Playing in Payson

I think we've started a Lyons' family tradition - 4th of July camping! If you don't remember, we took the kids camping at 10 months old last year Colorado Camping Craziness. Luckily I took some pointers from last year and only went an hour and a half out of town - far enough to cool off a bit but close enough that we didn't go crazy in the car ride. Payson was the perfect break from life that our family needed.

Last time we went out of town the kids did not sleep well and they have pretty much outgrown their pack'n'plays. We weren't sure how the sleeping situation was going to work but realized the kids sleep on cots at daycare so why not try that? On Monday we found relatively cheap cots on Amazon so we ordered one in blue and one in pink. 

 
By Thursday we still didn't have the cots even though they were shipped using Amazon Prime.

Friday morning rolls around and still no cots. I'm feeding the kids when Jon walks out of the bedroom and tells me he knows what truck the cots are in and he's off to catch the postwoman. He returns about 15 minutes later with 2 cots in hand - success.

We pack the minivan and are on the road right on schedule - 9am! We get to Payson and pull into Houston Mesa campground a little after Lisa and Ryan. Our campground is perfect! It's down a dirt path and tucked in, surrounded by trees so you can't even see your neighbor! Baby Audrey is happily playing on a blanket and my kids each go over and say hi to her. It was adorable.

We were even more excited when we learned we were at one of the only campgrounds that allowed campfires - more success! Camp was quickly set up and we just let the kids wander around, play in the dirt, throw balls in the bushes - you know the normal outdoorsy kid things. 

Lisa & Audrey

Me with a s'more

That evening we helped the kids cooks s'mores - I have the most adorable picture of the two of them with their marshmallow roasters. Baby boy was more interested in cooking the marshmallow than eating it and baby girl was more interested in eating it than cooking it. 

After the kids went to bed, we made some adult beverages and had a ladder ball competition by the campfire. Jon and Ryan played first and Ryan won. Then Lisa and I played and I won. We had to determine a winner so Ryan and I played and I won. I was winner of the campsite! I'm awful at ladder ball but apparently in the dark when we are camping, I do really well!

Saturday we attempted to go on a hike but were stuck behind a Payson 4th of July Parade which consisted of golf carts decorated in red, white, and blue, American flags, and other 4th of July decorations. It was pretty comical - small towns are more excited about being in the parade than people watching it - I think the whole town was in the parade! After the delay, we finally arrived at the hiking spot. We got out of the minivan and at least 5 bee's flew straight into the car. I had Audrey in my arms, grabbed one of my children and ran. Lisa got out and ran too. We closed the minivan and proceeded to decide what to do. We were informed there were bees on the trail and as we stood there deciding what to do, Ryan got stung. That was the deciding factor, we were not hiking with bees especially since we have no idea if any of the kids have allergies. We sent Jon back to the minivan to drive it down the road and get the bee's out before we got in with the kids. He did a fantastic job, it only took 3 times of opening doors, throwing a child in and quickly closing the door before we got everyone in with no bees! Audrey might have sat on Jon's lap in the driver's seat during the shenanigans - she thought that was pretty exciting! 

That afternoon we hiked on a nature trail at the campground and then Lisa and I pushed 3 umbrella stroller's with all the kids in them around the campground for over an hour. It was the only way they would sleep as the tent was pretty hot during the day.

Sunday we took our time packing up, Jon took the kids to the airport that was close by since baby boy loves planes. Then we grabbed lunch at a delicious Mexican food restaurant before heading home. If you are ever in Payson try Sal & Teresa's Mexican Restaurant - it was well worth it. 

It was a fantastic weekend with family - a tradition worth keeping!

Lisa, Ryan, and Audrey

Me and my sister

Colorado Camping Craziness

About 2 months ago - I reached out and asked for some advice on Facebook about camping with little ones and got quite a bit of positive feedback:

So we booked our trip! My parents, sister, and brother-in-law also decided to join us and thank goodness they did! I knew it would be work to camp with twins that are crawling but I don't think Jon and I would have ate a single meal if it wasn't for my family.

We left Thursday morning right at nap time so the twins would sleep in the car. In Flagstaff, we picked up lunch and headed to Thorpe park to let the kids crawl around. They got to swing (at the park) for the first time - baby girl LOVED it. She was just giggling her little heart out which made me and "Grandma" giggle too. Since I can't post the cute swing picture, you get the cute doggie picture instead.

