Luda Love: I'd Rather be Camping.

I'd rather be camping, or so saying goes. Over the weekend, we took the kids [Em almost 2.5 and Soybean 8.5 months] camping with some family and friends. We planned the trip a while back, so even though there was rain in the forecast we were all a go. We packed up early Friday afternoon, hit the road and had our portion of the campsite set up by early evening

Before we knew it my in-laws had a huge patch of paella going over an open fire and we were all stuffed full of chorizo, shellfish and chicken by sunset.

After that things went a little down hill for us. Soybean was once again coughing and when he started with stridor around 0200, we put both kids in the car and hit the road for the nearest Emergency Room. Luckily he wasn't as bad off as he was just last month, so steroids and some cool air was all he needed to get himself in good enough shape to head back to the campsite.

At any given moment I could of said, enough, and I would have if I truly needed to. I could have took our little family of four down the mountain and back to our safe home. Out of the woods, out of the cold nights, but adventure was calling. Had I not listened to the adventure in me I wouldn't have been able to see Em's face light up as she told me about the waterfall she saw while on a hike with her Daddy. I wouldn't have been able to show Soybean just how much I loved him while we stayed back in our tent and spent the morning snuggling and reading. I wouldn't have been able to see Em get a thrill out of just running back and forth between campsites. I wouldn't have been able to see my kids bond with their grandparents, Aunt, Uncles, cousin and friends. I wouldn't have been able to watch Em eat 15 chocolate covered pretzles and laugh because I was sitting there doing the same. I wouldn't have been able to laugh with my Hubs as we ran to the car in the middle of the night freezing, because we gave the kids all the good stuff to keep warm [don't worry, we brought the kids with us]. Or have my heart melted as Em asked for us to sing "Jesus" in the car because Sawyer was crying and have her tell me, "he's hungry, Momma!" [I just love way she says, "Momma."]

So, are there things I would have changed, absolutely, but that is what life is all about. Embracing the adventure, learning with the hiccups and hopefully planning better for next time!