Natural Mama's Big Camp 2013

We have returned home from a wonderful, busy, tiring, inspiring, fun weekend at the Natural Mama's Big Camp. Natural Mama's is an online natural parenting forum, based in the UK, and this was the third Big Camp they have organised, but the first one I have ever been to.

I haven't been camping in over a decade, and of course I've never taken a toddler camping, so I was really intrigued to see how we got on. I'm pleased to say that we had a lovely time, and Joey absolutely loved it.  There were over 200 families in attendance, meaning over 400 children in one field! It was amazing to walk around and see so many people babywearing! It was lovely to see both Mums and Dads, plus grandparents and older children using slings of all kinds.
We spent some time in our tent, as Joey seemed to enjoy playing with his toys in a new environment, plus some time joining in with activities. We went to a camp fire and sing-a-long on one evening, a babywearing quiz (which was great fun!), nursery rhymes, workshops and visited the marketplace, plus the fact that there was a digger and some tractors near the car park meant that Joey's weekend was complete! We were also lucky enough to have a photoshoot with Ali Dover, who is a wonderful babywearing photographer, and such a lovely lady. I can't wait to see the pictures she captured!
One of the workshops I took part in was about using a JPMBB stretchy wrap, as it is constructed differently from other stretchy wraps and can be used comfortably and safely with bigger children. It was a really interesting, practical workshop, and I learnt a lot. I'll hopefully share some of what I learnt on my blog in the near future.
We had such a lovely time at Big Camp, and really hope to go back next year, as Joey will be at a better age to be able to join in with more of the children's activities. We were slightly sad to leave such a lovely, friendly community, where babywearing was seen as the norm, although I have to admit it was nice to get back to my own warm shower and comfy bed!

Asleep before the engine started!

Beautiful wrap scraps from the Connecta stand. I can't wait to get sewing!