Failure to Camp

The title says it all! Thursday, Z had off for an Uruguayan holiday, so we planned to take our very first camping trip as a family of four. We were all packed and ready to go, just waiting for the twins to get up from their nap, and poor Bran woke up with a FEVER. A very warm fever, and the poor guy was just listless and miserable. So, good parents that we are, we decided to not go camping. Zachariah took Nuala to the park where she got to ride a real caballito (little horse), very exciting, and I lay on the couch with a snuggly sick little boy asleep on me. It was actually a very nice afternoon. Probably not so much for Bran...

So we decided that we'd go the next day, if Bran was feeling better. And he seemed to be, so yesterday we drove out to a beautiful campsite, the same place Z went with the scouts a while back. We set up the tent (it feels like a mansion, a 3-room family tent...I don't even hafta sleep by Zac if I don't want to! Not that I would ever not want to, but still. Well, maybe after a particularly beany meal.) and explored and the twins wore me out with their unrelenting attraction to the river. In the picture, Nuala is merely about to hurl a handful of pepples into the water, not herself, miraculously. This picture does not represent the majority of our time near the river. But it's cute.

Alas, evening approached and here the tale turns woeful. We set the camping chairs up by the fire and stuck the twins' tinfoil dinner in the coals, and THIS is what poor Bran looked like:

Nuala was fine, a little crazy, jumping off chairs and she kept trying to get very close to the fire. Which made us very nervous. I thought she was a water girl?? Anyway, poor Bran wouldn't eat and he was starting to get a little fever again. Nuala porked down their dinner and then it was time to attempt going to bed. They go to bed kinda early, very early for Uruguay, about 6 or 6:30, so it was still somewhat light outside. That may have made it a bit difficult to fall asleep. That and being smushed in one pack-n-play together. {Smack, smack, smack-ing ourselves} They've outgrown those little tents we used for traveling before, so we were supposed to bring our one pack-n-play and we borrowed another from our friends. It would have helped to actually put both of them in the van...So they were not pleased to be both squished in one little bed. Oh, I laugh thinking of how offended Nuala, especially, was. I mean, they could've curled up and stuff just fine, and even stretched out somewhat, but it was nothing like their spacious cribs, all to themselves, back home. Nuala complained and complained, and poor Bran lay down to suck his thumb, quite obviously not feeling well. So finally I got Nuala out of bed, and sang to her and held her and tried to put her back, but the child clung to me like a cat over a bathtub and screamed bloody murder. She got to stay up.

We were still planning on staying, but poor little Bran woke up again about 10 minutes later, looking like he really was feeling icky, so we decided that we should take our poor sick boy (and Nuala, too) and go home. (Though, really, I think Z finally gave up on the trip when I said, "Well, Nuala will probably just sleep with us. Guess you're not getting lucky tonight." We were outta there pretty quickly after that.)

So there you have it. Our first "camping" trip with Nuala and Bran. All of four hours long. It was still fun, setting up the tent and playing in it, and having a fire. The stars were soooo gorgeous out there, what we saw of them when we stopped at the side of the road once or twice. It was a practice run, maybe next time we'll last the whole night. Especially if we bring two baby beds.

Oh! And this afternoon/evening we're having an embassy Cinco de Mayo party at the Marine House. I am so excited!!! I need Mexican food....we tried one (pretty much the only one) Mexican restaurant here, and if I hadn't been expecting the food to be Mexican, it would have been okay, but it was NOT Mexican food! Even the salsa! Not spicy, and just kind of blended up tomatoes and something that made it look black. Not tasty. Oooooh, the disappointment. We've been making tacos and stuff ourselves, with loads of pico de gallo and jalapeños , yummmm... but I need something we haven't made, ya know? I have high hopes for today :) :) :)