Day 3

DAY 3
Brrrrrr! We knew it would be cold (hello, Captain Obvious, we’re camping in the mountains!) but it’s still a little bit of a shock to wake up and be able to see your breath, when you’re used to the 100-degree weather in Dallas. But hey, we were dry! No rain! We woke up and got everyone dressed in jeans, sweaters, jackets, and even socks and shoes. Normally my kids don’t wear socks from about April 1st until about November or so, so it was odd to have to break out the winter clothes while packing for a summer vacation.
Breakfast was a new experience for us. None of us realized that the large rock next to the picnic table had several small tunnels burrowing under it, home to several ground chipmunks. Much to the kids’ delight, we were bombarded with small furry visitors the whole morning. Cute? Check. Funny? Check. Mischievous and devious? Check, and check. It was fun to watch Lily, who spent the morning squealing and giggling with delight. Since the only animal she knows is ‘puppy,’ we got to listen to a mixture of chipmunk chatter and “Pup-pee! Pup-pee!” over and over again. They ran under her feet while she sat in the stroller, checked out our tent as we ate breakfast, and happily grabbed every crumb and Goldfish the kids dropped. I made the mistake of handing half of a Kashi cereal bar to Lily, then setting the rest of it on the table. I heard scrabbling, the kids started laughing hysterically, and I turned around to see a very happy chipmunk scampering off with the rest of her breakfast. The little rascal had jumped up on the table, unwrapped the rest of the bar, and made off with enough food for a week!
And while I stood and washed dishes at the table later, one furry friend decided that my leg would be a good shortcut to get up on the table. He climbed as far as my knee, but changed his mind when I jumped and yelled.
We went on a short hike before lunch, short being translated as “only a mile and a half but it took us two hours.” Between my foot (recovering nicely!) and a 3- & 4-yo, we were happy to even make it that far. Actually, I shouldn’t complain about Levi’s short little legs. As everyone who knows Levi is aware, he doesn’t walk, he runs everywhere, and the hike was no exception. Aspen, on the other hand, got tired pretty fast, so really we tried to stick with her speed. Lily was happy to walk around a little bit, but oh, was she mad when Jeff had to put her back in the backpack carrier!
Back to the campsite, make turkey sandwiches and get everyone fed and OH CRAP here come the dark clouds, pack up the tent quick before the rain gets here! We got everyone & everything loaded, and raindrops hit the windshield just as we were leaving the park. Oh, and don’t be fooled by our “quick, get it packed!”, because it still takes us at least half an hour to put away the tent and get the air mattresses/sleeping bags/clothes/food/dishes back into containers and bags.
We’re going to eat with Andrew tonight. More later.