Camping

I didn't want to go camping.  There.  I said it.  The weather was nippy, rainy, and cloudy.  I had zero desire to be outside for any length of time.  So camping?  In a tent?  Even though we had been planning the trip for a few weeks I was ready to cancel.

But then Michael wanted to go so badly.  After picking him up from school on Friday I gave him the news: "It looks like we might not go camping.  The weather just isn't that great."

I was worried about a lot of things.  Me, my attitude and my comfort.  Then the kids.  I didn't want to get to our camp site  in the rain and deal with complaining kids.  Then there was Denai.  How would she handle the trip in the great outdoors?

Michael and I went back and forth on our 20 minute drive home.  I finally had him convinced that it would be better to wait for good weather instead of going camping now in not so great weather.  A few minutes later: "I just want to go camping now."

AUGH!

Lunch time.

So I made them a deal - a game, actually.  If they won, then dad and I would talk about going camping.  If they lost, the answer was no and that's the end of it.  As the game continued long into the afternoon I knew Mr. Sexy and I would say yes to camping because they showed awesome endurance even through boredom of each other.

The game:  After getting home at noon, they had 5 minutes to go potty and grab whatever they needed to stay warm and have fun outside.  To win, they were to stay outside until dad got home, around 5:30.  If one of them came inside, even for just one minute, they both lost.



They succeeded.  Crazy-ass kids.  We were incredibly surprised, to say the least.  How could we say no the deep desires of their hearts now?  Plus, we knew we would have a really good time with our friends.

I'll be honest: I was the one who was worried about me being cold and grumpy.

But of course we had a wonderful time.  We went with our friends who also have a car load of kids and they all really love each other.  We all managed to stay so busy I didn't have much time to feel cold and cranky.  Plus the sun was out every day and it only rained a little, at night - the night Marie went looking for food...hmmmm Check out that story in the post: I Do What I Want

Here are some of my favorite moments:

We'll call this heart breaker M.

I tend to like rules and have plans.  Bending the rules, even just for a little while, is really hard for me.  So when I saw M dig into the Lays for breakfast, my first reaction was : "Oh no!  These are for lunch time!"  But I'm not his parent so instead I watched as all of our kids dug around and found whatever they could find to fill their tummy's.  

Learned philosophy: We're camping.  We ALL get some freedom.  

KIDS ONLY!!! 

There was a tent for the Sexy parents and then a tent for the Sexy kids.  Obviously, this tent was the kid's domain.  They had so much fun doing I-don't-wanna-know-what in there. They had so much fun - it broke. 

Ductape fixes all.

As you can see there are a few shoes and socks lying around.  At some point Michael lost those and then later couldn't find them.

Learned philosophy: It's good for them to get their toes dirty (them, not me).

This is something we are going to do again on future camping adventures and even at home over our own camp fires.  The kids cooked their own dinner!  Honestly, I wanted to cook a hot dog, too, but the adult menu consisted of steak, corn on the cob and baked beans, all cooked over the fire.  It was so yummy and I have never eaten steak like finger food before!  

Learned philosophy: Make 'em work for what they eat and forks are overrated. 

Mr. Sexy gave Denai her first sliding experience.  She slid backwards, forwards, hands first, feet first and then "climbed" back up to go again.  Some of the other kids even took turns taking Denai down the big slide with her in their laps.  

Learned philosophy: Family time is good, anywhere, anytime.  

Anyways, camping turned out to be a big success.  I'm glad my kids pushed me into this because it would have been sad to miss out on such a fun time.  In fact, Mr. Sexy and I caught the "camping bug" and already have a few trips in the works.