Germany and India, with a Toddler: Part I

If you saw the snapshots I posted, you know we just traveled to Germany and India. Yep. We packed up our backpacks and our kid once again, and headed off on an overseas adventure. Just like our awesome backpacking trip through Spain last year, we wanted to do something “fun” again this year, and we wanted to travel as light as possible. (Read on below for our full packing list.) And, once again, we were open to the destination. So we saved up for the trip, and prayed about it for a few months beforehand. We spent four days in Germany, followed by ten days in Chennai, India, with a few days of travel time and four long-haul flights thrown into the mix.

We were away from home for almost three weeks, which is a long time to be gone when one of you has an office job and the other one is five months pregnant and has regular checkups with her doctor. So, it had to count. And it did!

One, it was a “babymoon” of sorts as we’ll have another baby in our household come this Fall, and who knows what our life (and travels) will look like in the near future. Two, my whole family is in India and even though my mom was here when our son Johann was born, the rest of my family has been eager to meet him. While my husband has been several times now, this would be Johann’s first time to India…a big milestone for him and our family. Three:  Our connecting flight would be through Frankfurt, so we decided to stay there a few days en route so we could see Germany! Germany was a new country for us, and we were excited about that. Plus, we could get the most out of the long-haul flights that had to happen anyway, rather than planning and booking an entirely separate trip somewhere (which would also be more expensive). Four, as Johann is only one and a half years old, we’re still in that sweet spot of only needing to buy two adult tickets so it was a great chance for Johann to get to go across the world – essentially for free – and we wanted to take advantage of the timing.

A toddler who sleeps for nearly half of a ten hour flight = amazing!
A toddler who sleeps for nearly half of a ten hour flight = amazing!

Was it fun? Heck, yes! Was it a trip that gave us memories to last a lifetime? Absolutely! Was it easy? Not all the time. But no one said it would be. Traveling (and life in general) with a toddler can be as hard as it is rewarding. There were hard moments, just like there are at home. And there were moments that make you want to pull your hair out, just like at home. We didn’t go on this trip because we thought it would be easy. We did it because it’s part of who we are. Our why. Sure, there were one or two stressful situations. When we’re out of our element, and trying to figure out a solution knowing there’s a tiny person entirely dependent on us, there’s bound to be some pressure along with the unknowns. But as long as we were relaxed, calm, and not completely falling apart, Johann was fine too.

We wanted to go as light as possible. What did we take? One 45-liter backpack, an 18-liter daypack that functioned as a diaper bag, one carry-on “wheelie” bag, the travel crib in its own carry case, and my messenger-style travel handbag. That’s all! No carseat, no stroller, no heavy suitcases. We put Johann in his Ergo baby-carrier, which Ryan mostly carried on his back. The original plan was to take two big backpacks and our messenger-style diaper bag. But my 20-weeks-along-and-rapidly-growing belly meant that the weight I carried had to stay as low as possible, so instead of my regular backpack plus the separate diaper bag, I opted to use the wheelie bag (not packed full) and use a small daypack as the diaper bag, which worked out much better. (Note: I still carried Johann on my back for short stretches during the trip, but at 24lbs he still weighed less than my backpack would have for a two-and-a-half-week trip!)

Our little world traveler was happiest on the go.
Our little world traveler was happiest on the go.

Each of us still had at least one-free hand, and it was great to be able to move quickly through airports, up and down stairs, and crowded streets. We were generally headed into summer weather, but needed to pack for different environments and activities (long-haul flight days, walking days, train-travel days, hot-sweaty-car-travel days, beach days, etc). But going light meant no bulky baby gear or heavy equipment. Compared with our backpacking trip through Spain, when Johann was eleven months old, our packing list was not that different.

HERE’S WHAT WE PACKED:

CLOTHES & SHOES

  • Four outfits each, plus one extra for Johann just for plane emergencies.
  • Pajamas for all of us.
  • Our swimsuits, and Johann’s reusable swim diaper. (We would have beach and pool days in India!)
  • Extra pair of shoes for all. (Ryan and I both had comfy walking shoes – handy for the daily average of seven or so miles we walked in Germany.)
  • Flip-flops for the adults.
  • An extra pair of socks each – totally unnecessary in hindsight, as we arrived to an unseasonal heatwave in Germany – it was only early June! – and we didn’t wear socks at all in India.
  • Three extra pairs of underwear for the adults.
  • Sunglasses for the adults, and sun hats for Ryan and Johann.
  • Two scarves for myself – which were “nice to haves” that I’d thrown in mainly to get the most out of my four outfits – but didn’t use at all, due to the aforementioned hot weather throughout.

