Weekend Camping @ Emerald Lake, Vermont

A lake. The forest. Owls. A trio of thunderstorms. And Twizzlers.

This was our Labor Day weekend. We took the three hour drive up to a new campsite for our traditional Labor Day, goodbye-to-summer camping trip. This year our destination was Emerald Lake State Park, Vermont. (Read more about our trips to Emerald Lake here)

We had a great (flat!) site right near the restrooms and showers. Our 18-month-old loved pushing his “big car” around in the dirt loading it up with “tree babies” (pinecones, that he pronounces as “teck-tones”).

I think he would purposefully get his hands all dirty just so he could take a short walk over to the water pump station to wash his hands! We must’ve made that trip a dozen times a day, he was so fascinated with the spigot!

Emerald Lake itself was just a short drive (or long hike!) down from our site. We claimed a great lakefront picnic table both days. The water was a bit chilly, although we were told it was actually seventy-one degrees.

Our son was not afraid to push his car right into the water up to his waist! He would’ve probably gone in further but mama would not let him!

I loved that this state park has a Nature Center with several activities daily. We talked to Park Ranger Sue about owls, and made a pinecone frame. Well, at least mommy enjoyed making the frame! Our toddler apparently doesn’t have the patience for that yet!

Our last night, we had just gotten a roaring fire going after dinner, thanks to some donated dry wood from a fellow camper (the wood the park sold us was way too damp to keep going). When suddenly a wind blew up and down poured the rain!!

We scampered to get everything under cover, then hunkered down in the tent. Unfortunately, we shoved the snacks into the car!

Our son was a little frightened of the booming thunder at first. I taught him to say “Boom!” every time the thunder rolled over us, and he soon got into trying to outshout the thunder! the rain came down so hard, we couldn’t even hear ourselves talking to each other!

It is pretty awesome to be outside with just a piece of vinyl between you and the thunder, rain, and lightning! Not so awesome: the pools of water under the tent that started seeping through, or the drips that kept up a “continual dropping” over my hubby’s head all night.

Three (yes, THREE!) thunderstorms later (7 pm, 2 am, and 4 am), our son decided to wake up and sleep in bed with us. He generally sleeps in the pack and play when we camp. He is a very squirmy, playful, co-sleeping (?) baby!! We were happy when he finally tired himself out and fell asleep.

Although we didn’t try any of the fancy cooking of our previous camping trips, we finally got around to having s’mores! And I’ve decided that rice krispie treats are the best camping snacks!

No matter if we go for a long camping trip or a short one, it always seems like we bring more stuff home than we took with us!

We thoroughly enjoyed our stay at Emerald Lake, and plan to return again! It was a great deal for the price, the sites were clean, facilities well-maintained, and access to a great lake!

Do you have family vacation traditions?