Desert camping

Wow...what an experience!!! Since Zach had a four day weekend for Presidents Day weekend, and our romantic Valentines Day plans feel through, and weve always wanted to see Joshua Tree National Park, we decided to head over there on a whim. The only problem with that plan being that we didnt really plan! We had no idea how windy springtime is in the desert (everyone else there seemed to know since they were in RVs and NOT tents) , we didnt realize how cold it gets at night and were somehow short a sleeping bag...sleeping difficulties were exacerbated by the fact that Alex was scared of sleeping in a sleeping bag, Camilla insisted on sleeping with her pregnant mother in the mummy bag and Zach didnt want to sleep by himself! I was wind burnt on my face and my hands had only partial motion for days...due primarily to the fact that I was out in the dark and cold attempting to cook dinner over the fire while Noall attempted to keep the kids warm in the tent. In the morning, the kids ate breakfast in the car while the scene of Mom trying to cook a hot meal for the family over the fire repeated itself. We had a lot of fun during the day hiking around the oark and checking out the cactus gardens, etc...but we were ready to go home and sleep in our own beds that night!