveling. Sadly, I still have the past 3 or 4 to iron on as well. One day it will get done.

I'm not sure why but I also found myself taking many self portraits or family pictures via the outstretched arm and these were some of our favorites.

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So as new parents we learned that our outdoor adventures are going to be different from now on. Although we can and do take Sarah with us on our journeys, we will not be able to do what we used to. We assumed we would be able to put her in the backpack and take a decent hike--so wrong! We were able to go on little 1-1 1/2 mile trails before she was ready to get out. We had to rotate between the backpack and the jogger on our many little outings and a lot of the time was spent entertaining her while we were hiking so that she would stay put for the remainder of the trek. We spent many more hours at our campsite than we usually do. Although it was different than we had expected, it was terrific nonetheless and I can't wait to plan our next one.