Hot hot heat.

We went CAMPING. In a HEAT WAVE. It was so, so hot, and we weren't on a lake or anything because we didn't book a site until like last Wednesday so we ended up at Bridal Falls, at this RV campsite where they clearly realized they could make a few extra bucks by letting people pitch tents on this sward of grass with like zero shade or privacy or anything, and we DIDN'T CARE because I can't remember the last time we went camping and didn't get rained out.

(Yes I can, it was that time when Geneva was like seven weeks old and the air was thick with mosquitos but it was glorious.)

But so these ages are great for camping. They can hammer with a hammer!

They can eat a giant burger!

They can play on the teeny, rickety playground!

They don't care if the s'more is raw because there is a fire ban on.

They don't wake up at, like, 5! They wake up after 6! And then they sit and read in the tent until it's late enough to go outside and make a bunch of noise!

They know how to use binoculars! (No they do not.)

Anyway. It was so, so hot, but we hiked up to the falls (in the shade)

and sat on the giant log-chair

and platted around in the stream.

Geneva had her nap in the sweltering tent and woke up AWASH in a sea of sweat and drank my entire club soda to replenish.

Eleanor had her quiet time under a tree with a coloring book and strict instructions not to talk to us, even though she could still see us because there was a like fifteen-foot square patch of shade and we all had to be in it.

And then she fell asleep because camping is exhausting.

Our campsite also had a pool, which was MARVELOUS, and none of the RV'ers seemed to use it! It didn't open until noon, but that's where we spent the entirety of our afternoon. Eleanor is a fine leapstress.

Geneva, who before that day would not voluntarily go in water over her thighs, made great strides in bravery.

Look at this little bird, swimming away by her lonesome.

The evening continued to be SO HOT and our site didn't get any shade until the sun went behind the mountains at around 6:30, so we took ourselves to the nearby wetlands for another hike.

Two hikes in one day! Also, what is this little birdsnesty plant? It is so Seussy!

This was such a great trip, despite the heat. The girls are so old and reasonable, Geneva was only up once each night and then slept until 8am the second morning,

Eleanor can sleep in a sleeping bag LIKE A HUMAN (although our tent was on a slight slant, so the second night she slid halfway through the partition into Geneva's room). At one point, Joel and I were each doing An Important Packing Thing and he mentioned how, when we went camping with Eleanor as a toddler, one of us would have to be monitoring her while the other one did all the work. And I was like, Yeah, but she was so little then, and our kids are so big.