It was the best of times, it was the worst of times. It was really nice to see and spend time with my dad and brother. Ben LOVED playing in the dirt. I mean, he LOVED it. From the moment we got out of the car he dove head first into the dirt and bathed in it. He wandered the campsite with his shovel and bucket and showed Barton Flats his little self in all of his little boy glory.
If only that were the whole story...
Apparently all the dirt absorbed his ability to sleep. He screamed instead of napped almost all the way there. He went to sleep late, fighting the process, and woke up crazy early...screaming. He took a late, short, morning nap...after a healthy dose of screaming. He then screamed half the afternoon and didn't sleep AT ALL. By 4:00 we gave up. Matt and I were getting sicker by the minute, Ben had snot dripping down his face, and he'd spent a good half the trip, well, screaming. He cried more in two days than he had for the last year. So when my dad came back from fishing we ate a quick dinner and headed home. And what did our overtired little man do for at least 3/4 of the trip? Yep...he screamed.
But good did come of it. Ben got to spend some time with his uncle and grandpa, which he rarely gets to do. He got to run around outside, play in the dirt, and get fresh air. But the screaming was a bit much. Ick.
But we did it. We camped with a one-year-old. We should get some kind of award.
We headed up on Friday afternoon during Ben's afternoon nap time. We try to do long-ish car trips during his naps because he sleeps fairly well in the car, and he does not enjoy sitting in his car seat during his playtime. This time? Not so much. He slept for 15 minutes. To be fair, the screaming didn't start for quite some time. Ben's screaming, that is. Mine began around Corona when I noticed the car's thermostat. And again in Riverside when I noticed that the temperature had jumped ten degrees in as many minutes. Oy. This September sucks. Happily, when we arrived at our mountain destination, it was a cool 74. Much better...and much happier Shannon.
Upon our arrival we pulled out the cranky toddler and set him loose in the dirt. My oh my is he a boy. He loves dirt.
We threw Dirt Boy in the bath, then Ben and my dad went to bed around 8:15 while Matt, Jared and I stayed up a few more hours playing Uno. With sweatshirts on. Mmmmm.....
Saturday morning Ben woke up crying at 6:00. We pulled him into bed with us and snuggled until it was time to actually get up. We changed into sweats (yay for cool mountain air!) and played. When it warmed up a little we changed into shorts. Ben's Saturday outfit count so far: 2.
Eventually we had breakfast. Because we ate late, Ben was whiny and unpleasant and overtired. He did, however, eventually take a one-hour nap.After B woke up from his ridiculously short nap we went to Jenks Lake for a little picnic and a swim. Come to find out the swimming beach had been converted into a pathway and there was no swimming allowed. Good times. But we had a nice, relaxing lunch and watched Ben run around in the dirt. We let him wade into a little piece of lake, which of course precipated the need for yet another outfit. It was beginning to look like I didn't overpack.
After the lake we went back to our spot just in time for Ben's nap. He felt otherwise. He scremed for over an hour. Sleep was not going to happen. After a while we decided it was time to call it quits. My dad had just left to go fishing, so we tried to kill time while we waited for him to come back. Ben played with the screen door and ran around rolling in the dirt. I don't remember how, but at some point his 40th outfit of the day ended up soaking wet. All I had left of the billion or so outfits I'd overpacked was a hand-me-down onesie. So He wore the ratty shirt and his sandals and ran around with my bottle of allergy medicine. Yep. I let him run around with a bottle of pills. Don't worry, it had a child-proof cap. And he cried when I tried to take it from him. Since he'd been crying for most of the weekend, I decided this was not a battle I felt like losing. So I, Mother of the Year, let him play with it. In his ghetto hand-me-down onesie and sandals.
We spent the last hour or so snuggling and trying to calm Ben down so he could sleep on the way home. We changed into warmer clothes as it cooled, and at that point I refused to let him touch the dirt since I wanted him in clean clothes for the long drive. He was way too tired to argue.
He did not sleep. He screamed for the duration of the 45 minute drive down the mountain. We pulled over in Redlands, comforted him, and put him back in his seat loaded up with his bear, singing seahorse, and blanket. He remained calm and almost happy for about twenty minutes. Then the screaming began anew and continued for the final twenty minutes of our journey.
Total outfit count for one and a half days: 7.