About 40 minutes from our end point, the twins started getting fussy. We were right around the 4 corners monument so we thought, why not? It was hot and there was a line but we got to the front, I stepped into Colorado, Jon stepped into Utah, I placed baby boy in New Mexico, and Jon placed baby girl in Arizona. LOVE the photo but again all you get is me.

We arrived at the KOA campsite, created a makeshift baby gate out of coolers and storage containers (our car didn't have enough room for the real gate, it was the only item left behind) and got to work setting up camp with my parents. Lisa and Ryan showed up about an hour later. Babies went to bed right on schedule and we stayed up talking with my family. The next morning I found out that baby boy didn't sleep so well but I must have been exhausted because I didn't hear a thing!

Friday morning baby boy was up early so I took him on a walk/run around the 1 mile lake on the property. GORGEOUS!

The kids got to try scrambled eggs for the first time and made a rather large mess but they had fun. They went down for a nap and we started getting ready for our trip to Mesa Verde. For Mesa Verde, Jon and I had the hiking backpacks and we rode the tram around and hiked through smaller ruins. I really wanted to try some of the larger preserved ruins but with having infants that still take naps and need to play to get energy out, it just wasn't a wise idea. Instead we headed back to camp, the kids napped in the car. Once at camp, we decided to go swimming - best idea yet! The kids had a blast floating around, splashing each other, and "jumping" in from the side. Later in the evening we watched some mediocre fireworks from the campground, but I guess you can't expect much from a small town like Cortez. The babies both went to bed at normal time but baby boy didn't sleep very well this night and ended up on the air mattress with me and Jon around 3am.

Saturday was an early morning. We had train tickets for the Durango to Silverton train tour and our train departed at 8am about 45 minutes from our campsite. When the train leaves the station and all the way through Durango, the conductor blows the whistle non-stop. Watching baby girl's reaction to this was priceless. She would stand up very straight and look around with a half scared half excited look on her face and then look at us for guidance on which emotion she should choose. Baby boy sat on my lap for the first 30 minutes just watching the scenery go by. It was a gorgeous train ride - highly recommend if you've never done this before! Although if you have infants, I also highly recommend a one way train ticket with a one way bus ticket. The all day train ride was a little much for the twins by the end of the day. We spent 7 total hours on the train! Sorry I had to cut the cuties out of the picture.

The twins slept the 45 minutes back to camp but then refused to go down for bedtime. It probably took us an hour to get them to bed and then they both woke up around 11pm screaming. This night was much colder than the other 2 so baby girl ended up in Jon's sleeping bag and baby boy was in mine. I have another cute picture of the kids cuddling with Jon - I want to show you so bad!

Sunday we woke up, Lisa and Ryan made breakfast burritos - the babies got to try potatoes for the first time. Baby boy loved them and couldn't get them in his mouth fast enough! Packing up was in my opinion our biggest downfall. We didn't properly plan packing up with nap time and didn't have the pack-n-plays available for naps so the twins were screaming on a blanket until my mom and sister picked them up and rocked them while the rest of us packed up.

All in all I had a fantastic time and would definitely go again but would definitely NOT go without the following tips:

1. Never ever camp with twins unless you have at least 2 adults to each infant unless you enjoy being sleep deprived and hangry all the time.
2. If you are taking a road trip to camp plan on adding an extra hour for every 3 hours of driving. The kids will need to get out and crawl around if you want to survive the remainder of your driving. We stopped at parks, restaurants, gift shops, and monuments to let them play.
3. Only plan 1 big activity each day as that is all you'll be able to get done anyway.
4. Attempt to keep the same nap schedule and bedtimes as they have at home.
5. Be prepared for cold weather at night. We double layered our kids in PJ's and fleece pajama's and they still woke up cold. We ended up co-sleeping in our sleeping bags (I swore I'd never do this as it scares me)
6. Bring a baby gate! We left ours at home because we didn't have room and were constantly having to run over to the babies because they would crawl off the blanket with toys and start sticking rocks in their mouths!
7. The babies will get messy and it's okay. Improvise with baths. We used small wash bins for sponge baths and then one day I just took them right into the shower with me!
8. Be flexible and have fun with them!