If you follow me on Twitter, you will already know that Friday night we camped out in our basement with the "Big Kids" (that's Elizabeth, Lucas and Ashlee if you're wondering). We had a fabulous time.
Elizabeth came up with the idea on Wednesday afternoon when she asked,
"Mom, can we go camping tonight?"
I thought about it, and said,
"I don't see why not, but it will have to be inside. Maybe in the basement? How about Friday night?"
A huge grin spread across her precious face. The rest of the week she played "camper" with Lucas and Ashlee. That night we confirmed it with Luke. Then, she threw in a curveball...
"Can we sleep in a tent?"
So, we did. We set up a tent in the basement and had our own little camp out. And the best part? Running water, no bugs, power...this is my kind of camping.
The excitement built as Paw Paw (my Dad) came over Friday afternoon and set up the tent in our basement.
Please pardon the hodgepodge attire and clearly self-dressed children you see pictured. We have come to the age where "me do it!" has superseded my desire to battle them to wear appropriate clothing while at home. Hey, at least they are clothed, which is a major accomplishment for us...as you will see soon with a post I have in the works. And when we go into public I at least make sure that each child matches, sort of. Now, that does not mean that we all wear the same season of clothing. For example, this morning Elizabeth clearly wore a springy sun-dress to church, while Ashlee adorned more of a fall/winter dress. But hey, everyone was clothed and no one had a melt down.
Anyway, back to the campout. The kids "helped" Paw Paw set up the tent.
Then, it was time to test it out.
Earlier in the day, while helping Ashlee go to the potty (which she is doing by herself now, only requiring diapers at nap and bedtime...YIPEE!), my nose reminded me that bath night could not be pushed off one more day.
In an effort to distract them from the tent, we went back upstairs and took baths. Luke gets off work late on Friday nights. I wanted him to experience some of the excitement and so I banished the kids from the basement until Daddy was home and could escort them downstairs. I should have known that this would only INCREASE the excitement, and by 7:30 when Luke got home, they were about to bust.
We made hot dogs, the camp out food of choice, and ate downstairs. We played for a bit in the tent, and then it was MOVIE time. The kids snuggled up into their sleeping bags and we all settled down (onto a very hard basement floor) and enjoyed the show.
Once the movie went off, it was game time. We made silly faces, wrestled, went on "Bear Hunts" and played made up games, all within the confines of the tent. Then it was time for outside the tent fun. We played floor puzzels and attempted a very bad game of Chutes and Ladders. (Note to self: Do not play counting games when 2/3 of your gamers cannot count in sequential order.
"two...five....eleventeen...three!" was Ashlee's favorite move.)
Anyway, we decided it was time to begin to settle down and have a snack, so we tuned into our second movie of the night and enjoyed some popcorn.
By the time our second movie went off, Ashlee was long asleep and Lucas and Elizabeth were desperate for some Z's themselves. Luke and Lucas retired to the tent, while Elizabeth and I slept on the pullout sleeper sofa. Ashlee didn't move a muscle and snored the night away in her sleeping bag on the floor. We ushered in Valentine's Day (yes at midnight) as we tucked ourselves in and slept under the glow of the stars hallway light.
It was, without a doubt, the BEST campout I've ever been on. And although my back still hurts beyond belief (from a very uncomfortable night on a sleeper sofa) and my kids were up 4 hours past their bedtimes, it was so worth it. I know we all made memories that we will laugh about for a very, very long time.
Elizabeth came up with the idea on Wednesday afternoon when she asked,
"Mom, can we go camping tonight?"
I thought about it, and said,
"I don't see why not, but it will have to be inside. Maybe in the basement? How about Friday night?"
A huge grin spread across her precious face. The rest of the week she played "camper" with Lucas and Ashlee. That night we confirmed it with Luke. Then, she threw in a curveball...
"Can we sleep in a tent?"
So, we did. We set up a tent in the basement and had our own little camp out. And the best part? Running water, no bugs, power...this is my kind of camping.
The excitement built as Paw Paw (my Dad) came over Friday afternoon and set up the tent in our basement.
Please pardon the hodgepodge attire and clearly self-dressed children you see pictured. We have come to the age where "me do it!" has superseded my desire to battle them to wear appropriate clothing while at home. Hey, at least they are clothed, which is a major accomplishment for us...as you will see soon with a post I have in the works. And when we go into public I at least make sure that each child matches, sort of. Now, that does not mean that we all wear the same season of clothing. For example, this morning Elizabeth clearly wore a springy sun-dress to church, while Ashlee adorned more of a fall/winter dress. But hey, everyone was clothed and no one had a melt down.Anyway, back to the campout. The kids "helped" Paw Paw set up the tent.
Then, it was time to test it out.Earlier in the day, while helping Ashlee go to the potty (which she is doing by herself now, only requiring diapers at nap and bedtime...YIPEE!), my nose reminded me that bath night could not be pushed off one more day.In an effort to distract them from the tent, we went back upstairs and took baths. Luke gets off work late on Friday nights. I wanted him to experience some of the excitement and so I banished the kids from the basement until Daddy was home and could escort them downstairs. I should have known that this would only INCREASE the excitement, and by 7:30 when Luke got home, they were about to bust.
We made hot dogs, the camp out food of choice, and ate downstairs. We played for a bit in the tent, and then it was MOVIE time. The kids snuggled up into their sleeping bags and we all settled down (onto a very hard basement floor) and enjoyed the show.
Once the movie went off, it was game time. We made silly faces, wrestled, went on "Bear Hunts" and played made up games, all within the confines of the tent. Then it was time for outside the tent fun. We played floor puzzels and attempted a very bad game of Chutes and Ladders. (Note to self: Do not play counting games when 2/3 of your gamers cannot count in sequential order.
"two...five....eleventeen...three!" was Ashlee's favorite move.)
Anyway, we decided it was time to begin to settle down and have a snack, so we tuned into our second movie of the night and enjoyed some popcorn.
By the time our second movie went off, Ashlee was long asleep and Lucas and Elizabeth were desperate for some Z's themselves. Luke and Lucas retired to the tent, while Elizabeth and I slept on the pullout sleeper sofa. Ashlee didn't move a muscle and snored the night away in her sleeping bag on the floor. We ushered in Valentine's Day (yes at midnight) as we tucked ourselves in and slept under the glow of the It was, without a doubt, the BEST campout I've ever been on. And although my back still hurts beyond belief (from a very uncomfortable night on a sleeper sofa) and my kids were up 4 hours past their bedtimes, it was so worth it. I know we all made memories that we will laugh about for a very, very long time.