Oh A Camping We Will Go...

Well I am finally getting around to posting about my camping with cloth diapers. Enjoy!

Camping...with a 6 month old...in cloth diapers...I am sure people would think I am nuts. My family and I were invited to a family reunion which would be located in a small rural community in northern Alberta. There are no hotels so we were tenting it. Turned out that everyone but one other family were using a tent...the rest had trailers. Now when I say tenting it most people would envision a 6 man tent, maybe with a nice vestibule. Well, that is not really what we have. We have a small 2 man tent...a pup-tent more in looks then anything else. So this is how our holiday went...

For those who are interested this was in my cloth diaper entourage:

- 8 PUL covers (fishnoodle, thirsties, wonderwrap, bummis)

- 2 wool covers (royal bunz. niffty nappy)

- 7 microfiber inserts

- 4 hemp inserts

- 7 velour doublers

- 1 thirsies fab fitted

- 2 goodmama fitted

- 1 goodmama one cover

- 1 bumgenius pocket OS

- 2 applecheeks covers

- 1 happy heiny pocket OS

- 2 rump-a-rooz pocket OS

- 2 small fuzzibunz pocket

- 2 med fuzzibunz pocket

- 2 grae-flats P&E

- 12 yellow edged GMD

- 4 flats

- 2 applecheeks inserts

- liners

- wipes

- 3 wetbags

- rubber gloves

- pail

- soap

all of that was packed quite nicley in a dry sack...which is very handy if it might rain.

Day One:

I packed for most if not all this day (a Friday) till my hubby came home after work. We left at around 6-7pm and traveled till 12pm. On the way we had to take a couple gravel rodes (as the main highway by our city is shut down do to it being flooded out because of all this rain) and even took Hannah on her first ferry ride. When I say ferry it is not that grand of an event...just across a small river. But it was fun none the less. We arrived at our first camping spot about half way to our destination. We managed to set the site up quite quick. It helps when your tent is as compact as ours is.

Day Two:

The next am I had only a few prefolds dirty so I chose to wash them up so they could dry on the back seat while we drove. We had a pail that I could wash the diapers in and another collapsible one that I could go get water with. It turned out that there was a place for showers so I got the water there (which was nice cause it was warm). This was my first time washing by hand let alone in the outdoors. So I put them in just water first (my prerinse) and shook them around and kneaded them (that is what the gloves were for). Then I dumped that water down the toilet and got more fresh water I did the same thing but with soap. I let them soak a bit and gave them a pretty good scrub. Dumped the water down the toilet and rinsed them out two more times. It worked out pretty well...I think it would have been easier with more diapers to make for better swishing action.

While I was washing diapers my Hubby was making some breakfast....mmmm nothing like a hot meal over a fire!

Next we were on the road again to the reunion site. It was another 5 hours drive and our little girl was such a trooper!! She only got upset if she was starting to get hungry. The only down side was that on the road there are really no baby stations for changing. So most of time my little one had her bum changed in the car.

We got to the reunion just in time for supper. It was awesome! Next we had family pictures (each section of the family had a different colour shirt - my grandma had 13 siblings) and sat by a fire talking.

Day Three:

Woke up to a wonderful breakfast with the family and had a fun filled day of games and such. I found that even in the warm weather my wet bags held in any smell and the Rockin' Green Pail Shaker helped a lot. I never really got around to washing the diapers as it was a very busy day and we had decided that we were going to Edmonton to visit my Hubby's aunt (said we could use her washing/drying machine). If we were staying camping longer I am sure the hand washing would have work very well. We even had a clotheslines that I would have been able to string up.

Day Four:

Rain rain go away! We had a very loud thunderstorm that night followed by even more rain in the am. It is quite difficult taking down a tent and all the stuff in your tent when it is raining. Also tip for all those who might want to camp...keep your rain gear in the tent so you don't have to go out in the rain to get it. We had one last breakfast with the family and headed to Edmonton.

Day Five and Six:

Woot woot shopping!!! Oh and the diapers held up pretty good no leaks and got to wash them in a real washing machine!

Day Seven:

Packed up and started to hit the road back to Saskatchewan. We stopped off at Jack Fish Lake to spend a few days camping. Set up our camp site again and even put up a tarp this time so that if it did rain our table would still be dry in the am.

Day Eight:

Went swimming in Jack Fish Lake with Hannah... I think she thought it was too cold so we didn't stay long. My hubby also tried a little bit of fishing but no luck in finding any fish.

Day Nine:

Had another thunderstorm...with very close lightning. Hannah even enjoyed the loud booms and managed to sleep right through most of it. Woke up to a wet camp site. We packed up again and headed home.

In all I think it was a wonderful trip. Did not get to test washing the diapers by hand much but there were a few things that I concluded.

1. I love prefolds - easy to wash and easy to dry

2. I love apple cheeks covers and bamboo inserts - takes a little longer to dry but you never be wondering of they will leak. and with a little extra they can be a wonderful night time diaper.

3. Rockin' Green Detergent is the best for camping...cleans well when hand washing and rinses out easy

4. Rockin' Green Pail Freshener - a must if you are going longer then 3 days to keep your bag smelling clean. I sprinkled a little on each diaper when it was placed in the bag.

I would never think twice about camping with cloth diapers, it was a very rewarding experience.

lots of bunny hugs,

Cecette

What would you do??!!

This past weekend my daughter and I had a girl's weekend at a spa located about 3 hours from our home. We had a wonderful time with my mother in law, her mom, her sister, and my sister in law. The water (which is a mineral spa) was wonderful and I even experienced my first ever "real" sauna (and no I did not take my daughter in the sauna...she stayed out with her grandma). It was interesting and it almost took my breath away...very hard to breath in there at first. I must be a wimp cause all I could stand was at the most 5 minutes.

I also think that I have a little fish for a daughter cause she LOVES the water! She even giggles with excitement after being dunked underwater. So in all it was a very good weekend.

The issue was just before going home. It was just me and Hannah together at this point and I really really need to use the bathroom. Seeing as I was already at a gas station to fuel up I could use theirs how convenient! Well I was wrong....warning the following is about an experience with a small child in a very inconvenient public bathroom.

First of all it was 30 degrees Celsius out so even if I was a mother who would leave their child in the car while I went inside (which I am not) I would/could not that day. So into the store my baby went with me. I located the bathroom (only one for both male and female). To my shock when I got inside there was no change table (I should have realized that there wouldn't be one it seemed quite small from the outside). Inside there was one toilet, one pedestal sink (meaning that the edge was maybe 2 inches wide), a garbage can built into the wall, a paper dispenser built into the wall, and a very very dirty floor. Oh and did I mention that I really needed to pee??

This was the first time I experienced this dilemma. Usually I am with someone who can hold my daughter while I am in the bathroom or there is some sort of change table area. OH WHAT TO DO!???

So there I was trying to hold my baby (as far away from the toilet as possible..cause the floor was too dirty for words...no way I would put her on that. Plus she is at that stage where everything goes into her mouth) and pee at the same time! It was quite difficult...but I managed. Then I propped her on the side of the sink (she can sit a little which is nice) leaning against me while I washed my hands (I was prepared before hand and I wiped down the sink the ledge before hand so not to get anything on her bum). It was quite successful with what I had to work with...but I still wish the place had something that I could have put her on.

So what would you have done???

Lots of Bunny Hugs!

~Cecette