All summer long, we kept saying that we would go up to the cabin. We said it almost every weekend. My brothers go up almost every week and would post beautiful pictures on facebook and every time I'd say "Hey Bryant, lets go up to the cabin!" and yet, we never did. Finally, we made it up there yesterday!
My brother Sawyer, his wife Kenna, and my parents and sister came up too.
I made tinfoil dinners to take up, and as I was making them, memories of my Mom making tinfoil dinners, while my dad packed up the truck for a weekend of camping came to mind.
I spent a lot of time outdoors growing up. Some of my best childhood memories involved a tent, trailer or cabin. At girls camp one year, I got the award for "most outdoorsy" because I was genuinely disappointed that the cabin we were staying at was more of a giant house, and I wasn't allowed to sleep in the tent I had already set up out in the trees.
My grandparent's cabin is exactly what I love about a cabin. It's cozy, and if you want running water, you have to hook it up yourself, if you want eletricity, you have to run a generator. (I prefer propane lanterns anyway, there's just something about them...)
^Savannah LOVED the loft! She climbed up there and yelled "Mom! Everything is just my size!"^
In high school, I was invited to go to a friends cabin for the night. When I got there, there was a dishwasher, washing machine, a thermostat, a giant flat-screen TV, electricity, and running water. When I got there with my sleeping bag, first aid kit, mess kit, and flashlights, All I could think was "This isn't a cabin! This isn't camping! This place is nicer than most houses!" and we spent the night watching Law and Order, instead of sitting around a fire and playing card games. I was so bummed.
Being secluded, driving or hiking around, looking for animals, sitting around a fire, snuggling into a sleeping bag. There is just something comforting about it. This is what camping means to me.
Savannah was in heaven. She repeatedly took off into the woods and I was constantly asking her to stay around the cabin. By the end of the night, she was covered in forget-me-not stickers, mud, and was soaking wet thanks to a tumble into the river. I came prepared with several changes of clothes, from my own experiences of tumbling into rivers. Always, always bring a change of socks and shoes AT LEAST!
Deagan was a champ and slept most of the time, or snuggled his grandma and aunt Kenna. I was only 2 weeks old when I went camping for the first time. I'm slacking with my kids with Deagan being almost 3 months!
^I took Savannah for a ride on the 4-wheeler and she said "Mom, this is kind of dangerous. I like dangerous!" oh boy, I've got my work cut out for me with that one!^
Bryant was cracking me up. He was so excited and ran around playing boy scout the whole time. He was chopping wood, starting a fire with a flint and steel (and a bit of gasoline...) riding around looking for elk, and shooting my brother and dad's guns. He walked up to the cabin covered in mud with a big grin on his face saying "Honey! We are coming up here every week!" I didn't think I'd need to pack him extra clothes too, but he's got the spirit of a 12 year old boy when it comes to the outdoors. I made him take off his boots and roll up his pant legs before he could come into the cabin.
^Animal count: 3 moose, 2 jackrabbits, 1 fox, 1 raccoon, a handful of deer and Bryant and Sawyer saw some elk^
We only have a few more weeks left before the snow prevents us from making it up there. So we will definitely be heading back up soon! I have so many memories of spending weekends up there with my family, and I want to make new memories for my kids of the cabin. And yesterday was my last day of summer vacation before school started. I couldn't have asked for a better way to spend it!
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