This last weekend was no exception to our spontaneity. We bought a tent and a couple of sleeping bags a couple weeks ago (we had other sleeping bags, just not enough for the 6 of us). It sat in the back of my car.
Last Saturday, Hubby goes to the gym, comes home and says, "Let's go camping!" Uhm, o.k. sure! So,
Side note: it gets very windy in the afternoon at this local camp spot. Hubby knew this (he had been there before), but failed to mention it.
Setting up a tent was VERY interesting. If it weren't so terrible, I would have laughed. However, I think my hubby would have left me at said campgrounds. I had one previous setting up a tent. Hubby, I'm not sure he's ever set up a tent. DD, a Girl Scout, wanted no part of it. After getting it 'set up', we filled it with our 'gear' to be sure it wouldn't blow away.
We went to eat....at the Golden arches....because we only brought food for ONE meal. uhmmm, ok, first on the list of things to remember next time: More food! Came back, to find our tent hanging by a string (or whatever those things are called), literally. After moving it around and around and around again, a few cuss words, dirty looks, we finally found a spot that would work. Hubby and I set up the tent AGAIN! Later that night, we would find out that we placed the tent on a downward slope (HILL).
We walked around the campgrounds, in the heat. Now mind you, it was 90 some odd degrees. We are used to 70 or so in July. We laughed and talked, looking for a small store....found. $30 later, we were all hooked up with drinks and ice cream, as well as the necessary ketchup/mustard needed for dinner (list), marshmallow sticks for s'mores, graham crackers and chocolate. It was literally the best ice cream and water that I have tasted in a LONG time.
We went back to the tent. Success, it was still there! Woohooo!! As we are all talking about random stuff, the oldest daughter yells out, "Squirrel!" reminiscant of the dog from the movie "UP"......we all burst out laughing and several times throughout the day, one of us would yell "Squirrel!!"
Dinner and s'mores went well. All the kids played, got dirty, laughed, talked and had a great time. Bed time. Hmmm, this is going to be interesting. We have a 2 year old, who still sleeps in a crib. Daddy finally gets her to sleep, kids go to bed. We decide to make one last pit stop at the potty before turning in ourselves. Oh, yeah, we have no light. The lantern we brought: takes batteries, duh!?!
As we are walking back, we hear something in the trees and it jumped....racoon. Oh, my, gosh! Jon and I both jumped so high! We had a good laugh over that!
Into the tent, to find not one, but all four kids wide awake! Jon promptly goes to sleep, leaving me to
Needless to say, at 7 am, we packed up and left. I think we will try again, but I think I need to recover for a little while first!!
Linking up to Works for Me Wednesday
3 comments:
maybe that's one of my problems with camping...preparing for it! Maybe if hubby just announced we were leaving...great pictures!
Great story! Thanks for sharing. Sounds like you still had some fun anyway. The pictures are great.
We didn't prepare as much as we usually do for our last camping trip. We literally planned our menu in the car the day before leaving on the way home from another outing. After getting home, everyone else scrambled around packing clothing and gear while I dashed to the grocery store.
Camping can still be fun, even if you aren't completely prepared. It's a nice getaway from technology and a change of scenery.
One of the great things about camping is the more you do it, the better you become at it. Make a list now of things you would do differently next time. What you wish you brought and what you brought that you did not use.
Get a big Rubbermaid tub and start putting in extra items for camping as you come across them and make a list of stuff you need and keep it in the tub with whatever supplies you have. I laminated my list so I could check off things as I packed. Also, a very large safety pin will keep your tent zippers closed and keep the baby inside.
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