Napping Bear Sandbox -- Explanation

In our four years here, we have checked off most of our Michigan to-do list. There was one big item left, and we figured we could easily find time to do it this summer -- Sleeping Bear Dunes.

The distance was a bit of a hurdle, but we've driven farther. The camping (for which we've decided that the most unpleasant part would be preparing food) would be new and different, but we figured we could find some friends to come along with us who have camping gear. It would take some planning, but we've planned more.

But, in return we would get to enjoy some of the best Michigan has to offer -- lakes, forests, sand dunes. Fair trade.

Only trouble is, I didn't plan enough in advance. Now, instead of first come first serve at the campgrounds, everything online suggested we had to reserve campgrounds. And for all the dates I was interested in, they were all full. Hotels were mostly full and totally expensive. I didn't know what to do. Should I look at different days entirely?

And then I pictured what would happened if we decided to go. Dragging our kids everywhere with them tired and grumpy. Overscheduling and then canceling. Alternating between too hot and too cold. Not having access to clean bathrooms for a few days. Not enjoying the sand dunes hike because it would be too long for Joseph, so we'd end up carrying both boys.

As the weight of the situation sunk in, I wrote an email to Kevin (who was in Spain at the time) telling him we were canceling the trip unless he was really invested (he wasn't). Then I called my mom (and cried, because July was a month to cry a lot) about not getting to go on this trip, and how I would never ever do anything fun again until my youngest child was like 6. I felt guilty about not being brave enough to go camping for 2 nights in a place 4 hours from home with a toddler and a baby when I know people (in my family even) who do this sort of thing without blinking an eye with more kids across whole continents. I felt silly that it's been 5 years since I went on a hike (I used to go on several a year) and turned down my chance to hike the Wind Caves in June just because I thought I would slow everyone down/fall off the Wind Caves. (I don't know if that's ever happened, but you never know if you'll be the first.)

And then once I got that good cry out of my system, I decided to look at what we would have done at Sleeping Bear Dunes. As I compiled my list, I wrote down an analogous activity that could be done within a half hour of home. I named this list Napping Bear Sandbox to illustrate the watered-down nature of our vacation.

As of yesterday, we finished the vacation.

As the next few posts will demonstrate, it wasn't half bad!