Post-camping joy

In spite of the exhausting nature of that camping trip, when I think about it now, the fun parts were enough to compensate.

I loved how excited my kids were to be camping. I loved their sheer enthusiasm for sleeping in a tent, in sleeping bags. I loved letting them help set up their beds, unroll their sleeping bag, put the pillow & blankies just so - and then proceed to make it all messy by tumbling onto the bed just to check it out.

I loved watching them learn how to cook hot dogs over a campfire, and wait for a marshmallow to get roasted. I loved listening to their conversations at night.

"Don't those noisy people know it's bedtime?"
"Why is there smoke in the sky?"
"Can I have another marshmallow"
"Hey - you kids, it's night time and people are trying to sleep!"
"Mom, maybe next time, it would be a good idea if we brought some earmuffs"

And sometimes, I just wanted to gobble them up. "Grandpa, your camper is like a dollhouse!" "Your little house is AMAZING!" And while it was challenging to cope with both kids in the ER, having daughter there too helped to keep both me and son calmer. "Mom, can I have a snack? Do you think this TV works? Hey little guy, it's okay. Do you need a hug? The nurse will help you. Nurse Emily, did you know I'm allergic to 3 kinds of medicine? I get a big rash, and sometimes it makes me barf."

Then there's the marvelous and yet heartbreaking way a 3 year old explains a head injury.
"I fell and got a noggin floggin. Then it was blood on me. Then I went to the hobbital. They did a squirty thing, and I cried. I didn't like it. It was stinging me and I was bleeding. Then the docker was going to put stick-es in me, but he only painted my noggin flogging. I didn't like that, it made me cry and I was sad."

But we got back to the campground, and family was there, waiting with love, and hugs, and a hot dinner, and more marshmallows - and those are some of the best moments ever.