So, the initial plan for the day was to go on a beach camp out, but it didn’t seem like it was going to happen. I arrived home from work at 0740 and I was tired. My shift wasn’t horribly busy, but I did have a transport that required a lot of energy and this was my last night on. I was coming to the end of my ability to function. Aurelia was still at my mother’s house, Farmor, for her weekly sleep over. She was due to come back around noon, so the plan was for me to sleep for a few hours and then get up in the early afternoon when Odin goes down for his nap. We would then spend Odin’s nap time packing up the Jeep and getting everything together for overnight trip.
I went to bed, Jordana and Odin had a fun mother and son morning and thenjust when Odin was going down for a nap, Aurelia came home. I woke up and stayed up. After saying goodbye to Farmor, I began to get all our gear together and Jordana put Odin down for a nap. It was all going well. I had everything packed in the Jeep in no time and we just needed to get our food in order, get some ice for the cooler along with some beverages and then hit the road.
So off to the distributor I went….all happy, tired, but looking forward to getting my toes in the sand. I bought ice, along with a new gluten free beer we found, Omission, and returned home. That’s when the issues began. Jordana checked weather.com and saw the weather changed to now having impending thunder storms at 6pm and they would last till 11 pm. That would not be good, especially being on a beach, by water and in a roof top tent with our two little vikings. So after about 5 minutes of back and forth we scrapped the trip. I was bummed, Jordana, Aurelia and Odin were bummed, but we decided to make a camp fire in the backyard and roast marshmallows before the storm would come.
Well, wouldn’t you know it….about 45 minutes later, while eating a plate full of nachos for dinner, the weather report was changed again. Now there would be no storms at all!! What in the world?1?!?! So, luckily for us, I hadn’t unpacked the Jeep. We scrambled for 30 minutes getting our clothes packed, blankets, pillows, swimsuits, towels and all our stuff. We loaded into the Jeep and we were on our way.
The drive to Sore Thumb off road beach was quick. Aurelia even fell asleep and took a little nap. We made it to the beach head, aired down and drove down to the water. We set up camp and hopped in the water for an evening swim to cool off. Everything was going great….
Here is where the fun ended and being tested as parents began. It all started with Aurelia and Odin being cold from swimming and playing in the water. As parents, you are always making sure they are ok. Both little vikings were shivering with teeth chattering. “It’s time get out,” I say and after 5 minutes of explaining the signs and symptoms of early onset hypothermia Aurelia relented. Odin was already at the Jeep shivering, but when we approached him to remove his wet bathing suit and rash guard the meltdown began. After 10 minutes of wrangling him we finally get him undressed, while he is crying and snot is everywhere. Luckily we have a small portable shower system and the water was warm. We rinsed him and Aurelia off and then the tow of them begin fighting over the spray nozzle. This led to 20 more minutes of back and forth with the two kids now screaming and me and Jordana looking at each other as both of our patience levels have dropped to 25%. I know this lesson already, but again, you cannot logically reason with a 4 year old in meltdown fighting with her brother mode. It can’t be done. Yet, here I was, trying to explain to her that if she let’s Odin hold the nozzle for a while and he calms down, we can change him, get him to bed and we can play all night. Nope! She runs right over and snatches it from him and another 15 minutes of crying and screaming begin. We have become those parents with two screaming kids, with our patience level now at 10% trying to hold it together, still trying to talk logically to them. Finally Jordana, just grabbed Odin and took him up in the tent. Some naughty words were uttered by myself and Jordana and the evening was just getting started.
By some grace of divine intervention Aurelia and Odin calmed down, and we were able to get jammies on. Aurelia even hugged and gave me kisses telling me I was a great dad. Wut? I was literally emotionally broken by a 4 year old. Was she trying to make me feel better or was she pouring lemon juice and salt in my open wounds.
So during this tumultuous time we missed the sunset and just decided to call it a night. We’d get a good nights rest and have a great day in the morning. Well, Odin had other ideas. Odin decided to play ping pong int he tent all night bouncing off all of us. LOL. I think he was up for around 2 hours before he fell into somewhat of a sleep. Aurelia, was passed out. I passed out. I was exhausted. Jordana, was awake and would be awake all night. She saw the sunrise. Odin then woke up at 5:06 am and proceeded to wake up me and Aurelia. So, as a good husband, and valuing my life, I took both kids out of the tent at 5:40 am to let Jordana get some rest.
We did get to see a nice sunrise taking place. Aurelia, Odin and myself took some time to walk around for a bit before we began breakfast.
The morning went well. Jordana was able to get some sleep and I began making breakfast on our Camp Chef oven. We have a portable espresso maker and I made a 4 shot all for myself. I needed it!
The morning view. You really cant beat this kind of view in the morning when making breakfast. It makes the hard times of parenting worth it. Giving Aurelia and Odin this experience is what we try to do. And, I am really loving our Outback Adventures Tailgate Table. It worked great.
And everything continued to get better that morning. We spent the rest of the morning playing in the sand and going for multiple swims. The wind shifted out of the the north and the water got a bit colder, so we did multiple smaller swims. We had a blast.
Before we knew it, it was 10 am. Again…wut? I guess that’s what happens when you get up at 5 am. After a weather and radar check, we saw some legitimate storms planned for the early afternoon, we decided to slowly start packing up as we cooked our lunch. The kids continued to play, while Jordana and I started the slow torture of packing up sand filled items back into the Jeep. HAHA.
I don’t recall the time we left, but it was early afternoon and I think the kids had a great time.
So in closing….was this short overnight camping trip worth it? Yes!! Its a funny thing with these two little vikings. Even with the meltdown episode, we had a memorable trip, even if it was less than 24 hours. We were able to get out of the house, have fun on the beach and cool off in the ocean. Even though, we had some bumps, we just drove over them like we do in the Jeep. As soon as we got hoem, Odin started telling his little short stories about the beach and all that he did. Of course, Aurelia, was already asking to go back. Maybe next week?
