Camping With Yogi

OK, so this happened back in September and I just never got around to talking about it, plus for some reason I only ended up with one or two photos, which is just awful considering I was meeting with fellow bloggers. Blog card revoked!

Anyway, you may remember last fall, a lot of the Weddingbee bloggers converged in Austin for a giant Bee meetup, which was awesome and also really convenient since it wasn't that far from home. This fall, the Bee Bloggers planned to meet in Boston, and unfortunately, due to our household's lack of adult jobs (at the time), I couldn't make that one work. That really bummed me out, because I love how those meetups explore a ton of local attractions.

As I was looking through the sign-up sheet, I noticed that NONE of the other Texas bees had signed up to go to Boston. (Several of them have new babies, so I understand not wanting to travel with newborns, plus all the expenses that tiny velociraptors incur.) So, because I love opportunities to see blog friends (and maybe have a little bit of #FOMO…) I suggested that we have our own meetup.

So after a little bit of discussion about what the Texas Bees could swing, we settled on going camping at Jellystone Park in Waller, Texas (right outside Houston). Super excited, I booked a tent site, since Matt likes camping outdoors, and he could make sure everything was set up properly. (Most everyone else booked cabins.)

And then! And then, Matt got a job and moved to Virginia. And I was left with this campsite and no idea how to pitch a tent, and I sure as hell wasn't planning to sleep outside in a tent alone in the dark.

I asked literally every friend in College Station and Houston to come camping with me, and no one could make it, so I ended up begging my aunt to come, and she had her first-ever camping experience. (I came home with more than 70 mosquito bites, so I imagine she had a blast. How did all of us forget bug spray?!)

Beautiful sunrise, though.

But it was really awesome to see a few friends I hadn't seen since last year. All of them have adorable children, and we all got to splash around in the shallow splash-and-spray pool together. Because Jellystone? Totally not the same as regular camping.  It's all Yogi Bear-themed, and there's a mini-waterpark, and multiple pools, and movie nights, and a giant playground, and it is basically the perfect way to take young kids camping without having to come up with your own entertainment every minute of the day.

Apparently not a lot of people want to pitch tents in September, since there was only like one other tent the whole time.

And we all got to cook out together, and one of the husbands brought really delicious homemade cookies, and then us girls sat around and chatted and ate marshmallows while the husbands took care of putting the kiddos to bed, and it was awesome. (We couldn't get a fire started since it had rained for a few days beforehand, so no s'mores.) And then in the middle of the night, something (I assumed it was a giant bear — Yogi? — but it was probably a racoon or something) stole my bag of Veggie Straws and ripped apart a loaf of bread, which I had mistakenly left on the picnic table, and so that was scary to come across the next morning.

I'm glad I got to see my Texas blog friends one more time before I had to leave.

When was the last time you went camping? Do you prefer roughing it, or more family-friendly-with-amenities sites like this one?