Yes, I do camp...

Back in June we decided we actually needed to open the tent we bought and use it.  Novel idea!  We wanted to go to the mountains and knew the girls would love it. 

Here are the life lessons I learned on this camping trip:
1)  Check the weather. 
     I assumed that since it is North Carolina and it is June it will be hot.  Not so much.  I packed shorts and short sleeves for the girls and just randomly threw their jackets and a pair of pants in the suitcase for good measure.  As we are setting up it got colder and colder.  I finally changed the girls into warmer clothes.  Also, around 10pm it started raining and it didn't stop until 12pm, the next day!  So let's recap:  It was cold and then it started raining so it got colder.  Since we couldn't cook the pancakes at camp like we planned we opted for McDonald's.  I haven't had a McGriddle in years but it was heavenly after the night we had.  We had to check out of the camp site at 11am.  If you are doing the math then you will realize that Kevin and I had to break camp...while it rained...and it was cold.  We put the girls in the car, loaded them with snacks, put the back hatch up as a shelter and folded, packed, and crammed things in as best we could.  When we folded the tent it had a pocket of water that we had to get out.  Kevin and I are getting soaked and all we can do is laugh.  I looked at Kevin and realized that years from now we will look back on this and laugh so why not laugh at it right now.  
To be honest, I was worried about Brynn.  She is NOT the best sleeper.  She was still getting used to walking on a flat surface so imagine running around a camp site.  Well, I hate to tell myself "I told you so", but, well... Self, I told you so. She would not go to sleep.  The rain kept waking her up.  And when she woke up she screamed.  Finally at 1am Kevin loaded her in the car and drove her down the Blue Ridge Parkway to put her to sleep.  At 3am she finally fell asleep so Kevin stayed in the car with her. It might be awhile before we take her camping again. 

2)  Love where you are, right now...

    So, in summary, it is raining, it is cold, we are tired, and we are dirty, but we are also in the mountains.  After breakfast and breaking camp the rain finally stopped but the fog stayed.  We actually wondered if we should call it good and head home or try for Grandfather Mountain.  We were so close that we couldn't pass up that chance.  We make our way in the park and pop in the audio tour CD we got with our tickets.  It was awesome.  I say that even though the narrator/tour guide is telling us to glance around and notice all these awesome points of interest and all we saw was fog.  We drove to the top and made our way to the bridge.  It was so cool! We really loved the Nature Center there in the park and got to see bears, eagles, and deer.  The cougars were MIA.  I am constantly reminded of how much I love living in North Carolina.  I come to these unique spots and fall in love with my home all over again.