A Mom and Daughter Camping Adventure: Day One

Adventure ensues in Mia’s world, as one door closes and positively leads her towards the future. It was the day of her pre-k graduation. Today she would move on from the little girl world of school, and into the big world of progress. And what better way to celebrate the beginning of a new adventure, than with a fun one?!

While Mia was at school preparing for her big moment of climbing the steps in front of the big happy graduation sign, and receiving her ‘diploma', I was at home preparing for our big weekend adventure! The night before, I had laid out all of the necessary items. Cook stove, sleeping bags, clothes, toiletries, various other items, and…….THE TENT!!! Yes, mom sure knows how to celebrate an accomplishment, and this celebration was going to transpire as a mother/daughter camping trip in the White Mountain National Forest!

I went through my checklist, and went through it again. I loaded the car with all of our gear, and then checked my list, again. (The phrase measure twice, cut once kind of fits here, just without the cutting!) I prepared myself to be seen in public, and headed to get Mia's Grammy and Grampy, and we went together to Mia's soon to be old school to watch her graduation!

Today, I did not shed a tear during this celebration of transition, which was hard to do because I am the ultimate sentimental mom. Instead, I celebrated this great victory in our lives. The end of this day meant the beginning of a new school, a promising future, and loads of continued success!

Mia exploring our camp site

After Mia's entire class received their due recognitions, she was bid fair well by her teachers and classmates. A few of the teachers will miss her greatly as Mia had formed a solid working relationship with them. I promised that we would return for future visits and updates in progress.

Mia was ready to leave and head out on our adventure. She was excited that I was at school to begin with, and more so because she knew that she was also leaving with me! To see her reaction and demeanor anytime I am around her, would make a very obvious statement to anyone, whether they knew us or not, that Mia is most definitely a mommies girl!

We headed to the car with Mia's grandparents and visited with them for a while when we dropped them back off at their house. After we were done visiting, we headed up route 26 towards Bethel, which would lead us to route 2 to head into Gilead. We turned left onto 113 which winds it’s way through the White Mountain National forest.

We stopped at Hastings Campground to see if they had any spots available. I was glad to see that they did! Mia and I picked out a site, and set up camp! We set up our tent, started a fire, and cooked up some supper. Mia did such a great job during all of this! If she wasn’t standing beside me watching intently on what I was doing, she was just a bit farther away watching from the distance.

I thought to myself how not too long ago, this type of outing would have required her to sit in the car while I set up, so that she wouldn’t be able to run away. It’s safe to say that she’s got a pretty good grasp on how far she is allowed to go though. She stayed within the the campsite at all times, and sat at the picnic table when she needed a moments rest.

It's jammy and food time!!

After we had supper, we crawled into our tent, and started our usual bed time routine in an unusual and exciting place! She laughed loudly at me as I made funny voices to go along with her bedtime book, and then snuggled in close while we listened to her “Froggy” play our usual mix of classical music. She looked me in the eyes with adoration as her smiled beamed from ear to ear.

Mia was happy to be here, within the canvas walls of our tent, laying side by side as mother and daughter, best friends, and great adventurers. I laid there and watched her as she drifted off to sleep, thinking about how this particular interaction, this snuggling and physical show of affection, had not been there before.

Within the past couple of years, Mia has learned that hugs, snuggles, smiles and kisses is a great way to show affection towards the ones she loves. Needless to say, I relish these small moments.

As my thoughts drifted from Mia’s wonderful progress and how well she did today, to what we were going to find for adventure tomorrow, I soon found myself drifting off to sleep. Tomorrow was soon to come, filled with promises of adventure!

My happy little camper!