Cangry

I made up a new word. Cangry. It's a combination of camping and angry. I'll use it in a sentence: Meg spent half her time being cangry on her family's most recent camping trip. 

Car camping with my family usually puts me in the best mood and I'm yes-mom and we do all the things and have all the fun. Current circumstances had me on edge: we were constantly pulled in two directions: big kid exploration and there's always a baby napping and we have to stay put. It's a hard tension to carry-the big kids want to explore the campground and be free and we're always putting someone down for a nap and threatening  any noise made in an effort to give the babies some much needed rest. 

The real problem was that we didn't have good sleep the first night. Camping never gives us great sleep, and we usually have to help someone once or twice. This particular night was rough and John and I spoke in sleepy anger and it was not our best. By the second night, the baby had a little cold and I ended up taking the littles home a day early. 

So we had a not-good camping trip? They can't be all good, we get that. We are in a tricky season, but we will press forward. 

A few highlights: 

Fern found a snake and handled the situation well. A brush with danger where no one gets hurt always ramps up the adventure.

We had a fun creek and swimming hole within yelling distance of our campground.

The big kids made friends and used their run-wild freedom well. They raced bikes, climbed trees, played tag, and ran! (John and I are always impressed with how well our kids make new friends wherever they go.)

The woods beside our campground were stunning, a miniature redwood forest. 

The kids were adorable. 

We are looking forward to a huge camping trip we have in October. We have seven or eight families camping together in this same spot. To Fern's delight, some of the families have daughters, such a rare find in our circle of friends! Hopefully the sleep won't be as daunting (I should start praying now!)

We need to redeem ourselves and hopefully this next trip will be it.