DIAPERS & WIPES

  • We used disposables for the trip, and packed enough for four days. We stocked up again before we left Germany, then replenished again in India.

HEALTH & GROOMING ITEMS

Small things that didn’t take up much room in our packs. Infant Tylenol, diaper rash cream, basic nail-clippers, disposable razors, travel-sized containers of hand-sanitizer, sunblock, moisturizer, toothpaste, toothbrushes, Q-tips, etc.

LAUNDRY STUFF

With only four outfits, we knew we’d have to wash our stuff in Germany somehow, but we would have access to a washing machine in India. If you’ve been following this blog for a while, you’ve heard me tout the glories of our Scrubba wash bag. We love this handy little thing, and you bet it was the first thing to go into our backpacks! Along with three Tide-sink packets. With space at a premium, and wanting to keep our luggage as light as possible, the Scrubba was a great tool to have at our disposal.

TODDLER FEEDING ITEMS

  • Sippy cups (two) for milk and water.
  • One reusable bib.
  • Ten organic food pouches. Mainly for our travel days. We brought a third of them back home.
  • Snacks: Three snack-sized baggies filled with raisins, cheerios, and goldfish crackers. We used some on the plane rides but brought half of them back home.
  • Burp cloth. Why? Who knows. Out of habit I guess. It was completely unnecessary.

Once we added our small electronics, iPad, camera, travel documents, plane snacks, a book each, toddler headphones, and an empty water bottle, our packing was all done.

Since you’re probably wondering about some of these other key elements, let me elaborate:

TRANSPORTATION

In Germany, we only planned to use public transportation and trains. A carseat wasn’t even a consideration for India. This meant Johann wouldn’t need a carseat for the whole trip. We’re starting to see that, with babies and toddlers, sometimes it pays to travel internationally – to places that either have a fantastic public transportation infrastructure, or a place that has no carseat laws whatsoever and anything goes! This doesn’t apply to domestic travel so when we fly within the US, if we’re not meeting family who can provide a carseat on the other end, we have to lug our own around. As much as I want all our kids to be safe, this is quite a pain.

As far as getting around otherwise, we would be walking. Ryan and I actually had a brief conversation about bringing our stroller. (We only have one and it’s pretty small and lightweight.) We decided against it after mentally reviewing images of families we’ve seen overloaded with kids’ stuff as they slog through the crowded airports. I know not everyone has the choice. And we may not either once our second child comes along. (Single parents who travel with little ones – my heart goes out to you, I don’t know how you do it.) But, as long as we have the option to travel light, we will. So we left the stroller behind, and just brought our Ergo baby carrier, which worked out really well. I love how easily we were able to maneuver through airports, crowded streets, train stations and such. Johann walked (actually, he ran) quite a bit on his own, and Ryan found it easier to just have him ride on his shoulders for short stretches when needed.

SLEEPING

Our hotel in Germany kindly provided a crib in our room. Johann’s naps mostly happened on the go, and that was fine for just four days. At night, we usually all turned in at the same time, but much later than normal which is, again, a good MO on vacations. Easy peasy. Our sleeping arrangements in India would be a bit more complicated. We expected to spend a lot of time at home in my Grandmother’s flat and needed a safe place to put Johann down for his naps and nighttime sleep (since we don’t co-sleep unless we’re camping). Plus, the whole family went away one weekend to a beach resort. I had asked a few friends who have traveled back to Chennai with their kids what their sleeping arrangements were, and most suggested bringing something like a pack n’ play. There seemed to be no easy way to get an equivalent item locally, so, before our trip we ended up finding a gently used but excellent condition lightweight travel crib on Craigslist to bring for use in India. It’s a Baby Bjorn Travel Crib and we specifically looked for it on the recommendation of a good friend. We love it! It weighs only 13lbs, zips up into a briefcase-sized thing, and is perfect for travel. It sets up in less than twenty seconds, which was awesome at 1:00 AM when we deplaned in Chennai and arrived at the flat. Johann was very comfortable in it, slept like a champ for all ten days, and didn’t climb out.

One other thing is that mealtimes with Indians are very different than what we’re used to back in the States. So we compensated by putting Johann down for a morning nap and a later afternoon nap, which is different from the one-nap-a-day schedule he’s had for the past eight or nine months. He still got less sleep than usual (around 10-11 hours total sleep a day vs. around 14-15 hours back home) but it was enough to get through the long days.

