Please forgive me that this post is lengthy, but it is somewhat historical, and I wanted to be sure to capture the details of the kids’ first camping experience.
About two months ago, Andy and Kathy Flanigan called, seeing if we were up for a trip. I believe it was Andy who suggested camping. Hmm. Camping with a one year-old and a three year-old. In a tent. Hmm. Before fully thinking through the ramifications of my answer, we responded with a “sure, sounds like fun!” :-)
My sweet family. I wish I would've taken a shower and combed my hair BEFORE this picture! None the less, this is an accurate depiction of us outside our tent, in the "bog". :-)
Notice the terrain. Notice also that Liam looks ever so unimpressed, for some reason!
Campfire + Liam + rolling campsite = Mama holding him more than not... ;-)
The infamous shark tent
Will caught a butterfly with his bare hands! He even color-coordinated his outfit to match the butterfly! ;-)
We try to get to the beach at least once a year with the Flanigans (normally Memorial Day weekend). We’ve gone on these trips before each of our families had kids. One year we all went to Mammoth Caves National Park and camped there for a weekend. Our trips with the Flanigans are always eventful, fun and leave us with stories to be told.
Flanigans, you’ll have to help me get a list of our camping excursions and the year sometime, for the record. (Raccoon Mountain twice, Sweetwater / Lost Sea Caves once, Mammoth Caves, Cathedral Caverns, rafting the Ocoee – I think that is all of them?).
As they live in Nashville, and we live in Atlanta, we decided to try to meet somewhere in the middle, or somewhere within a three-hour drive. We all settled on Cathedral Caverns, near Grant, Alabama. I called to check-out campgrounds, and found that Cathedral Caverns State Park only offered “primitive camping”. The park worker with whom I spoke mentioned that Cedar Winds, located right next door, is an RV and tent park that wasn’t “primitive”. I found out that it is owned by the Cherokee Indian tribe of Northeast Alabama. I made the reservation for the reservation (ha-ha).
So we spent the weekend in the Cathedral Caverns State Park, tent camping in Cedar Winds. It rained two out of the three nights we were there, but none of the weather thwarted our campfire experiences. It rained Saturday, so we headed into Huntsville to the Earlyworks Children’s Museum in Huntsville. The kids had a blast. We also learned that Liam absolutely LOVES gigantic tinker toys. Sunday we went to a very friendly church in Grant, followed by a visit to the Cathedral Caverns. We also went to a local trading post, as someone we met at the campground (Luke Christian :-)) suggested a trip there.
Outside the Earlyworks Children's Museum in Huntsville, AL
Outside the Children's Museum
Kathy, Will and Sophie
Liam enjoyed running around the rocking chairs at the museum
Will rocks out
A group effort: The kids "made music" by all pushing a different button for a different instrument
Liam's solo
Liam and Will doing what boys do best: build-build-build!
A little pioneer lady:
Unhappy about this year's crops: Liam Crockett
Ava and an apprehensive Liam in pioneer clothing
Twins?
Presidential hopeful?
Notice the humidity fogging up the camera lens...
On Monday we went to the “Unclaimed Baggage Store”, to check it out. It was interesting. The store supposedly sells goods from the unclaimed baggage that passengers leave / lose while on commercial flights, as well as any unclaimed cargo. Andy seemed a little leery on this idea, thinking it was basically a glorified TJ Maxx. :-) The store had used clothing, luggage, cd’s, headphones, shoes, toys, etc. I ended up getting a HUGE bag for future trips, as well as a little pop up kid sleeping tent that Kathy eyed. Doug got some insulated flannel shirts for working out in the yard.
As for the camping… one of the MUDDIEST camping experiences I’ve ever had. :-) The campsite was beautiful. Before arriving, I though we might be sucking diesel fuel, and crammed into a dinky campsite, knowing we were going to be staying in an RV Park. Not the case. Although we weren’t technically “primitive” camping (as we could walk to a bathroom / showers), we didn’t have any running water or electricity hook-ups, so the Flanigans couldn’t use their window air-conditioning unit. :-) (For the record, they did bring a space heater when we went to Raccoon Mountain, and were warm and toasty while Doug and I shivered through the night! :-) All that to say, they come prepared!) The campsite at Cedar Winds was also on a bit of a hill (there weren’t any really flat areas), so the Carey kids ended-up rolling down to the foot of the tent every night. I was VERY fearful with Liam just getting his “sea legs”, that he might trip on the terrain and fall into the campfire, but all four adults were extra cautious and we didn’t have any mishaps with ANY of the kids. Success!
Although it rained, we had great sleeping weather and it wasn’t too hot during the day. We really lucked out in the temperature category!
Will nicknamed Liam “Yummy baby”, after Kathy explained to him that “Will” is the first part of the name “William” and “Liam” is the last part - or the “yum” part. So Will sang the “Yummy Baby” song to Liam throughout the weekend. :-)
What we learned (if you've made it this far!): Our tent definitely isn’t a four man tent, but a smidge smaller. :-) Our kids (Flanigans and Carey kids) were THE best and rolled with the punches. A little dirt (or mud) doesn’t hurt. Giving into the mud is easier than fighting it. White shirts and camping in a mud bog don’t go together. Kathy and I were bitten by something, but not sure exactly what...whatever it was stung quite a bit, but left no trace. Even rain can’t squash the fun we have on camping trips, we just go subterranean! One year-olds can camp with the best of them. We like flat sleeping surfaces. Stalagtites hang “tight” to the ceiling, while stalagmites grow from the floor. They also take millions of years to form, so DON’T TOUCH them! S’mores and roasted marshmallows are sacred, and Will Flanigan is marshmallow-roaster supreme. :-) We ALWAYS have fun with the Flanigan family!
Peace, love and funky spelunkers,
Shelly, Doug, Ava and Liam
