The Camping Experiment

It went about as well as could be expected I suppose, and we learned a few things. Quinn had a blast, but sleep was difficult, which is pretty much what we predicted.

We arrived at Fitzroy Harbour Provincial Park mid morning and went to the beach. Quinn had a blast. Of course he wanted nothing to do with his own sand toys and prowled the whole beach in search of others' toys. In the end that worked out ok though - he's getting pretty good at interfacing with other kids, except for the part where kids don't want the forced trade...but he's getting better at it. It's a process. We went for a swim and Quinn loved that. We ate some lunch at the beach and then went for a walk, hoping Quinn would stroller-nap, but that was not to be. At least he got some quiet time, except for his own constant babbling. So we went to our site and set up.

After setup and snack, keeping Quinn corralled was difficult. We realized we need to bring stuff for him to do on-site. We elected to go back to the beach. This was a hit all-around again, except for the lack of shade on the blazing hot day. Returning to our site for supper, Quinn very nearly fell asleep in the stroller - awkward timing, post-nap, pre-bed, so we kept him awake. We roasted hotdogs over an open fire using sticks. Quinn didn't like the smoke much, and gave the fire a lot of respect by staying well away from it (how do impart that safety importance without terrifying a toddler? I'm still searching for the sweet spot in that tradeoff...) but he still had fun. Clearly he was tired though. Great we thought - maybe the upcoming bedtime will go ok.

Yeah right! Putting him to sleep in broad daylight, in a tent, in the heat, amid numerous neighbours' radios, was a complete non-starter. First we tried him just laying down on the floor of the tent. Moments after Bec left the tent we heard a 'zzzzzzzipppp' and then the cute little mostly-naked imp peeked around the corner of the car at us. Attempt #2 was in the travel crib. Again he wanted mommy to leave, and moments later he climbed out of the travel crib and....'zzzzzzzipppp' again. After a stroller stint, another travel crib attempt and two and half hours of trying, he finally fell asleep during the second stroller stint, just when we were debating whether we'd need to abort and return home. He stayed asleep during the transfer to the crib and stayed asleep all night.

Unfortunately Bec fretted about Quinn being cold all night and didn't sleep well. After a blazing hot day and a hot bedtime, it got coolish at night, so Bec kept putting a blanket on him and he kept pushing it off. Then of course, he was up with the sun. With a missed nap and a short sleep, he was a mess. Bec and Quinn went to a shallow stream that looked interesting but he wanted nothing to do with it. So they went to the beach while I tore down. I caught up with them at the beach, we had a short lunch there, and then hit the road, hoping for Quinn to have a car-nap. He wailed "don't wanna leave beach", "don't wanna go in car", etc etc, but he was asleep within a minute and a half in the car. We took the long long looooong way home and all was well after that.

It was a massive prep for about 24 hours of "wildernessing". The prep should be easier next time around though - first time camping in awhile, especially car-camping, and first time with a toddler, extended the prep. I think Quinn really enjoyed it though. With some more entertainment for Quinn, and just not attempting to put him to bed til it's dark, I think it could all go a lot better. And first experiences for Quinn are often "groundwork". Next time we'll all be a little wiser. It's all part of the process for all of us I suppose.