Sand, Smores, and a Dog Who Ran With a Chair

We just got back from four days of glamping with Oma and Pop, and I’m still finding sand in places sand should not be.

Aria and I stayed in a cabin, my parents brought the RV, and honestly the whole setup worked better than I expected. There’s something about everyone having their own space but still being a hundred feet apart the whole trip that made it feel easy instead of like we were all on top of each other.

The lake was the big win of the trip. Aria has zero fear in the water — she was jumping off the floating trampoline thing without a second thought, climbing that ladder that was honestly way too big for her, over and over. A couple of the older kids at the lake ended up helping her up and down off it, which was one of those small moments that just made me so happy — kids looking out for a little one who isn’t theirs, no one asked them to.

She made friends immediately. Some her age, some older, and by day two she had a whole crew. She did not want to leave. Full meltdown at the idea of going home, which I’m choosing to take as a compliment to the trip.

We did water aerobics together, me and my parents, which was ridiculous and fun in exactly the way you’d think. Nights were campfire and smores, and then Aria discovered you can throw something in the fire to change the flame colors and that was it, that was the whole rest of the night.

Loki came too. Mostly good — until he got spooked by something (we still don’t know what) and took off running with a folding lounge chair still attached to his leash. Chair bouncing behind him the whole way. He ended up tangled in some bushes, and a group of kids at the campsite actually helped chase him down and get him loose. So if any of those kids’ parents are reading this — thank you, your children are heroes.

I was momma tired by the end of it in the way where you sleep for twelve hours and still feel like you got hit by a truck. But my heart was full the whole time. Watching Aria be that fearless, that happy, that unbothered by anything — that’s the whole point of trips like this.

We’re already talking about next year.