Camping at Appleton

We've started to realize that our summer weekends are quickly filling up, and Dave and I have both been craving a camping trip. So, after a wonderful visit with my Grandfather (who is getting better every day), we decided to do a spontaneous camping trip for the night. It's funny how spontaneous takes a long time when you have a toddler. First, we went home so that Luke could take a nap. We quietly tried to pack without waking Luke up, and as soon as he was up, we dashed off to the Appleton campground in Brighton State Recreation Area. We had checked the weather, and although we weren't expecting rain, it was going to get down to 45 degrees that night. We brought lots of blankets, and hoped that we would be warm enough. The last time we camped in that weather, we weren't prepared, and ended up waking up so cold during the night. Dave, our resident camp cook, had brought lots of great food for us, and pulled out his trusty camp grill to cook for us. We set up camp, made dinner, and walked over to Little Appleton Lake to go fishing. Dave and I had a great time catching some panfish, and Luke played in the water, truly having a blast. Luke even helped us reel in the fish, and said that the fish he caught were "HUGE." We gave Luke his own flashlight (a Lightning McQueen flashlight), which he loved. After fishing, we made a campfire, got Luke ready for bed, and enjoyed some time watching the fire. When we put Luke to bed, I was cracking up watching the light from his flashlight shine around the tent for quite some time.

In the morning, we made breakfast and went on a quick hike. Poor Dave had gotten up really early and had already gone fishing and gotten the breakfast stuff ready by 6:30 am (when Luke woke me up). By mid-morning, I took Luke over to Bishop Lake to check out the fishing dock and to give Dave a little break. After our little excursion, we came back to the site and relaxed with a fire and then Dave made us lunch. We then packed up and headed for home, where Luke promptly feel asleep in the car within about 1 minute of driving. Though it was a quick trip, it felt great to both Dave and I to get away and have that time being outside and together as a family. We hope to get some more camping in around the 4th of July. I can say, that compared to last year, it was a bit different to camp with an almost 2 year old. Although Luke did great, I found myself telling him "Don't touch that" at about every turn - particularly around the campfire and grill. You really can't take your eye off of a toddler even for a second! All in all, it was an amazing trip.








Luke in the tent:


Luke gets a new flashlight: