Surviving the 1st Family Campout

I love camping. There were a few years (between the ages of 16 and 19) when I did quite a lot of it. Much of it was intensive including some true backcountry trips. Even though I'm not a frequent camper anymore, I still love it, so was excited thinking this was the summer my little family would try it out.

We bought a 5 person tent at Costco for $80. I set it up in the living room to start so the kids could play in it and get used to it. Lil Sis was excited to sleep in it. For three nights in a row as I tucked her into bed she protested, "I thought we were sleeping in the tent!"

I told her we would do it on the weekend when Daddy was home too (he's been super busy with work and school board/supervisory union meetings). That wasn't my only reason though. Big Bro only wanted to camp outside, not in the living room, which was another hurdle. Sibling conflict, sigh. 

But the even bigger reason was that camping out (or in) is a commitment. It's not a time when you tuck your kids in and then have a couple hours of adult time before nodding off to sleep. I had to count on the kids being up late (for them) and going to bed early myself (husband and I are night owls).

Friday night arrived. Lil Sis still wanted to camp in the living room and Big Bro still only wanted to sleep outside. We had just had a string of gorgeous weather days. The lawn was dry, the forecast was clear. However, beginning Saturday night, it would be another stretch of rainy days, who knew how soon the next dry spell would come? Maybe we should sleep outside without the indoor practice since we had been building up the anticipation and the weather wasn't going to accommodate the original 2 part plan this weekend.

So, I made a quick decision, after dinner I dragged the tent outside. We gathered up sleeping bags, pillows, stuffed animals. We brushed teeth outside in order to be more authentic. Then we started a campfire. I didn't have any marshmallows due to the spontaneous nature of it, but it was still nice. The kids enjoyed being outside in their pjs, watching the fire, playing on their play structure, finding firewood. 

Nini and Grandpa joined us for our campfire. When the flames started to die down we put it out, then headed into the tent to sleep. It was around 8:15 maybe?

Snuggled in our sleeping bags, we took turns telling stories, then watched for the stars to come out. We only saw two before I told them to close eyes and sleep because it was 9:00. They were both asleep in minutes.

Amazingly we all fell asleep and spent the whole night in the tent. Sure, we all took turns waking up. Lil Sis slid off the air mattress and spent part of the night by our feet, Big Bro's pillow slipped off the mattress and got all "dewy" so I gave him mine. Dada of Ma'at's hair and feet were getting wet from touching the tent walls (they're not super waterproof. You get what you pay for...). We slept (amazingly) until 6:45 despite the sunrise and chirping birds. We were all still sleepy, and a bit stiff, but I was happy and proud that we had made it!

We went inside and the kids watched cartoons from their sleeping bags on the living room floor while I made breakfast. 

Looking over at my husband I said, "I'm so glad we did it, but we don't have to do it again for 5 years." ⛺️ 
Although, in all seriousness, we will do it again. It will only get easier the more we do it!