Memorial day Weekend

in Arizona's Rim country.

We went camping near the Mogollon Rim last Friday. We arrived shortly before the sun fell behind the tall pines. We managed to get our tent set up, the air mattresses inflated, our camp kitchen set up, a fire ring built & the girls into their pink leopard print sweats before the sunlight faded entirely. We also had to build a fire ring, the first time we have had to do so. We managed to do all of this while keeping our eyes glued on our 5 year old & our 2 year old. She turns two today actually. Yes, we were working at break neck speed. It is the first time we had been camping in 5 years. The last time we went camping was May of 2002 when our oldest was our only child & she was just 6 just 6 weeks old.

The oldest had fun during the day, but was cold at night. The little one is going through the seperation anxiety phase & when she woke up at 3 am, she cried non-stop. She didn't calm down until I jumped in our car with her, cranked the heat up & watched Charlotte's Web on our DVD player. She FINALLY went to sleep again about dawn. Once she went to sleep, I turned off the car, cracked open the door & used the restroom in the wilderness. While I was out there, I took a few photos. My hubby & our oldest were curled up in their sleeping bags in the tent. Do you think I remembered to take photos of our camp? NO! I sure took photos everything else though.

We camp in undeveloped sites in the Apache-Sitegraves forest. There was a small clearing of trees so we pitched our tent there. The forest service allows camping in these sites, but no more than 300 feet from the road. If we would have gone 300 feet from the road, we would have been invisible.

We drove to both of the nearby lakes. To get to Bear Canyon Lake you have to climb down a 1/4 mile path that is steep & winds back & forth 4 times. We did this & our legs were TIRED after we did so. The little one walked all the way down & 3/4 of the way back up before her Daddy plooped her on his shoulders. The oldest hiked the entire thing.

We only had to go through the bait & tackle shop to reach Woods Canyon Lake. We stopped & I took many photos of plants, trees, the lakes, the kids & my husband.

We played horseshoes & kicked balls into our mini soccer net. We read books, drew pictures & went on walks. A little bird even visited the edge of our camp! The youngest took a nap along with her daddy for awhile. Then we packed everything up & headed back home.

I was enjoying myself, but I was exhausted & I didn't feel like dealing with another sleepless night courtesy of the youngest. On the way home, the youngest vomited all over herself, her carseat & the toys she was holding on her lap. After that she was feeling better. Thank goodness she did it near a place we were able to stop & I could clean her up & change her clothes.

We had fun. It just got a little too cold at night for the kids. Maybe we will try again later this summer, if the forest service doesn't have a no campfires rule again.