Well the Florida weather is finally cooling down to a bearable temperature for camping! So what do we do? Take advantage of it and get our little man out for the first time!
Yes for most of you, where we camped is somewhat of a disgrace, but in order to satisfy the boss and ease into camping with the little one, I felt that the amentaties of a State Park would be the best bet! The next task of finding a site for the weekend would go like this, booked, booked and oh yeah... Booked! Aparantly every other camper in FL had the idea of camping! Well we ended up finding a site at Highland Hammock State Park in Sebring, FL. This park had a few sites left and I randomly picked one hoping that it would work out all right!
The next task as many of you know is to create a meal list and pack list! Since this was our first time out with the little one, it consisted of almost the entire house and then some!! Actually it really wasn't that bad, just lots of blankets and yes we did bring the pack-n-play for Ethan to sleep in! At first I thought the car seat would be just fine, but since our little one likes the good vibrations of the pack-n-play, I figured he might sleep a little longer with it!
Meals: Little one: formula and mommy!
Big People: Hot Dogs, chicken and steak kabobs, corn and potatoes, pop tarts for breakfast with some apples and grapes thrown in for good measure.... Oh yeah and can't forget the cracked pepper Boars Head Turkey sandwiches!
Got the truck packed.... Only took a half hour to pack it and all day to prepare to pack it!
Driving to the park was interesting! :smiley_drive: I knew traffic would be bad... Friday afternoon and Tampa drivers.... HORRIBLE! Needless to say it was slow going. We got to the park at about 8:30.... It was packed and I was a little worried we would not be able to enjoy a little relaxation with so many people around! Turned out our site was in the back end of the campground amongst the old folks in RV's and some tent campers on one side of us. Got everything set up rather quick, my tent is a mediocre one that is spring loaded, so it is up in a matter of minutes, it is the rest that takes a little time!
I got a nice fire started to warm up by and Ethan was all bug eyed, looking at everything! He was so interested in the fire it wasn't even funny! Needless to say he fell asleep early from all the fresh air and slept pretty well, only waking twice!
Saturday.... We slept in... until 8!
Ethan just hung out and played in the warmth of the tent with us in bed! Did I mention that the lows were in the high 40's, so I had brought a small space heater... Boy was I glad for the little guys sake! It raised the temperature to a bearable one for him! We went for a hike Sat. and then took a long afternoon nap, I in my hammock and Ethan and mommy in bed! It was a great day of relaxation and then we ended the day with kabobs and a large fire to stay toasty warm!!
Sunday..... Woke up after an even better night sleep, only awoke once for the little man.... I started thinking of ways to just permantly camp so we could sleep this well every night.... Wife just laughed!! Anyways another hike for about an hour or so, then lunch and packing! On the way back we did attempt to explore Avon Park Air force range, they were only open to hunters, will have to save this for another trip as the place looks really cool, 4x4 trails and primitive camping!!
The over all conclusion as one can see by the title is that the little guy did great! :wings: There will definitely be many more nights in the wilderness and we can only look forward to the future adventures that he will be able to really adventure and explore on his own!
Yes for most of you, where we camped is somewhat of a disgrace, but in order to satisfy the boss and ease into camping with the little one, I felt that the amentaties of a State Park would be the best bet! The next task of finding a site for the weekend would go like this, booked, booked and oh yeah... Booked! Aparantly every other camper in FL had the idea of camping! Well we ended up finding a site at Highland Hammock State Park in Sebring, FL. This park had a few sites left and I randomly picked one hoping that it would work out all right!
The next task as many of you know is to create a meal list and pack list! Since this was our first time out with the little one, it consisted of almost the entire house and then some!! Actually it really wasn't that bad, just lots of blankets and yes we did bring the pack-n-play for Ethan to sleep in! At first I thought the car seat would be just fine, but since our little one likes the good vibrations of the pack-n-play, I figured he might sleep a little longer with it!
Meals: Little one: formula and mommy!
Big People: Hot Dogs, chicken and steak kabobs, corn and potatoes, pop tarts for breakfast with some apples and grapes thrown in for good measure.... Oh yeah and can't forget the cracked pepper Boars Head Turkey sandwiches!
Got the truck packed.... Only took a half hour to pack it and all day to prepare to pack it!
Driving to the park was interesting! :smiley_drive: I knew traffic would be bad... Friday afternoon and Tampa drivers.... HORRIBLE! Needless to say it was slow going. We got to the park at about 8:30.... It was packed and I was a little worried we would not be able to enjoy a little relaxation with so many people around! Turned out our site was in the back end of the campground amongst the old folks in RV's and some tent campers on one side of us. Got everything set up rather quick, my tent is a mediocre one that is spring loaded, so it is up in a matter of minutes, it is the rest that takes a little time!
I got a nice fire started to warm up by and Ethan was all bug eyed, looking at everything! He was so interested in the fire it wasn't even funny! Needless to say he fell asleep early from all the fresh air and slept pretty well, only waking twice!
Saturday.... We slept in... until 8!
Ethan just hung out and played in the warmth of the tent with us in bed! Did I mention that the lows were in the high 40's, so I had brought a small space heater... Boy was I glad for the little guys sake! It raised the temperature to a bearable one for him! We went for a hike Sat. and then took a long afternoon nap, I in my hammock and Ethan and mommy in bed! It was a great day of relaxation and then we ended the day with kabobs and a large fire to stay toasty warm!!Sunday..... Woke up after an even better night sleep, only awoke once for the little man.... I started thinking of ways to just permantly camp so we could sleep this well every night.... Wife just laughed!! Anyways another hike for about an hour or so, then lunch and packing! On the way back we did attempt to explore Avon Park Air force range, they were only open to hunters, will have to save this for another trip as the place looks really cool, 4x4 trails and primitive camping!!
The over all conclusion as one can see by the title is that the little guy did great! :wings: There will definitely be many more nights in the wilderness and we can only look forward to the future adventures that he will be able to really adventure and explore on his own!
