When Aaralee was just a few weeks old we packed up the car and headed out to the mountains for our very first weekend away. We love the mountains and at the time I felt so adventurous and proud of myself for making such a journey with a tiny baby. Now that we've readjusted to life at home with a newborn, I felt ready to take Briley on the same trip.
I was so excited to get out and enjoy the fresh mountain air, until I began my search for a hotel room. Maybe it was because of the Calgary Stampede, or the fact that it was just Canada Day, or maybe it's just because it's summer.... whatever the reason, the few hotels that had vacancy were ridiculously overpriced. I accepted the fact that we'd probably spend the weekend at home.
My husband is always a problem solver, so his solution was simple. "We could just go camping!", he suggested, as if camping with a 2 1/2 week old baby is a totally normal thing that all parents do. I may or may not have laughed out loud at his suggestion before realizing that he was actually serious. Don't get me wrong, I love camping and I fully intended on going out later in the summer. That said, staying in a tent with a toddler and a newborn while recovering from major surgery just didn't appeal to me. Using his incredible powers of persuasion, my husband somehow managed to convince me that we could still have a fun weekend away. Before I knew it, I was packing our bags.
Packing for two kids under the age of two is no easy task. Aaralee's obsession with dirt and messy food meant that she'd need several outfits and both would need approximately 73 layers to keep warm at night. We'd need double the diapers, triple the wipes, and basically every item from Briley's limited newborn clothing selection. Once I'd successfully packed for both girls, I faced the even bigger challenge of packing for myself and my postpartum body that is too small for maternity and too big for pre-pregnancy clothing. I left Ryan in charge of packing the camping supplies, himself, and the dog. Eventually we were ready to hit the road.
Just as we approached the highway to leave the city, we were met with ridiculously slow moving traffic. We always, always check the traffic before we plan our route, but on the one occasion that we forgot to, we ended up stuck in construction. Things were slow moving, much to Briley's dismay. Our tiniest family member loves being in fast cars and tends to be very vocal about her feelings towards driving too slow... apparently it runs in the family. We eventually made it past the construction, at which time our air conditioning chose to quit working. It was 30 degrees Celsius and we had many hours of driving ahead of us. We called the Subaru dealership in Red Deer and fortunately they were able to squeeze us in on our way through town. We piled into the air conditioned building with our kids and dog for an hour while they tried to fix the problem. As someone who was hesitant about this trip in the first place, this was not the reassurance that I'd hoped for.
After what felt like forever, we were back in the car and back on the highway... and guess what?! The rest of the drive was perfect. Both kids slept the entire way to Banff as Ryan and I sat shivering in the front seat, vowing to appreciate our functioning air conditioning. We arrived to the campsite where Ryan's parents had been since the night prior. It was a beautiful evening spent eating campfire pizzas (my favourite!!) and watching Aaralee happily run around.
Bedtime approached and I was nervous. Would the kids be warm enough?! Would Briley's crying wake up other campers? Would I get any sleep, at all? Low and behold, our newborn daughter slept BETTER in the tent than she had been sleeping at home. Granted, we still woke up during the night, but that was to be expected. I was pleasantly surprised as I woke up feeling refreshed the next day.
We spent our second day soaking up the sun and fresh air, eating more campfire cooked food, and wandering Banff.
That evening, the clouds rolled in and it began to rain. The temperature dropped and I bundled the kids in extra layers for the cool evening ahead. It was a brisk night in the tent, but everyone kept warm with the exception of me. It's not easy crawling out of a warm sleeping bag to feed a crying baby at 2 am. We got through the night, and Briley slept well for the second night in a row. I might have to spend more time outdoors at home, it appears to have magical sleepy baby powers. The sun came out in the morning and it was a perfect send off as we packed the car for the journey home.
Camping with a newborn isn't for everyone, but as it turns out, it's entirely possible. Briley slept through the majority of her first trip, but I think in baby language that means that she thoroughly enjoyed it. Now that we've crossed the scary first-trip milestone, we can look forward to the rest of the summer and hopefully many more trips with our mountain-loving little family!
