The Wilderness of Metropolitan Austin

We had our first Texan camp-out a few weeks back. In case it turned disastrous, we decided to camp close to home at a city park. It was perfectly lovely for the type of camping you do with a toddler and a 4-year old: short walk to the bathroom, a shallow-banked lake, lots of grass to run around on, some fire ants and stickers in the grass to keep things on the wild side... We all had a great time. But I may just be saying that because my memory of the nighttime in the tent has begun to fade. So Penelope was overstimulated by the concept of sleeping in a tent with the whole family, and had no interest in sleeping whatsoever. I don't really know whose report is more accurate, but this is how the grown-ups' conversation went in the morning (and we're talking 6:15, which is kind of middle-of-the-night to our family):

Sandy: Ugh.. I hardly got any sleep last night, thanks to PJ. But you looked like you were sleeping just fine..

Derek: What? I was up with PJ all night!

Sandy: Huh? Every time I looked at you, you were sound asleep!

Derek: No, every time I looked at you, you were sound asleep!

We got a good laugh (well, a good laugh for 6:15 in the morning) and determined that we must have each fulfilled our parental duty for the night and we each got some sporadic slumbering in, too.

This is what PJ did ALL NIGHT LONG, climbing over/sitting on/hugging/slapping the three closely-packed bodies in various stages of slumber:


I did some fine outdoor cooking, but in the end, the girls just ate spoonfuls of peanut butter.

PJ was rather prim about the sand and water. Ava just bounded right in.




We also took a mile hike, on which we encountered every dog in West Austin, to the constant delight of both the girls. They both collected some impressive canine saliva specimens on their faces.