Pitched up
In the years before Edward, our ideal campsite would be somewhere quiet, as few pitches as possible and as off-grid as possible. We relished the peace and quiet, escaping from it all and just getting lost in basics of life; breathing, resting, walking and just being.
These days we still want the same things but it's more difficult. I don't want to pull up on a peaceful site and be the bringer of chaos which is essentially what we'd be doing. So these days sites for us are a little larger, where a toddler running around will get lost in the numbers of other children just being children. We still prefer rural, anything by a river or stream is just idillic and if we can have a campfire, well, jackpot. But, my son is semi-feral so room to run is a must.
So we set of from home with a tot who had woken at 4.30am to play with his new bin lorry toy. He loves bin lorries. This particular toy also had a toy wheelie bin and a commercial waste bin. Best toy ever. No amount of 'no, it's not morning yet' or 'your clock's not yellow yet' would convince him that he needed to do anything other than yet another bin round. So Paul got up at 5am. The dogs and I had an extra hours nap before rising to a totally beside himself with excitement, still tired toddler who couldn't wait to 'drive drive drive Judith Too'.
We got ourselves ready and left at 8am. No time like the present, especially when you're dealing with an over excited, over tired, toddler. The trouble was, a toddler that is tired at 8am is also a toddler that is clumsy and that blasted bin lorry, which obviously had to come with us, fell out of his hands and onto the floor within seconds of leaving the driveway. We stopped. Retrieved the bin lorry. And carried on. Repeat x 3. We gave up. Edward cried. And he continued crying and refusing to nod off for 40 minutes. 'How are you finding driving, dear?' I chirped to Paul, 'any better than towing the caravan'... It wasn't the most relaxing journey. 5 minutes before we arrived at our destination, Edward fell asleep. You win some. You lose some.
We pitched up. Edward helped hammer the pegs in to keep the dog and toddler fence up and then commenced another bin round. Arthur climbed into a camping chair and remained there all day. Paul cracked open a cider and Eric gobbed off at a squirrel. Ahh, that little bit of freedom.
These days we still want the same things but it's more difficult. I don't want to pull up on a peaceful site and be the bringer of chaos which is essentially what we'd be doing. So these days sites for us are a little larger, where a toddler running around will get lost in the numbers of other children just being children. We still prefer rural, anything by a river or stream is just idillic and if we can have a campfire, well, jackpot. But, my son is semi-feral so room to run is a must.
So we set of from home with a tot who had woken at 4.30am to play with his new bin lorry toy. He loves bin lorries. This particular toy also had a toy wheelie bin and a commercial waste bin. Best toy ever. No amount of 'no, it's not morning yet' or 'your clock's not yellow yet' would convince him that he needed to do anything other than yet another bin round. So Paul got up at 5am. The dogs and I had an extra hours nap before rising to a totally beside himself with excitement, still tired toddler who couldn't wait to 'drive drive drive Judith Too'.
We got ourselves ready and left at 8am. No time like the present, especially when you're dealing with an over excited, over tired, toddler. The trouble was, a toddler that is tired at 8am is also a toddler that is clumsy and that blasted bin lorry, which obviously had to come with us, fell out of his hands and onto the floor within seconds of leaving the driveway. We stopped. Retrieved the bin lorry. And carried on. Repeat x 3. We gave up. Edward cried. And he continued crying and refusing to nod off for 40 minutes. 'How are you finding driving, dear?' I chirped to Paul, 'any better than towing the caravan'... It wasn't the most relaxing journey. 5 minutes before we arrived at our destination, Edward fell asleep. You win some. You lose some.
We pitched up. Edward helped hammer the pegs in to keep the dog and toddler fence up and then commenced another bin round. Arthur climbed into a camping chair and remained there all day. Paul cracked open a cider and Eric gobbed off at a squirrel. Ahh, that little bit of freedom.
You really can't beat fresh air, space and freedom when you have busy little bees x
ReplyDelete"But, my son is semi-feral..." made me giggle at 6:40 am.
ReplyDelete~Love Alice's Mom, Deb.