On Sunday, we had a special day planned with Amelia. With quarantine and all the madness of 2020, the four of us have been together a lot, and we got a little away from something we used to try to make a point to do more often…spending some solo time with each of the kids.
Fortunately for us, the kids generally get along great and love being together, but we do also think it’s important to give a little individual attention here and there. The opportunity presented itself when Erin was able to nab us a campsite at Rocky Mountain National Park. Since Henry was pretty tepid about the whole camping experience last time, and since he has also been asking to spend a night on his own with his grandparents, we thought we could make a special campground outing with Amelia.
Amelia had spent a solo night with Grandma and Pop-Pop the night before, so we loaded up the car, dropped off Henry and Asta, and took Amelia with us up to the mountains.
We had a really nice spot last time, and I think this one was even a little better. The area around us was a little more open, so we had a better view of some peaks and more open sky to look up to after dark.
We got set up and spent some time hanging around the campsite.
When it got a little closer to dusk, Amelia and I took a little hike up the ridge and had a close encounter with a doe and some fawns.
Other than a sudden burst of wind that felt kind of stormy but quickly blew over, the weather was perfect. We made some burgers over the fire and I finally got to make my first can of baked beans on my camping stove.
Baked beans just seem like something you should eat when camping. I guess I’ve just watched Blazing Saddles too many times. The last time we went camping I was all excited to make them but managed to forget the can opener. Not this time. Beany goodness was attained.
After dinner, we played a few hearty rounds of Go Fish until the sun went down the stars came out. And boy did they ever come out. It was a clear night and breathtaking to see the stars up in the mountains, away from all the lights of the city. We all stared up at the sky for quite a while before turning in.
It was a perfect night with our little girl. And relatively quick access to places like this is one of things I love most about living out here. Even in a pandemic, it’s something restorative and fun we can do together. Hopefully we built a memory for Amelia that is as special as it was for us.
