Camping In Colorado

This past weekend we ended a 4 year self-imposed moratorium on camping. The Mallott Camping Rain Curse has been heavily documented over the years. And if it wasn't raining on our parade, then the bugs, specifically mosquitos, were poised against our enjoyment of the outdoors. Yet, we remained optimistic thinking "this time will be better". Why?! For the love of God, why can't we just admit we suck at camping?! The curse is real people. Even if we go with other avid campers who've never experienced our drama, we somehow suck them into our portal of bad luck instead of the other way around. This time was no exception.

John and Karen invited us camping with them. John is an avid hunter. He knows how to camp, doesn't get all bent out of shape about a little bad weather, and has all the tools and stuff to make a camping adventure easier and rain-proof. We scheduled this trip 6 months ago with the thought that summer camping would be fun, rain free, and warm. How could anything go wrong? The week leading up to our camping date showed an 80% chance of rain with temperatures plummeting into the low 30s at night.

John ensured the rain would stay off our tent by providing us with this fantastic tarp. Sadly, the tarp did nothing to keep the 32 degrees out of our tent.

This is the face of a "not-happy-camper".  Chloe did not sleep all night. Apparently our sleeping bags and quilts were not enough of a defense against the freezing night air. This was our first attempt at sleeping outside in freezing temperatures.

The first bird started its morning song around 4am. I was finally brave enough to make a run for the car by 5:07am. I literally could not feel my toes they were so numb. We all sat in the car with the heater blasting 90 degree air for 2 hours waiting for John and Karen to wake up.

 They enjoyed all the comforts of home in this camper they rented. I am now of the opinion that campers make camping easier. It helps take the primitive out of nature.

However, when we decided to take our kids on their very fist camping adventure in March of 2008, we were going to do it primitive. We didn't have a lot of money to buy all the right gear. We were given a tent for Christmas one year. We all had sleeping bags. We lived in Texas, so rain and/or bad weather wasn't a problem. We had a cooler to put all our food in and we had chairs to set up around a camp fire. What more do you need? This wasn't a costly venture, it was done out of practicality and with great cost efficiency. And the kids loved it! How can they not, the whole outdoors becomes their playground. It feeds their curiosity. They can use their endless amounts of energy running everywhere. It's such a great activity to do with young kids. And therein lies the key phrase: young kids. We are no longer in that phase of life. We actually only took one of our kids on this latest trip and she was having none of it. Except for when she was in the hammock with her young cousins.

That was a happy place.

I had a great time with my little snuggle bug on this trip. I was his horsey and he was the cowboy. 

We were very lucky to get campsites right next to each other which makes hanging out that much more fun.

We couldn't have asked for a more beautiful setting. We were at 10,100 feet above sea level. I think the altitude had a lot to do with how incredibly cold it still was in June. I guess if you can still see snow, it means it's still cold. And as we've learned living in CO the past two years, afternoon thunderstorms are very common. 

When it rained after dinner and throughout the night, we just got cozy in the camper and played a lot of games and stayed dry.

But the moonrise was pretty.

 The next morning we decided to pack up our tent early. It was forecasted to rain the entire day. We would rather put our tent away early and enjoy the rest of the day. We were supposed to stay a second night, but after the first nights' frozen fiasco, we knew there would be no second night. But that didn't stop us from enjoying the second day. We played cornhole (the girls won).

We threw lots of rocks into the lake.

We made fire.

This was such a beautiful setting. It was a fun time together. And we actually ended up with periods of sun and warmish weather believe it or not. But it also cemented our decision to never camp again. We will be happy to accompany any fellow campers who desire our company while staying in a cabin. But that's our minimum requirement from now on. We love nature. We love exploring. We love outdoor adventures. We do not love rain. We do not love cold. We do not love numb toes. We are not primitive and we are not wealthy. We may not be able to afford camping in style in a camper, but we can afford a cabin for a night. A structure that is sure to keep out bugs, rain, and cold. This is the new "us". Goodbye camping. It was funnish (not really) while it lasted. You gave us lots of memories (filled with rain and cold). But life is a cycle and full of change. We are ready to embrace that change with open arms.

Growth

This Spring we planted a new tree in the back yard. It's one of our favorites for its beautiful branching structure, leaf patterns that allow dappled lighting to filter through, and for its spectacular fall color. We are so excited to watch it grow.

When we bought it, it hadn't started to leaf out yet. So we would excitedly check it everyday to see if its leaves had bloomed yet. One morning when I went to check on the tree, I saw the above photo. I was puzzled. That is not what I know the leaves to look like, nor is it the same color of leaf. Hmmm.

Then I became super intrigued and the thought hit me: the growth process doesn't always look like what it will become.

How cool is that?! I just love epiphanies. Of course I'm going to take take this example and extrapolate it out to real life. When I am in the beginning throes of learning something new, my learning process looks nothing like the final outcome. I struggle with the concept, I turn it inside out and upside down. I read all different viewpoints of it. And then I start forming my own opinion. Then the concept starts fleshing out in my own life. It's a messy, ugly, fascinating, beautiful thing to behold. 

If we're honest with ourselves, the growth process is messy, unpredictable, exhilarating, scary, challenging, bumpy, isolating, and often filled with doubt. We often fail before we succeed. And it's in the grip of those failures that the final experiential processes are formed and we begin to own that thought/idea/opinion/knowledge/truth. Isn't that beautiful?!

So the lesson, as I see it, is to be patient with ourselves and others as they are growing into who they are becoming. We can't mock the process, we must embrace it. We need to give each other space to grow, to mess up, to try again. 

The hope is that in the end, the growth turns into something beautiful. 

Chloe's Dream

This is Chloe's friend Katie. She is super sweet. They are super tight. The other day, Chloe told me about a dream she had that involved Katie. I have to record it here because it was so hilarious I didn't want to forget it.

