Camping! Or...How I spent my summer with yahoos shooting guns on the river

We have been talking about taking Ava camping for about a year now but were holding off due to overwhelming fear. Ava loves being outside but sleeping in a tent is uncharted territory for her. But, you can only put these things off for so long, so this July we bit the bullet (continue reading to see how apt a phrase this really is) and headed for the forest.

We started with a swim in a river. Keep in mind, this is an Oregon, glacier-fed river with a temperature of 50-60 degrees. Ava took a dip to her belly button but regretted the choice later.

Give me one good reason why I shouldn't wear ruffles camping.

Again, this is Oregon, so our trip also included a bunch of yahoos shooting guns into the forest where we had set up camp.

Ava and Brian.  Not pictured: yahoos.

At the campsite, Ava quickly learned that everyone has a job. Elliot was in charge of Ava:

And Ava was in charge of Maisie:

Drunk with power!

Not surprisingly, Ava had a tough time getting to sleep in the tent but did eventually doze off. That is, until she (we) woke up in a puddle of her own vomit. Twice. Ah...kids.