Camping

The Northern Clan got to spend a night camping this weekend. It was wonderful! Little River State Park in Waterbury - so close to the house that the Northerns hadn't ever considered camping there - but friends had made the plans for the outing, and it turned out to be one of the best campsites we've ever encountered!

One of the nice things about spending only one night out camping is that, if you plan your meals carefully, you can leave out all of the cooking gear. Not carting the stove, pots and pans, and all of that stuff makes for a much more manageable load. (Of course, having that extra room just meant that we managed to spread more mess all over the inside of the NorthernToddlerAdventureMobile!)

Before we got down to the business of charring hotdogs over a cheery campfire, we did some swimming and embarked on a forced death march nice hike up a long hill to some ancient ruins. At least the forest was pretty....

As Jim was masterfully kindling the campfire, NorthernToddler started to take issue with the smoke blowing in his face. NorthernDaddy told him to just move his chair back from the fire to get away from the smoke. NorthernToddler moved his chair back until he felt that he was able to enjoy the fire... (see him way back by the road?!)

Never trust a toddler with a hot dog on a stick - it could get ugly, and someone could get hurt.
Here, NorthernToddler is either preparing to roast his dinner or attempting to launch that hot dog into a low-earth orbit.

A boy and his fire - it's a beautiful thing.