Experiences

For the past, well, the length of our marriage, one of us (or both) have been in grad school, or we've been pregnant, or we've had small children that hold us captive with nap schedules and potty training. For one long stretch, we had all of the above. There have been some stretches where we were in survival mode. If everyone had clean underwear and dinner made it to the table, we considered the day a success. Sure, we have had many, many wonderful days and memories in there, but it has meant that we have said no to a lot.

For the first time, we are emerging from that fog. No one is in grad school, and I think I have officially emerged from the post-dissertation now whats. I no longer wake up panicking about imaginary deadlines or data sets. It's lovely. We have officially abandoned naps, and we can be away from a bathroom for more than 30 minutes without fear of disaster. Everyone can walk long distances, and I can't remember the last time we broke out a stroller. We almost don't know what to do.

This new freedom has left Brad and I thinking about the things that we have said no to the past couple of years. What experiences do we want to enjoy as a family that are now possible. Yesterday, we made one of those happen--or it will happen this summer...

I have great memories of girl scout camp, and Brad did a ton of camping with the boy scouts. While we are still a little young for scouting, we discovered a camp nearby that gave us a gift. I went with Issa's class for a field trip on Friday, and I fell in love with the place. As it turns out, they do a family camp every summer, and we're going! It's just a weekend long camp, but we'll pitch our tent, eat in the lodge, and enjoy all of the traditional camp activities. The kids can't wait to make s'mores and try out the canoes. Brad and I can't wait to watch them experience nature in a whole new way. It's one of those experiences that we finally said yes to, and we can't wait.