Monday we did back-to-school, Tuesday was summer vacation, and yesterday back to school again so today it’s time for summer vacation again – yay! Nothing says “summer break” to me more than a good ‘ol fashion camping trip. Unfortunately, there’s also nothing that says “nightmare” to me more than the idea of trying to camp with a baby.
So instead of packing up the family and heading to the mountains, we did the next best thing and headed to the backyard. Actually my husband did – this was kind of a boys thing and C absolutely loved every minute of it. We tried to replicate the entire camping experience and I got a lot of pics so this post is a little too long to put entirely on the homepage. Click through for all the details.
First up was actually constructing the tent. We got this beauty (a 6 person dome tent) at REI on clearance – score! I guess there are benefits to being the last people in town to buy a tent for the summer. C got to help set it up and here he’s giving the experience two thumbs up.
It didn’t take long before we had this guy set up and ready to go.
C and daddy checked out their digs for the night and then it was time to eat.
Grilled hot dogs were on the menu… almost as good as dogs roasted over a fire pit.
Only one thing was left to make the camping experience complete – S’mores.
After dinner the boys got out their sleeping bags and prepared to bunk down for the night.
We got C’s dino sleeping bag at Costco that morning. Much like the ubiquitous pillow pet, this guy is a stuffed animal that turns into a pillow. The bonus is he also has a sleeping bag rolled up in his belly and the real bonus was that he only cost $13.
The thing about sleeping outdoors is you have to stay up late because the sun’s still up. So we loaded up the tent with our recent finds from the local library and had some relaxing reading time.
Eventually it did start to get dark so we brushed teeth and put on our PJs (we thought the camo was especially appropriate).
Then one last story and it was bedtime.
My husband kissed C goodnight and he and I sat at our table just outside the tent having a drink and chatting for a while. We kept waiting for C to call for us and say he didn’t like it but it never happened. In fact he liked it a little too much. He was so excited by it all that he never fell asleep and we finally took him to his crib around 10:30 pm.
All and all it was a very successful, and memorable, day. I was glad C had such a great time and it made me that much more excited for when the kids are old enough to go camping for real.
When do you think is the perfect age to head to the woods? Would you ever sent up a tent in the backyard?
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