So in the dream, Katie and her family are going on a trip to Mexico. Katie calls Chloe last minute and tells her that her sister can't come and they want her to come instead. Chloe asks me. I say (and this is the proof that it's a dream), "Well...you have your finals this week, Honey. But I guess I could take them for you."

While she's in Mexico, she gets a notification from school saying she has to retake 9th grade. Apparently I failed all her finals. She was not happy with me.

A couple insights into this dream: 1) I think Chloe was nervous about finals  2) I think she had visions of running away and escaping them  3) I think she thinks I'm more lenient than I am  4) I think she's afraid of failing 9th grade and 5) why am I not as smart as a 9th grader?

Turtle Rock

On Sunday we headed up to Wyoming to set out on an adventure at a new park. We learned of a hike called "Turtle Rock Trail" at Vedauwoo State Park. It's only an hour drive from home.

It was such a perfect day to outside.

Surprisingly, the trees still had not leafed out yet.

The best thing about this place is the amount of rocks and boulders there are to climb.

I told the kids that I wanted to see the hike through their eyes. This was one of the pictures Chloe took. It is absolutely stunning.

And this is through the eyes of Bennett. I love the how he captured the pattern of the pine cone.

Bennett was a trooper hiking with a bad knee. No jumping or running for him, which was frustrating because that meant he couldn't do any rock climbing in this natural amusement park of rocks.

It wouldn't be a true hike without some hammocking.

Life doesn't get much better than this.

Chloe asked me, "Mom, lay so you can see me from your hammock." My view. 

I don't know what it is amount rocks and pine trees...but they are our favorite combination.

Happy family.

Beauty is everywhere.

I'm still shocked we are in Wyoming.

Squeeze!

Ending the fun with a (cold) picnic lunch. 

Silly Girl

Chloe just told me this story today. It is hilarious! I just had to share it.

Several months ago Chloe started plugging her phone in at night in our room. But just before that she kept it in her room. She said that one morning she woke up and saw a text from her friend Katie that read: "What?"  She thought that was a weird text to send first thing in the morning so she scrolled up and saw this:

Pay attention to the line that says: Yesterday 4:09AM. Apparently, Chloe had texted Katie at 4 o'clock in the morning to tell her that "nothing's wrong with the dinosaur". OMG!!  So hilarious. I've heard of sleep talking and sleep walking, but not of sleep texting - until now.

Fun in Fargo

This past week, Chuck and I left Chloe and Bennett to fend for themselves (for the first time ever) in Colorado while we flew to North Dakota to visit Gavin for a few days. It's such a weird phase of life. Our kids need us and wants us - but they don't really need us that much. They are all perfectly self-sufficient. They cook for themselves, drive themselves places, clean up after themselves (most of the time), look out for each other. I know that's the ultimate goal of parenthood - to work yourself out of a job, but it's weird getting used to. You spend the majority of their lives doing and being everything for your children. Now we're here on an "as needed" basis. It's equally as challenging, exciting, and scary as the first phase of parenting. You want them to know you trust them. You have to give them freedom to prove it. You want them to make mistakes while they're still living with you so you can be there to catch them. You want them to want you as they grow older, not breathe a sigh of relief that they're no longer under your watchful eye. That's one reason why we were so happy that Gavin was just as excited about us coming to visit as we were.

The evening we arrived we went straight to his favorite pizza joint and then walked around the famed Broadway street downtown Fargo.

Gavin also took us to an incredible city park located just behind his apartment called Island Park that he said he enjoys walking around each evening. This is the view from his apartment complex. 

The next morning, Chuck and I walked 16 blocks from the Airbnb house we were staying at Gavin's apartment. Chuck assumed his role as breakfast maker. Also, you see those baggies filled with cookies? My sweet boy baked homemade chocolate chip cookies for our visit. Proof of his undying love and devotion.

I was tickled to see the Meal Planner list that we came up with when he moved in taped so neatly to his kitchen wall. His apartment was spic-n-span. He cleaned it so nicely - and even made his bed (1 of only 5 times, we were told, since he moved in).

After breakfast, Gavin wanted to show us the two local malls. The one in Fargo was very nice, especially since we were able to find him a new pair of jeans. The one in Moorhead, right across the river was depressing, blah, and outdated. It was so incredibly ugly and bad and depressing. The tag line above the mall sign said, "Another great place to shop".... if you're living in the 50s, maybe. It was here that we found a dilapidated antique mall where Chuck found himself modeling an original  sombrero. 

After all the excitement of the Moorhead Mall, we headed over to an Indian restaurant so we could have enough energy for our campus tour that afternoon.

We went directly to the engineering buildings first.

This was his circuits lab.

We even found a basement full of pool tables on campus. After the campus tour, we went grocery shopping for Gavin and then came home and watched a movie.

The next morning we went to two art museums. This one was filled with Political Cartoons throughout American history. It was super fascinating.

This is a large, real life replica of a Viking ship that is house at the Hjemkompst Museum in Moorhead. That entire area of North Dakota and Minnesota was settled mostly by Norwegians and German-Russin immigrants. This particular ship was built in the 1980s and actually sailed to Norway and back.

I can't believe our boy is so big now. I can't believe he lives on his own. I can't believe he lives so far away from us. I can't believe what an awesome young man he has become. But on the other hand I can believe it all. How could it have turned out any other way. He was an awesome, amazing kid. Of course he'd be an awesome, amazing young adult. He always talked of living in some far off place when he was a kid, so it's no surprise that he lives where his heart is. He may be far away, but he's always close to my heart. We talk all the time. He comes home when he can. He loves sharing his world of Fargo with us and we loved seeing it through his eyes. How lucky are we?!