Go Confidently in the Direction of the Comfort Station

 Eve made a shocking realization on this camping trip. We had always assumed that Matt had a map of the park in his head, because he has a really good sense of direction and we generally can't find our way out of a paper bag. But while they were walking back to our site after a campfire, he took them the completely wrong way, and at some point she realized that "he doesn't actually really know his way around - he just doesn't care!"

This didn't make me feel entirely okay about the fact that he explained to me where the water tap was multiple times and then drew me a literal picture in the dirt and I still kept not being able to find it, but it made it a little better. Also, when he was telling Eve how to get to Margot and Michael's site I told her a better way and told him his way was dumb because it goes further than you have to and then doubles back (you can tell the one person in our family who doesn't get shredded feet at camp). Of course, then he said "talk to me when you can find the water tap", which was fair.

We don't have a group picture for every year we've camped, but we have one for most. When we started, it was taken with an actual camera. Since we have phones and have discovered that Eve has freakishly long arms or something else that makes it possible for her to take really good selfies, Eve is the designated Group Picture-Taker. This year the picture had to be taken the night after Ben and Melanie got there and the night before Michelle left - the one night everyone was there and it wasn't thunderstorming. Eve had come back from the beach and showered and was having some quiet time in her tent and I had to summon her to the Dinner and Campfire Site to take the picture. This, in turn, put into play the time when everyone has to be corralled for the picture - people start shouting NO ONE GO TO THE BATHROOM and NO YOU CAN'T GO PLAY D&D YET and TRY TO LEAVE THIS SITE AND WE'LL TAKE YOU OUT AT THE KNEES. Then it takes an ungodly amount of time to get everyone situated so you can see everyone and Eve starts shooting.

Eve was a total trouper this trip. She has gut issues and skin issues and doesn't really drink (not opposed to it, but the gut issues mean she might get a nice buzz from one drink or just feel immediately nauseous for six hours). She reacts hugely to bug bites, had the same insomnia I did the first night but in her it precipitated a panic attack and we had to go for a little walk at 3 a.m. She was probably extremely ready to go home after night three or four but she said she was fine because she knew I wanted to stay. And, like me, one of the reason she likes camping is how camping makes you fucking LOVE your house when you get home. Like, this amazing house! So roof-ish, and wall-having. So indoor plumbing-ful. She said "I love my room. It's so ... inside."

She's so much fun to have around. We have two heavier fancier folding chairs and two lighter less-fancy ones. One night I said I might take a less-fancy one because carrying the heavy one the night before had hurt my shoulder. One of the lighter ones was set up in the kitchen shelter with towels drying over it, and Eve said I should just take the other one, which didn't make sense because she always takes a lighter one so I knew she wouldn't want me to take her chair. I looked at her weirdly and she said "what? Dad doesn't care." I kept looking at her weirdly and she finally said "oh, ME. Forgot about her."

We had a completely vegetarian group meal one night, which I think is a first. Ratatouille, potatoes, corn, Impossible Ground Beef meatloaf and cherry crumble. Matt mentioned to Mark, who was cooking the crumble, that the fire was going to be really hot under where the pie plates were. Mark looked undecided for a minute and Eve said "don't listen to him. He's just trying to plant a doubt in your mind that you'll be unable to shake". 

Tony is our group sommelier and cocktail expert, so he eschewed the classless Giant Plastic Jug O Booze we all went with and mixed classy glass bottles of Paloma, Mojito, Old Fashioned and Negroni, which you poured over ice and added Club Soda to. 

Without Tony we would just be beasts in the wilderness.