I did it. Two years after the first try, I attempted once again to take Sasha on a solo-parenting camping trip. What a difference his age makes! We weather was perfect, the campsite was beautiful, the bears stayed far away, and the two of us had a blast hanging out and exploring the world around us. Naturally, I made some rookie mistakes, like reading the sign to him that said KEEP FOOD IN YOUR CAR. BEARS PRESENT. The sign was posted on the bathroom, the first place we went after arriving. His face fell, his voice dropped to a falsetto whisper, and he said, "There's bears? I'm done with camping. I want to go home." I tried in vain to convince him that bears won't bother us, they don't eat people, we will be safe if we follow the precautions, etc. Finally, I realized that distraction was the only way to leave this topic behind. So I unpacked the tent and Chief Scared of Bears got immediately down to business, all threats forgotten in the rush to build a shelter.
Pretty much everything was amazing as far as Sasha was concerned. He loves his cozy new sleeping bag, gathering sticks for marshmallow roasting, starting fires with dirt and rocks, being in or near the water, investigating the neighbors, peeing outside, wearing headlamps to keep the bugs away, cooking food on "the luver," his name for the grill that goes up and down, finding berry "tomatoes" to throw in the water. Essentially we had 2 days of non-stop action though we rarely left the campsite. We're going again next weekend with Mama.
Mission accomplished.
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| He kept the red headlamp on "to keep the bugs away." |
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| Enjoying roasted marshmallows at the fire. |
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| Beautiful morning on the pond. |
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| Happy Mamu, happy boy. |
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| The joy and wonder of bare feet. |
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| Loving his book of mazes. |
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Anyone have a clue what this is?
Sasha loved to smash them and make a bright orange goo explode out of them. |
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| Showing off his latest karate skill: the forward roll. |
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| Finding the right spot in "The Dragons of Blueland." |
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| Sasha wrote his name on our to-do list prior to the trip. |
He's such a lucky boy to get to go camping. Is there such a thing as a child who doesn't like camping? What memories he'll have. You're a great Mamu. Very impressive to be able to write his name. It's a long name too. The little cute vest looks like he's about to go to a wedding or something. What a fabulous morning picture of the pond and the mist rising. He looks so happy in all the pictures!
ReplyDeleteSo awesome!!!! Makes me so excited to take my kiddos camping....some day! Makes my heart happy to see you guys having so much fun :) Looks like fun was had by all! Can't wait to hear how the next weekend goes!
ReplyDeleteI LOVE this entry! And I had the honor of hearing it from Sasha himself this week!He was a really good story teller and made special mention of the bear!
ReplyDeleteCarrie took the words out of my mouth. This blog post made my heart sing! Photos, the story, and the naming of Chief Scared of Bears, which actually will serve him well when he goes backpacking for weeks on end :-), were wonderful. As you wrote, "Happy Mamu, Happy boy!" Love you! Enjoy this coming weekend with Mama!
ReplyDeleteFunghi ID courtesy of Mom/Monica: Wolf's milk fungus.
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