TOYS

Didn’t bring any except for a few small plane distractions and a very small set of beach toys which packed easily and weighed next to nothing. (More on how we got through the flights in my next post.) Johann would mostly just find things to play with from whatever was around him, and make up his own games. It was wonderful to see his little imagination at work in his creative play. His favorite spot/play space on the whole trip was the balcony at my Grandmother’s flat (where we stayed). He loved watching the myriad distractions on the street, and opening and closing the balcony doors (when the street got boring, I suppose). He only jammed his finger in the door once, and scooped up and ate a fistful of birdpoop off the balcony floor once. To boot, the birdpoop incident happened the morning of our flight home to the States. But to his credit, he came running straight to us when he realized he’d eaten something that didn’t taste like food, and held out his hand with the rest of the evidence still on it. Which brings us to…

EATING

Besides the Ergo and travel crib, the only other “baby gear” we brought was a small nylon travel booster seat which we had borrowed from a friend. It fit neatly in our backpack and self-inflated when ready to use. We were able to use it on most dining chairs we encountered, but it was especially useful for the meals at home. It was awesome! Johann has been a self-feeder ever since he started solids and we all do so much better at mealtimes when he has his own chair. We probably could have gone without this, and just sat him on our laps, but it was so nice to have.

So that’s all we had. One main backpack, one small daypack, one carry-on “wheelie” bag, and the travel crib. I can still hardly believe we traveled so light. Looking back at the two or three things we could have done without, we know there is still room for improvement but we were happy that we had everything we needed. We knew that if we needed something in Germany, we could find it there pretty easily, and knowing we would be with my family the whole time in India set us at ease.

Up next, I’ll talk more about the places we saw in both Germany and India, the sweltering heat of summer in the tropics, the things we did, and some of our highs and lows of traveling with our toddler. Thank you for reading!

The small daily choices we make

A few months ago we started hiking with a new group of people. Ryan and I believe that life is better when lived in community, and that one main reason humans exist is to be in relationship with others in that community. So we put this group together. We wanted to meet others like us, and provide encouragement and support to other new parents who either like hiking or want to start hiking and bring their little ones along for the ride. Our group goes out on hikes a couple times a month. Our party spans babies and toddlers in carriers, and bigger kids who hike on their own. It’s great.

On a recent hike to an alpine lake, we had enjoyed a lakeside lunch and were hiking back down the trail when we passed an older gentleman. He may have been in his sixties. He smiled and looked directly at my toddler son Johann who was happily lounging in his carrier, then said to him “You’ve got good parents. When I was your age I was sitting on my mother’s lap while she smoked a cigarette.” We all burst out laughing. To date, this is the funniest and most unique thing anyone has ever said to my kid on a trail.

I overanalyze most things, so I couldn’t just leave it at that.

So, I’ve given a lot of thought to this gentleman’s comment. What did he really mean? Was he saying something about our generation somehow being different than the previous? No, that couldn’t be it. After all, today there are still people who smoke cigarettes while bouncing babies on their laps. And, there are people who smoke in their car with an infant in the backseat. And, we’ve all seen moms and dads pushing strollers around while smoking. (You’ll find no judgment here, but…pray tell me, why?) But, I digress.

So, it doesn’t really seem like a comment about generations. No.

Then, was his comment about geography?

With the fresh air of the Cascade Mountains and Puget Sound practically blowing through our backyard, our personal choice to get outside is an easy one. I couldn’t help but wonder if Ryan and I would have had different childhoods if we had grown up here in the Pacific Northwest, a place we both haven’t been able to get enough of and have been head-over-heels in love with ever since we moved here. The answer I’ve come up with is…probably not. We’ve met plenty of people here, our age or older, who were locally born and raised but never went hiking until recently.

Replace mountains with cornfields, and you’ll see Ryan and I in our pre-baby era a few years ago enjoying the countryside surrounding our former home in a small town in Wisconsin. We’ve accumulated many happy memories on the rivers, bike trails, and country roads that zigzag through the valleys and rolling hills of those parts.

