Camping with a Toddler (while pregnant)

Over the 4th of July Holiday weekend we went camping, as we usually do, with some of my family. For as long as I can remember we camp along the Oregon coast. For the past 10 years we've been going to Carter Lake with is near the dunes, 2 miles from the ocean, and right on a small lake. It also has generously sized camping grounds so we get two next to each other and camp all together.

Last year was Kai's first camping trip and this was his second. I was somewhat nervous after the sleeping issues we had with him last summer and being pregnant this time around. Plus, he wasn't yet walking, just cruising last time! Although we did a fair amount of chasing him down we had a great time overall.

We packed up + arrived Friday evening. There were a lot of mosquitos and it was much colder than it had been in town so we put on some layers of clothing + bug-away spray. Then we went to check out the lake just down from where we were camping, which ended up being Malakai's favorite place to walk to. For the entire trip if he saw someone walking that direction he chased them so he could tag along.

That night getting Malakai to sleep was fairly easy. He cried a bit while Ben tried to calm him down but then he fell asleep on my chest. I had to wait until he was in a deep sleep to move him off of me or he would start hollering all over again, but after that he slept the whole night with no problems between Ben + I on a mattress in my parents' pop-up tent.

The next morning we were up bright + early at 7am. After hanging around camp we put on our swim clothes and headed to the lake. Malakai loved the sand and the water. He would have dove right in if we let him. There were some people fishing nearby and a lot of big kids in the water so we stayed close to the shore. He ended up getting so sandy that we had to give him a cold water shower before changing him for his nap. Since we didn't have a contained place for him to sleep Ben or I napped with him in the late afternoons. Having a later nap time worked well with how late we'd end up going to bed. It would stay light til nearly 10pm and then we'd break out the s'mores and not really get to bed til 11pm or 11:30 each night.  The second night he laid himself down in between us, said "nuhnight" and was out within minutes. What a milestone!

Malakai loved on Aunt Deedee + Uncle Mark's dogs, especially Chief, my cousins made up a game similar to pictionary to pass the time, and we snacked all day every day. Malakai also had an obsession with the step on the pop-up tent and enjoyed his mega blocks, play tent and sand toys from time to time.

On Sunday we vetoed the 2 mile walk through the dunes to the beach and found the drive up access. There was a small dune to climb which left me a bit breathless but it was a ton of fun to watch Kai experience the ocean. He wasn't too fond of the waves but he enjoyed looking at it from afar and playing in the endless piles of sand. He made a habit out of crushing everyone's creations. He wore himself out so much that he fell asleep before we even started the car to head back to camp.

That night some of my family were planning on heading about an hour north to see an early fireworks show but that all changed when the boys discovered a fire on the beach. Right behind our campground is a giant dune that once you get to the top you can see the ocean about 2 miles out, which is where the fire was, in the grass. Everyone (except myself + Kai) went up to see what was going on.

911 was called but the authorities got mixed up and were told the fire was at the lake when it was at the beach. My dad showed them where to go and my brother and his friends actually went down to the source. Apparently some girls were camping in the beach (illegal here) and started a fire in the grass with their camp stove. They were too scared to put it out so they called 911 but then stuck around and were trying to put it out once it had spread. It went from 2 acres to nearly 4 acres quickly and some of our camp neighbors said they finally got it under control around midnight that night. It didn't sound like anyone was hurt and thankfully we weren't close enough to have to evacuate.

Monday I attempted a new camp recipe. Usually for breakfast we roast biscuit dough over the fire and smother them with homemade strawberry jam, which we did the first two mornings. Our last morning I wanted to try making omelets on the camp stove the way my uncle makes them. They started out great but apparently I needed thicker zipper bags because 2 out of 3 of them broke. I think we'll be sticking to biscuits in the fire.

After breakfast we cleaned up camp + headed home. We got home around 3pm and were unpacked and showered by 5pm. The entire weekend flew by and was a complete success. Malakai was so busy the whole time that he slept great and sleeping on a semi-firm mattress kept me from having too many aches + pains to enjoy myself. (unfortunately today after a night in my own bed I woke up with spasms and really bad sciatic pain).

Next year, with a 3 year old and a 9 month old we may just visit the campers and make it a daytrip. We'll have to wait + see!

How did you spend your holiday weekend?








P.S. this trip would not have been nearly as successful without the help of our family and especially Ben who spent a lot of time chasing after Malakai. (getting me out of a camp chair takes too long for grabbing kiddo from dangers, ha!).