First S’mores

We took the boys camping this weekend- it was Arlo’s first camping trip with tents, which sadly means it has been three years since we have done any camping. The boys DID NOT want to go- I’m not exactly sure why, though Zach claims he was scared a cougar would eat us. We decided to go to the Sol Duc valley, where there was a short hike to a waterfall we could do, and a resort with hot springs for the next day. The boys were awesome hikers to the Sol Duc Falls- though it cost me one fruit snack and two pieces of Halloween candy per kid.

Arlo walked the entire way except for three very brief “uppies” and he was very proud of himself.

We arrived at the waterfall just in time for a spectacular rainbow and to capture my new favorite family photo.

After we got back to our campsite, we had dinner and then s’mores. Both boys were plastered with marshmellow goop and Arlo especially was quite pleased with himself.

Then we went to a Ranger program about Salmon. The boys were so attentive, especially Zachary. At one point the Ranger was asking questions of the audience and said “What are the dangers to salmon as they migrate back up the river?” Several people gave answers and then Zachary yelled out “They might be buried!”. The Ranger didn’t even miss a beat and said “Yes! They could be buried my landslides! “

The boys were too tired to complain about going to bed and fell asleep easily. In the middle of the night, it started raining, which would have been fine except the rain fly was under the tent being used as a ground cover. Luckily, I married the kind of man who crawls out of a tent in the middle of the night, yanks the tent fly out from under his sleeping wife and children and then covers them.

It was still raining when we woke up, and the kids were sleep deprived and not so happy. So we quickly packed up camp and headed to the Sol Duc Hot Springs Resort for breakfast. By the time we finished breakfast, the hot spring pools were open and it had stopped raining. Everyone enjoyed the pools for a few hours and then it was time to head back home. Both boys were so tired they napped in the car, transferred to their beds once home (a rare nap feat in this household) and each slept for a total of four hours!