We chose to pursue those activities. And, it’s true that not everyone enjoys the same activities we do. But, in talking with our new local acquaintances who have recently discovered the joy of hiking, I got the impression that they didn’t grow up doing these things because their parents didn’t either. When I was growing up on the other side of the world, in a crowded metropolitan city in India, to be exact, I played outside a lot. My “outdoor play” usually meant playing with neighbor kids in the parking lot of apartment buildings, or after school on my school grounds. My husband, on the other hand, grew up spending most of his playtime out in the woods surrounding his home in rural Texas, where his closest neighbor was miles away.

So, it’s not about geography either. Is it about taking advantage of good weather?

Sometimes, extreme weather makes getting outside more complicated, and less fun. The dry heat south Texas was often uncomfortable during my husband’s childhood. And, in addition to its severe heat and humidity, the coastal city of my childhood was prone to frequent cyclones and urban flooding. These things often made it impossible or very difficult for us to get outside. When I moved to Wisconsin almost a decade ago, I complained steadily through my first couple of winters there. One of those winters brought a record-breaking one-hundred-plus inches of snow by December. But our two dogs still needed to be walked. So we made the choice to spend twenty minutes suiting up in heavy snowsuits, winter boots and accessories to cover our various exposed parts just so we could get outside and endure the bone-chilling cold and icy, below-zero winds for another twenty minutes. All this, only to come home and spend twenty minutes stripping all the insulation off and promptly crashing in front of our pellet stove, dogs at our feet, trying desperately to feel our toes again. Even though I’m grateful for the mild weather of the Pacific Northwest, ironically, today it takes me about twenty minutes to get myself and my kid ready to go anywhere, even if it’s just for a stroll around the neighborhood.

So, it’s not really about what the weather is like either. To me, this comes down to individual choices.

As children, our parents shaped our choices. Ryan and I don’t remember our parents spending much time outside with us for fun, at least not in the same ways we do now. (Meaning, no hiking and such.) But, we were very lucky that they encouraged us to get outside. Heck, sometimes they even kicked us out the door to do so. They believed that outdoor play time was good for us, and so they encouraged us to use our imaginations, invent games with the neighbor kids (in my case), and to simply be outdoors no matter what our environment looked like. We are eternally grateful to our parents for shaping our choices.

Our personal hope is to take that one step further by not only encouraging our own kids to get outside, but also participating right alongside them.

Don’t lose heart if you are not the getting outside type, even if your kids are. Our parents weren’t. Because, this isn’t really about getting outside either.

Then what is this about? To me, this is about the small, daily choices we make to encourage our kids. Figuring out what the right kind of encouragement looks like will take some work. No one has it all figured out. But it is possible for me to encourage my child to pursue something even if I myself can’t participate or don’t know anything about it. It’s about small daily choices to steer our kids down a life-giving path. Small, daily choices.

Snapshots from Germany

We just returned from a trip to Germany and India. We had an amazing time! But it feels good to be back in our own familiar space. We enjoyed exploring a new-to-us country (Germany) and had a really special time with my family (India). Of course, we keep learning new things about traveling with a toddler and packing light. I’m working on posts about our travels that I’ll share soon, but I wanted to leave you all with a small taste of what we experienced during our days in Germany. We spent time in Frankfurt, Heidelberg and Würzburg.

Along the Aldstadt (old town) in Frankfurt.
The Kaiserdom in Frankfurt, a Roman Catholic Gothic Church within the city dedicated to St. Bartholomew. We strutted past the sign that said “enter at your own risk” and climbed the 328 steps to the top of the bell tower where we got incredible 360 degree views of the city!
Frankfurt, or Frankfurt Am Main as it is officially called, is unique in its own way. We were amazed at the contrast of old vs. new within the city walls. They call it Mainhattan, as it’s a major financial capital of Europe and also home to the European Central Bank.
The grounds of Heidelberg Castle were the perfect space to do a little morning running.
Beautiful Sundial at Heidelberg Castle.

Tis’ the season. The radishes looked as tempting as the strawberries.

IMG_7523

These little candy and nut trolleys dotted the marketplace in Heidelberg. I hear the whole setup goes into overload when the Christmas market opens for the year.

What really captured me about this church in Würzburg were the oil paintings depicting the Stations of the Cross along the side walls.
We really enjoyed walking around Würzburg. Between the cobblestone streets of the old town, the markets, the churches, and all the old buildings, every time we turned a corner, we saw another incredible sight.
We really enjoyed walking around Würzburg. Between the cobblestone streets of the old town, the markets, the churches, and all the old buildings, every time we turned a corner, we saw another incredible sight.
We got pizza for lunch one day. It was good, but not nearly as good as the endless distractions in the Marktplatz.

