The Great Camping Adventure

Last week, Cortlan and Everly were watching a little Sid the Science Kid (don't laugh at our apparent dorkiness - it is a cute show) and in that particular episode, Sid camped out in his backyard with his dad and a buddy.  Cortlan was fascinated by this, and asked me, "Mommy?  Do you think we could camp out in nature someday?"  He wanted to have a fire and s'mores and sleep in a tent - all the things that Sid did.

I was actually pretty excited by Cort's request, because I really enjoy camping and have visions of doing a lot of it as a family as the kids grow up.  We used to camp quite a bit when I was a kid, and since John and I have been together, we have camped several times - including on the beach at Assateague Island with some friends and some hungry wild horses. We have made some great and lasting memories camping. The last time that we went was with friends in May of 2006.  Not long after, I found out that I was pregnant with Cortlan (and actually had been, unknowingly, carrying him along on that trip).  Then, before he was old enough (in my opinion) to go camping, Everly was born.  Now, with Everly a little more than two-years-old, and quite adventurous and pretty much willing to try anything, we figured that the two of them were old enough to attempt an old-fashioned back yard camping experience.  Thus, my answer to Cortlan was an enthusiastic, "Yes!"

The timing of the camp out was perfect.  Our neighbor had some 4th of July fireworks to set off, and to see them, the kids would have to stay up past their bed time.  Since we would already be staying up late, we figured we might as well do it right.  First, we went and got ice cream.  (I got Graham Central Station, which is my new favorite, for sure...mmmmmm!)  When we got home, we set up the tent and got the fire going. 

For dinner: Mountain pies - the pepperoni pizza variety. 

Then, after playing, some s'mores for dessert (in case the ice cream wasn't enough). 

At around 9:30, we went to the neighbor's for a serious fireworks display.  For our purposes, they were just as good as the "real deal."  Actually, they were even better, because we had the best seats in the house, only had to walk down the street a little bit, and had no traffic or parking to deal with. 

We got back home, got in PJ's and climbed into our sleeping bags.  From the start, it seemed as though we were going to have another experience similar to the hotel a couple of weeks ago, but in a much shorter time span, the kids calmed down...probably because it was much later.  They were finally asleep at 11:30 - far later than either of them had ever stayed up.

But with sleeping outside comes an early and noticeable sunrise.  At 5:30 AM, the sun was shining through the thin tent walls, and Everly announced that she had to go potty.  It had been a pretty restless night's sleep (mostly because Everly's feet kept ending up in Cortlan's back, to his vocal dismay), so getting up at 5:30 was the last thing I wanted to do.  But, we went in the house, came right back out, and much to my surprise, the kids fell back asleep until 7:30.

Through this experience, I learned several things: 

• S'mores are just as delicious as they ever have been.
• An air mattress might be a wise investment.
• The morning after a night of camping may not be the optimal time to run nine miles.
• Sleep between the kids instead of having them next to each other.
• Don't ever camp far too away from a restroom.
• We are just about ready to try camping for real...maybe next year!