We went on the first family camping trip this weekend.  I was a bit nervous about how this would go.  Knowing that my two girls are polar opposites.  AJ is a very girly girl who will only wear dresses or skirts and prefers to be inside.  Vera is a complete tomboy who refuses to wear dresses and would stay outside all the time if I let her.

So my expectation was that Vera would be the easy one and AJ would want to go home and get out of the “heat”.  The weekend actually went well overall, and AJ really enjoyed herself.  She did not complain about the heat (not that it got that hot but that doesn’t usually stop her) and was a great sport about all of the hiking we did.

The fact that the camp site had sand was a part of the reason it went so well I think.  AJ has OCD and one of her obsessions is playing with sand.  She can (and did) spend hours digging in the sand.  The mornings were a bit challenging for her (as they typically are until her medication kicks in) but once we got past that point she was great.

Vera showed her whining, stubborn side (she shows this side often).  She did well a lot of the time, but she struggled to follow directions and communicate appropriately.  Since we were out of our typical routine and she did not get her usual 10 hours of sleep, it is not surprising.  Hopefully the next time she will do better, but she had fun which is the most important thing.

It was a great weekend and a wonderful experience.  Both girls really enjoyed themselves and want to go again.  Hopefully the next trip will go as well and keeps the girls engaged.  The trick will be to figure out how to ease Vera’s challenges so that everyone can enjoy themselves even more.