Lessons from my first Camping trip

In an odd way, it was my upbringing that spurred my interest in hiking, backpacking and camping. Mainly because I never grew up doing anything close to it. Growing up in a city of several million people in southern India, I saw more people and concrete buildings than trees. Fast forward years later, after I hopped a plane to come to the United States, to my first camping trip. Let me tell you about that first time…

The first time I ever went camping was at a state park in Texas, during my senior year of college. I went with my boyfriend at the time, and his best friend who was visiting from their hometown. None of us knew anything about camping, so we picked a nice state park campground close to where we were, and planned to go for only one night. It was a lovely fall weekend and the temperatures were mild. My boyfriend literally went out the night before to buy everything at the local big blue box store that’s not known for selling quality outdoor gear. Sleeping bags, four bundles of firewood, gimmicky contraptions to make popcorn and s’mores over a fire, a 100-pack of styrofoam plates and napkins – all this for one night, mind you. The grand finale of the shopping fit was an eight-person tent with two rooms. The entire tent folded up into a large duffel bag, the same size as one you would carry on a two-week vacation somewhere with no laundry facilities. The question “what were you thinking” came to mind.

We had no idea how to pack and carry all this stuff, so it was all in plastic bags and storage totes. The campsite was a walk-in site about 500-yards away from the parking lot, so all three of us made several trips back and forth to haul everything out to the campsite. Oh, and it was pitch dark when we arrived. (This was only one of several mistakes we made that weekend, as you can imagine.) We spent a few minutes taking the tags off all the (brand new) equipment, and piled them all on the picnic able as a neat reminder of how much we were taken for. After what seemed like hours later, we had a fully set up tent. Happy with the evening’s effort, we started cooking an elaborate three-course dinner featuring New York Strip steaks, baked potatoes, and firepit roasted veggies before breaking out the popcorn and s’more makers. Come morning, we realized that no one had remembered to bring anything for breakfast. So we broke camp, explored a bit of the park, then hit the Dairy Queen on our way home.  By the way, that tent never did fit back into the duffel bag as neatly as it has come, so it just got bundled into the truck.

All in all, it was not an ideal first camping trip and it could have turned me off camping for the rest of my life. Except, I fell in love. I fell in love with this new way of enjoying nature and being outdoors. I fell in love with sleeping under the stars. I fell in love with the idea of experiencing beautiful places at odd times that one normally wouldn’t get to…times when you would be doing ordinary things at home like picking up the living room or brushing your teeth. It was just so different from anything I had ever done before.

That trip was over ten years ago now and, every time I remember it, I cannot help but smile at how much I have learned and changed. I now rest assured in the fact that the most incredible tasting s’mores are toasted directly over the campfire, rather than in some funky contraption – the likes of which (I’m happy to report) I have not laid eyes on since that first time. And, obviously, now I know it’s entirely possible to have a hike-in campsite and only make one trip.

After that, I didn’t have the opportunity to go camping again until after I moved to Wisconsin and met Ryan. Growing up he had never camped either, but he went a few times in his early working years and certainly knew more about this stuff than I did. We started going camping early in our married life, as a way to see new places cheaply. As a couple, we’ve always tried to be minimalist (sometimes to an extreme – but more on that in an upcoming post!), so we never packed a whole lot to begin with. Certainly no gimmicky popcorn and s’more makers. With every trip we try to learn something, to make some small improvement in bringing less stuff, without creating additional discomfort, and while still enjoying ourselves. All of this has been more challenging with our baby, now toddler. But, on a more holistic level, we’re actually finding that having less stuff lets us enjoy what we do have more.

None of these revelations are right or wrong. They just work well for us.

If you have found camping stressful in the past, it might have been because you had too much stuff. It certainly detracted from my first experience. We’ve all seen campsites with picnic tables completely overloaded with stuff. Piles and piles of bulk food items, disposable plates, cheap but huge colorful games and toys, giant water coolers, etc. There’s no room at the table, because of all the stuff, so everything else goes on the ground. The more stuff you bring, the more there is to keep track of, clean up, get stressed out about, and organize. That could get tiresome for anyone. You don’t need to bring your entire house along to go camping. But being minimalist does not mean being uncomfortable, either! With a little planning, you don’t need a lot of gear. Even with a baby or toddler. But you do need the right gear. Bring what you need (not what you think you’ll need) to be comfortable and relaxed. Nothing more. I’ll do a whole post on this soon.

