We spent the last two weekends camping, despite marginal weather, despite children taking turns with the flu, despite all the work required hooking and unhooking the camper, packing, laundering, repacking and relaundering. I guess you could say we are "camping die-hards." Actually, we were just desperate to get away and begin our summer exploring some new locations in the great outdoors. We have lived in Montana almost 5 years now, and yet we have barely seen the plethora of beautiful sites surrounding us. So that's our goal this summer. Go see as much Montana as we can. No matter the weather. No matter the flu. No matter the work. And be joyful while doing it. No matter what.
So I'd say we are off to a good start... Last weekend we camped at Placid Lake. Gorgeous. Peaceful. Normally that area is bustling with people and campers and boats, but thankfully the chilly weather scared almost all other people away that weekend. We had the entire loop at the campground to ourselves, which turned out to be a huge blessing because Dominic decided it was time to take his training wheels off and graduate into "Big Boy Bikehood." That was certainly the highlight of our first camping trip. He learned incredibly fast with only one major wipe-out when Mr. Fearless thought he was ready to conquer going down a huge hill (too big, too fast, too little control = scraped elbow and learning that he is not invincible). By the end of the weekend he was biking around the entire campground, and boy was he beaming! Our first boy to learn to ride without training wheels at age four. A bittersweet reminder to me that he is not my baby anymore and time marches on without asking my permission (how rude!)
The rest of us also had a great time at Placid. It was so peaceful. The only downer was Nathanael getting the flu, but even then he was a super trooper. As long as I was holding him, he was content. So I spent a lot of time walking around with him in the Bjorn while I was imersed in one of the best books I've ever encountered...truly a soul changing encounter (
"One Thousand Gifts" by
Ann Voscamp). Beautiful book by a beautiful blogger. Ann, whose name means "full of grace," fully sharing with the world her way of becoming filled with grace. It was just the book my soul needed. I am a fretter, a joy-chaser who rarely catches joy because I get tripped up by unmet expectations, self-love, ingratitude. Grace-filled Ann is teaching me to let go of those stumbling blocks and open my hands to the joy God desires me to have simply through thanking Him for
everything (yes, even the hard and ugly things). Camping at Placid Lake where I was surrounded by beauty was the perfect place to start counting my one thousand gifts, and having a sick child in my arms was the perfect opportunity to learn to accept the "hard eucharisteo" that Ann talks about in her book. Read it if you can. You will be a happier, holier, more "eucharistic" person because of it...guaranteed.
The boys pretty much spent the entire weekend biking around the campground, skipping rocks on the lake, or playing catch, golf toss, or Chucko. Paul did lots of grilling and chilling. He was certainly in his happy place and that made me happy to see him so relaxed and removed from the cares of work. We also did a 5 mile hike up to a roaring waterfall, requiring us to hike over huge snowdrifts, which the boys thought was pure adventure. I was proud of them for hiking so far without any complaining. Heck, I think I was the only one who did any complaining! My rustic, survivalist, ourdoorsy husband didn't know he married such a pansy! And now he's stuck with me, poor guy.
The second camping weekend was also nice, although we had to scrap Plan A and go with Plan B for that trip. We were supposed to go camping with some friends of ours, but a couple days before the trip Dominic came down with the flu and we didn't want to share fellowship with our friends at the expense of sharing our germs and getting them sick too. We were all very disappointed that it turned out that way, but God must have had His reasons. So we chose Plan B and chose to be thankful (Ann Voskamp would have been proud of me). Plan B involved borrowing a canoe and heading to a gorgeous campground at Wood Lake, just outside of Augusta, MT. Again, the weather was chilly, but we actually had a lovely time. The boys did lots of biking again, lots of playing catch, and when the weather was too chilly we played lots of board games. I really feel like God just wanted us to cloister ourselves from the world and grow closer as a family that weekend. All in all, we were happy campers and now it's time for me to catch up on laundry until our next camping adventure :)
