nuggets: from Wawona, with love

This minimalist post will celebrate the joy of camping with kids mainly through photos. I am both happily tired after a long weekend and keenly aware that no words can do justice to the beauty of spending time outdoors together. Also, photos like the one below say far more than words ever can. It takes a LOT to leave the house for four days with kids and have everything necessary except for the kitchen sink.

We are back after our first ever THREE-night camping trip. In stunning Yosemite no less.

best campsite ever; flat, with a view of the river

When we asked the kids on the way back whether they wanted to go back to Wawona, they replied with a resounding yes but qualified that they'd like to go back for longer. That is probably because they had a jolly time, and the absence of showers did not bother them one bit.

 

 

Raya managed to slip, fall down, and hurt her head within thirty minutes of arrival at the campground, which almost had us packing to leave an hour later. However, thanks to the prompt and reassuring response of a Park Ranger who also happened to be an EMT, we stayed on and everything was fine.

she loves to draw; carries her stuff everywhere and declares, about thirty-four times a day, that when she grows up, she wants to be a "mommy and an an artist"

She was back to her normal, bubbly self a few hours later. All three of us had never been happier to listen to her constant jabber--and that's saying a lot, because much of the time we find ourselves conniving, together, about how to get her to *stop* talking.

A beautiful hike to Sentinel Dome was had on the first full day.

 

see me trying to hold her as she attempts to jump?

Raya insisted on walking the whole way up and climbing every single rock and stump. Given her recent injury, it was a mildly nerve-wrecking experience for the rest of us.

Sava carried Rado's leatherman and insisted on stopping and "sawing" every few feet at the start of the hike.

Thankfully, that petered out as we started the steep ascent.

 

Looking at it from a distance, I didn't think that Sentinel Dome was a natural formation on which people actually climbed. Wrong. Raya would not be carried and had to be forced into a tight grip as we went up the sheer rock.

Upper Yosemite Fall in the distance (I think; we could see several waterfalls from the top of Sentinel Dome)

They were by far the youngest kids up there.

Vernal Fall? 

Back at camp, there was both quiet time

and a good deal of unprompted silliness.

 

 

Some went to the river to swim, 

 

yes, she did go in the water; swam in circles around me while trying not to freeze

and others worked on their fishing skills.

This boy *needs* to go back to Montana.

This was our first camping trip solo, without other families and friends, and at times we wondered if Sava was getting a Sister Overdose. He did everything in his power to entertain her and to keep her safe. He really is the best big brother ever.

 

 

During rare quiet moments she drew 

and climbed. We are determined to sign her for rock-climbing soon.

Second-day hike was a flop, as the kids were a bit tired from staying up to watch the stars and really just wanted to explore the campground. So...we never finished Meadow Loop across from the Wawona hotel which we began late morning.

she's sitting on a load of sap which, for the record, is still on her bottom

 

Instead, we went looking for swimming holes at Wawona Campground. Found some, too,

along with more fishing spots.

 

For the bulk of that second day, though, it was really about brother and sister hanging out together. As exhausting as it may get after an hour and then another hour, their ceaseless giggling and shrieking makes this whole parenting gig worth it.

 

 It's just that, from time to time, we wish we could put earplugs and/or stop worrying about her mashing his private parts as she sits on them.

But parenting worries never stop, correct?...They just become different, and for the time being, our worries appear pretty tame. So we are thankful.

(On photo below, she is examining him for a head concussion and asking him if he is "hearing noises"--in the same kind of voice that the Ranger/EMT dude used on her. With a voice over, these photos would be hilarious.)

When finally she fell asleep before everyone else on the THIRD night, the boys could have a quiet time--just as they'd like it all the time if not for the hyper gregarious younger sibling.

Having grown up with none of this, and finding myself head over heels in love with camping, I have yet to figure out what of the whole experience appeals to which exact part of me. 

yes, she is "reading" about motorcycles

Mommy's camp breakfast: grilled cheese and ham, wrapped in foil and cooked over the fire

There is the "getting away from it all," of course, but that seems to be only a small reason why I like to spend twenty-four hours packing and then another twenty-four hours unpacking, in between nine hours of driving. There is the getting kids out in nature, which I feel opens them up to parts of themselves they may otherwise never get to know, and that is gratifying but also not the only reason. There is also the smell of the woods and the sight of living things, which might, ultimately, explain the madness.

stellar jay

Whatever the reason, this sight makes it all worth it.

they're looking at the river; hard to photograph because of light etc.

And this, too.

I don't wish to go back to pioneer days, when most meals were cooked outside, and people lived in tiny crammed spaces while trying to eke out a living from the land. But I do wish to camp more. A lot more.