Or maybe you haven’t enjoyed camping because your expectations weren’t aligned with your experience. Nothing will be as comfortable as sleeping in your own bed, or cooking in your own kitchen, or using your own bathroom. But, is that really the point anyway?

Or maybe you go camping to please someone dear to you who does enjoy it?

In any of these situations, it helps to consider your motivation. Your why.

People have different reasons. Us, we backpack, hike and camp for the same reasons we travel – because it’s part of our why. We want to continue challenging ourselves, broadening our horizons, and keep physically active while exploring new places frugally. There are hidden gems waiting to be discovered, and some are not much further than your closest lake, river, forest, mountain, or coast. So, get outside!

Ode to Camping with a Toddler

I’m sitting on a little slice of heaven. A campfire warms my feet. A delicious dinner rests in my belly. The sun dips below the horizon. The calm waters of Sequim Bay grace my eyes. I settle into my camp chair, pen in hand, journal open, page blank. This hour, this evening should be something special. It has all the makings of an extremely relaxing, joyful evening. Comparable to a soul-enriching conversation with friends. Or a margarita on the beach.

But it’s not.

At this same moment, my toddler is fussing and throwing another tantrum. My husband puts him into the Ergo carrier. My husband and I have both decided to spend some time reading and journaling this evening. I’ve already started.  My husband is doing what great dads and husbands do. He is tending to our son and giving me a few moments to breathe, to take in the promised serenity of our weekend of camping.

Camping. With a toddler.

Our son is calm now. My husband is walking around with him still strapped in, entertaining him by narrating various happenings around our campsite. My husband is trying to write in his own journal, but tiny hands keep stealing the pen away. It’s a lost cause. He starts reading aloud, instead. The reading is punctuated by occasional bursts of energy from the toddler. He grabs his dad’s face, mouth, ears, nose. He is learning body parts and wants to show off for us.

They move on to play with the straps securing the kayaks to our vehicle, parked nearby.  The straps are springy and they bounce when pulled, providing some amusement. Any amusement. Because we’re camping with a toddler, and anything goes. But the current entertainment isn’t cutting it. So the boys are going for a short walk around the campground. My husband hopes our son will fall asleep in the carrier.

Because it’s past his normal bedtime. Because, at home, he would be fast asleep in his crib by now. Because it’s still light out, and it’s too early for all of us to go to bed. Because, we’re camping. And, everything is different.

Camping. With a toddler.

It’s pointless to compare now to similar scenes from the years past. Same adults, no toddler, different places. Those relaxing evenings in front of a campfire. Reading, talking, journaling, leisurely sipping wine. Either just the two of us alone, or in the company of friends. Peaceful moments, hours, days that quietly replenished the soul. It’s pointless to long for those evenings. Because this is the season we’re in. This is the season we’ve chosen.

Camping. With a toddler.

He’s got his own sleeping bag now. He’s got his own life vest, and sits in the kayak like a big boy. Now he wants to take in the open waters in front of him, when it was just seconds ago (I swear) he was an immobile infant strapped to my chest, completely oblivious to floating away with us. He’s got his own camp chair, but he won’t sit in it. Now he’d much rather have you chase him through the campground. He’s stubborn, and determined. He is his own person.

It’s pointless to wish time would fly by, and leave these years in the dust. Because it will. No matter what we say or do. Because this season will soon just be a memory. And then, we’ll look back and wonder what the hell our problem was. Because things were so much simpler back then, when they were so little. So full of curiosity. Growing. Learning. Needing us. Needing to be held. Or not needing us. Being their own person.

But this is the season we’re in.

Is there still joy between the tantrums, the mischief, dumping the sippy cup (the only one we brought) straight into the ashes of the firepit, the frustration, and the self-doubt: Why on Earth am I doing this?

Yes, there are moments of joy here. In this season. Yes, even while camping with a toddler. Because it’s just camping with a toddler. Not anything earth-shattering. Not anything devastating. But, everything pure and precious. Like watching my toddler run up and down the beach, picking up driftwood and throwing rocks into ocean. Like watching him curl his mouth into an O, to make the “fishy face” he has made since birth, as if to say he’s just observed the most wondrous thing ever. Like watching him find a stick, throw it away, then retrace five steps to go find it again because that was the best stick. Like watching him dive in to eat the mango, hair first, which makes me decide that mangoes were a terrible idea to bring on a camping trip (what was I thinking).

Yes, these are precious, fleeting moments. And we will find joy in them.