Camping Alone

We call ourselves the Norris Bunch because there are 5 people in our family (not counting the cats).  Almost all the time we do things as a bunch.  We go shopping together.  We go to football and baseball games together. We go hiking and biking together.  What we don't do enough of is activities with each of the kids alone.

Roughing it...as a bunch.

Over the years we have been camping together either on our own or with the cub scouts but still it was always as a bunch.   I've wanted to take each of the kids alone and finally succeeded in doing that when I took Olivia camping earlier this month.  I don't have much to say in this post but wanted to show pictures from each of the kid's first trip camping alone.  

Alex - Bristol Spring Races, March 2007

Alex is the oldest which has given him the benefit of doing many things alone with me.  I used to attend the NASCAR races in Bristol, Tennessee and one year I brought Alex.  We camped in a family section of a campground and attended the weekend's races.

First step in setting up a camp site is to put snacks front and center.

Second step in setting up a camp site is to play with toys while dad sets up.

Bad news: Alex fell and scraped his knee.
Good news: an officer noticed it and drove us all the way to the track.

Working hard to keep up with the action.

It's so loud you can't hear your neighbor talking but Alex could still fall asleep.

Standard shot in front of the sign.

Yes we had to visit the Home Depot hauler.

Andrew - Umstead State Park, September 2011

Andrew has asked me several times to take him camping.  I wasn't getting around to it which wasn't fair to him.  Last September I finally reserved a weekend at Umstead State Park for just the two of us.  We spent the weekend there and packed quite a bit in.  We hiked, rode bikes, fished on the lake shore and from a canoe.  Fortunately we were able to stay in the canoe.  Last time Andrew was in one he was with his mom and they flipped over!  I was lucky.

Andrew wishing it would get dark so we could start a fire.

Some cool rock structure.

Mushrooms were everywhere.

We rode bikes on the trails before heading home.

Hiking along the trails.

Cheese!

Andrew's big catch.

Olivia - Umstead State Park, April 2012

After taking Andrew camping alone Olivia started asking me to take her camping too.  We hear "me too" a lot from all of the kids.  We didn't do any more camping over the winter and she quickly forgot about it until February.  In February I went with Alex and his cub scout den on a trip to the NC Aquarium.  After this Olivia stepped up the "me too" pressure.   Just like with Andrew I reserved a site in Umstead and took her camping.  She was so excited that for the days leading up to it she would tell everyone "I'm going camping with my Daddy."  She told the Walmart cashier, people in parking lots, basically anyone who would make eye contact with her.  It was great.

Unlike her brothers she actually wanted to help setup the tent.

So I let her do all the work. (OK, not really)

Before dinner we played a few rounds of Zingo.

Even though it was cold and a mummy bag was necessary she still wanted to read.

It was still cold in the morning so a fire was necessary.

We hiked to Big Lake.

Cheese!