Arabella's First Camping Trip!

Last weekend was Arabella's first camping trip!  We attended ArtBeast's Festival of Little Houses in Coloma - this was their 2nd year throwing this awesome event to raise money for Tubman House. Direct from their website:

Waking the Village is a nonprofit organization directing Tubman House, a free, 18 month transitional living program for Sacramento's homeless, parenting youth. At Tubman House, youth experience dynamic coursework, community support, counseling and healthy living so that they leave prepared to be leaders in their own lives and the lives of their communities.

I can't adequately describe the awesomeness of the experience in words, so I'm mostly going to illustrate with photos.  I definitely recommend anyone with children (even if you don't have children - just know there will be lots of them running around) to sign up for this event next year as soon as registration opens. They sold out this year and are considering how to expand the event next year without ruining it - my hope is that they add additional weekends.

The Itinerary

Arabella stomping in the American River (which was freezing cold! but felt good with the hot weather for a few minutes before my legs went numb)

Pinata making was a craft station hosted by Sol Collective. Arabella was inspired by her kids' apron with a bumblebee on it to make a bumblebee design - concept and execution is entirely by Arabella except Mom cut the strips and fringe and monitored glue usage. 

Beautiful bird pinata on display at the pinata-making station. If you're interested in learning to make a beautiful pinata like this, I was advised that Sol Collective is teaching the pinata and papier-mache techniques  to anyone that wants to learn at their studio this week as they are prepping for huge Day of the Dead / Dio De las Muertas celebrations throughout October in Old Sac (schedule of events is here)

 Snow Cones were available the whole weekend for $1 - made with homemade Strawberry or Watermelon Syrup. I took a slurp - it tasted great. In spite of the snowcone, Arabella still had a diva moment at dinner on Saturday when she was informed that there were no Shirley Temples to be had on the campground (Shirley Temple is Arabella's signature drink) It was worse than Ramona with no Pinot Grigio (and if you don't get that reference you should be proud of yourself for not succumbing to trash TV / if you do get that reference - message me! I love to have someone to converse my guilty pleasures with)

Moon lanterns and artwork drying along the river.

We purchased this gnome family on Saturday - $2 each was a steal!. The purple one is the baby, red one is the mommy and gray one is the daddy, of course.

More wading in the river - this time with 

water shoes on. Water is so clear and lovely up there.

Entrance to the Fairy Woods

Our fairy  gnome house. Arabella wanted it round so it resembles a nest. The mother and father gnome are watching their pinecone TV and the baby gnome is in it's nutshell cradle. Arabella is quality testing the gnome's food (wild berries)

A neighboring fairy house.

First nature sighting - little frog on the bathroom mirror.

Second animal sightings- goose and ducks right outside our campsite.

First morning at camp - Arabella and Shay checking out the river while still in pajamas. Keith snapped this photo while Shay's mom and I were yoga-ing in our pajamas (no photos of that will be posted!)

These cardboard things were a big hit with all the kids - some were made into teepees by stringing them on a hoop on the top, and the kids had fun running through them. 

This one reminds me of a dinosaur skeleton. The kids also took a bunch and made lincoln log style cabins, and dismantled some into flat pieces to slide down this hill.

Our little gnome family - we made these on Sunday at camp but was out of power so I took this pic at home on our coffee table. Arabella made the one in the middle - she picked the hair, robe and thread colors and cut the hair - she wanted it short! Arabella named her Rockidah. The one on the right is mine and Keith made the one on the left. We didn't name ours but we are open to suggestions. After I took this pic I left them posed like this for about an hour on the table but they really started to creep me out (looked like they were coming for me) and I moved them to Arabella's room.

In conclusion, here's my best piece of camping advice: DO NOT BUY A TENT THAT SLEEPS EXACTLY THE # OF PEOPLE YOU HAVE - YOU MAY BE OK TO SLEEP IN THAT TENT BUT GETTING DRESSED, ETC. WILL BE IMPOSSIBLE TO DO COMFORTABLY.  AND BRING A GOOD CAMERA TO CAPTURE ALL THE MEMORIES FOR POSTERITY.