With Jaimie out of town, I decided to take Dakota camping on the property behind ours, back by the lake. She had a blast and I haven’t seen her sleep so soundly in a long time.
Last night we quickly packed up and walked back to set up our tent. We had all our stuff set up in time to hang out and watch the sun set then head to bed. Today, after swim lessons, we got to spend most of the day exploring in the woods, fishing, looking for tadpolls, and generally goofing off outside.
While fishing, Dakota saw me catching little fish with a rubber worm and said she wanted “one of those” on her string instead of the practice thing that came with the kid reel. So, I put a real hook on with a rubber worm and would cast it out and let her reel it back in. The fish were biting on everything though … so one time after casting it out I snagged a fish before handing her the pole and she got to reel in her first fish. She was very excited. Overall, we got a good number of small fish and one decent sunfish. I’d rather be catching small fish than nothing at all. Plus, Dakota had a blast.
I also got to try out the new camp stove for my little excursions. It worked well enough, just waiting for my bigger pot so I can make a real meal. The BSA mess kit wont hold a full two cups so the Mountain House meals don’t come out all the way re-hydrated. Still edible though and Dakota actually said she liked the beef stew and ate a lot.
The funniest part of the day though happened as we were finishing up our walk through the woods. I had her on my shoulders and she kept playing with my hat (turning it around and such). When I took her off my shoulders she took the hat with her. The she put it on, turned around, and said “Look! I look like Daddy …. I look like a farmer!” Gotta love the honestly of a toddler sometimes.
As the day wound down, the winds picked up and clouds rolled in … so we wont be spending a second night camping, but since it’s already raining here I’m glad we came back inside.
Seems like a full weekend of activity already and it’s only half over … I think tomorrow might have to be a movie day.
