How Can I Have 'Smore If I Haven't Had Any?

For wedding gifts (four and a half years ago) friends bought us camping equipment; a tent, sleeping bags, chairs, a lantern, and all the accessories. So we decided to go camping - in our backyard. Well, not literally our back yard. Rancho Jurupa Regional Park is less than a mile (maybe less than a half mile) from our house.We figured for our first time, and with a six month old, we didn't want to head all the way to the Grand Canyon only to fail. And we didn't completely fail. . .

We arrived around 3:00. It took about an hour to set up camp. We did a practice run with the tent at our house the night before but didn't set it up all the way so we had to figure a couple of things out by trial and error.
Bug hung out in the pack and play while we set up camp. Actually, she only hung out here for about 15 minutes. The girl can hang out on the floor at home for hours, but didn't want to be contained (not that she actually moves yet.)

So we moved her to the "floor" and she was a little more content. The puppies didn't really like being tethered.

After we set up camp we took a walk around to see what was there. The park has recently been remodeled and was really cool. There was a disc golf course, 9 hole miniature golf, a water pad during the summer, a "nature" play ground with giant rocks and tree trunks to climb over, two lakes, two play grounds, two different campgrounds (one with full hook ups, the other with water and electricity), 6 little cabins to rent, a primitive camp site, and a nice walking path. We went a little aways away from all the people and let the dogs run around off their leashes. Growing up, Kevin and I both had dogs that would bolt when the front door was opened, and we have tried very hard to make sure our dogs come when called. Only once have we had one of the dogs run off, and that was because Charlie wanted to go play with the other puppy in our neighborhood.

After our walk, and a short nap in the stroller, it was dinner time. Mmm, sweet potatoes.

Hanging out with Daddy while Mommy started the fire. Daddy eventually had to come rescue the fire with some more lighter fluid. The log just kept turning black but never caught.

We roasted kielbasa dogs over the fire. I thought my little contraption for holding the roasting sticks was quite handy.

Then we roasted marshmallows. I'm not sure Kevin has ever roasted his own marshmallow. He asked me how he would know when the marshmallow was done. Then as we were eating our smores he asked me if there was caramel in them.

The Reed's do a small twist on the classic smore. It may have been cheaper, or simply easier with a family of six, but we buy chocolate covered graham crackers instead of chocolate bars. I like it so much better than the chocolate bar that never really melts.

The night was a little rough. It was cold. We bundled Lily up. She was in a long sleeve shirt, leggings, socks, booties, footie pajamas, a sleep sack, and a hat. She slept in the pack and play until about midnight, and then she was done. She could have been too cold, or it could have been a new surrounding, but I think her cough got the best of her. She is still battling the runny nose and the hacking cough that makes her gag. I think if we had gone before she got her cold she probably would have been fine. And while we normally let her cry it out at home, we figured it wasn't really fair to the other campers. So she slept with me. She slept. I didn't. And Kevin didn't either. Apparently, I am too used to our giant cal-king bed, and I hogged the air mattress. In my defense, he never told me I was hogging the bed. We woke up at 6:00 when the sun came up, let the dogs pee (they slept in the van), fed Lily, and then went back to bed until 9:00. That was probably the best sleep we had all night.

For breakfast we had boxed donuts. Doing a real camping breakfast sounded like so much work for our first time out. I told Kevin that while he was out getting firewood on Saturday morning, he could pick himself up some chocolate milk (his favorite) and grab me a bottled Starbucks Frappachino to take along. He came back with two; surprising for the guy who doesn't like coffee. When I asked him how he liked it, he said "It tastes like coffee." I think he was expecting chocolate milk with a hint of caramel. I am laughing now as I write this. My cheeks hurt.

Then Lily got cereal.

After our breakfast of champions, we took the path around the park and looked around some more. The weather was absolutely beautiful; even Kevin couldn't complain.

We stopped at one of the play grounds for Bug to sit in the swing; a first. Unfortunately, it was nap time, and she did not really want to be jostled around.

But caught on quickly that this was a fun thing. She had an okay time. We will try again when it isn't nap time.

She did eventually take her nap in the stroller.

We really did have a wonderful time. We have some kinks to work out but we will try again soon. Let me know if you know of any great parks less than an hour and a half from Riverside.