Camping!

The kids got new sleeping bags and were uber excited about them.

So naturally I came to the same decision all of you would: go camping in the back yard.

We waited until Friday night. The plans were to cook hot dogs on an open flame on the grill and follow up with s'mores.  Ten minutes into grilling the steak (for Daddy) and veg, we ran out of gas.  No problem; we finished with the oven, including the s'mores. 

Did I mention clothing was optional?

When it came time to get the tent out Abe asked me if we were really sleeping out there all night.  When I said of course, he reiterated, "All night?"  It was when he got the tent out that I realized why he was questioning my intentions.

In retrospect I vaguely remember asking him, "We're sleeping in that?" 7 years ago when we last went camping.  Over time I forgot how small it is.[Brings back happy memories.  That was when we had our scaley-child.] 

Back to the matter at hand.  We all pitched in to get the (tiny) tent up. 

Everything was going great.  Then it was like Lord Of The Flies.  First Elijah dropped out.  It was late and he was super tired.  He got had to sleep in his bed.  Not a problem; we brought a baby monitor outside.  Electricity is a big benefit of camping in your backyard.

When the kids heard me on the monitor, they decided they wanted to get out Daddy's walkie-talkies he still has from his childhood.  These things are the size of a loaf of bread with a 4 foot long antennae. But Momma Bear entertained The Mad Mongoose as he very quickly picked up on the proper lingo.  You got your ears on?  The Mad Mongoose read me. It was loud and clear--if we were about 2 feet apart.  The Furry Fox was enjoying them, too. 

After we told ghost stories, the 4 of us slept for about an hour.  Then I remembered something else from our camping trip 7 years ago.  The seal on the air mattress is very sensitive.  It works like a charm if you get it just right, and if you don't get it just right it does not.  This particular night we did not.  When Abe woke up and the mattress was flat, he was out.  And then there were 3.

A couple hours later I heard Eli on the baby monitor.  I ran inside to get him back to sleep.  And then there were 2.

When I was gone I heard Daisy frantically screaming outside. She was panicked because neither Abe nor I were out there.  And then there was one. She woke up Zeke.  At that point we all went inside.  Our campout lasted until 1:30 am. 

Even though we didn't make it all night, the kids had a great time.  Success!