Camping and boating at Shasta Lake for a friend's birthday, and your first night in a tent.

You woke around 4:30, just before first light, the stars shining in our eyes without the rain shell. You were too excited to go back to sleep—how cool to wake up in a tent with mom and dad and a bed for a floor and all of our things within reach!— so I strapped you to my back and we went for a walk in our pjs. It was still and calm and we had the world to ourselves. Just the birds in their trees, the light moving over water, your wide eyes. So pretty that I took mental notes and went back for the camera and we retraced our steps (or my steps, rather). After all, we had hours before anyone else would be awake. Back to the tent to change our clothes and I found a spot by a log for you to safely play, no small feat at the everything-in-the-mouth stage. You nursed and we napped briefly in a friend's hammock, and even though I was tired I felt grateful for our morning together. How often do we get to wake up in a tent and watch the sun rise over water? Not often enough. You were a trooper on the long, hot drive home, slept almost the whole way. It was a lot of packing and unpacking for one night, but worth it one hundred times over.