Party of Five: Camping

Let me just start by saying that Tony and I are not really campers. We enjoy a day in the mountains as much as anyone, but we're more hotel people when it comes to sleeping away from home! However, our kids have been begging us to go camping for awhile now. I decided that we had better become campers so we don't raise non-camping kids! So we took our first, overnight in a tent, camping trip. Casey & Tracey came with us since they are pro-campers, and thank goodness because there was a lot we didn't even think to pack!

Tony picked out our sweet orange tent from Target...it just so happens to be a 1-minute set-up and take-down tent. It was easy, but it took a few more minutes than just 1. We put our Euro-Queen air mattress in it for us and a twin air mattress in for Pax...Macie slept with the girls in Casey & Tracey's tent. The kids were so excited just to have our own tent...I'm pretty sure I could just set that thing up in our backyard and it would keep them happy all day! (Might have to try that actually!)

Anyway, we stayed at one of the camper-world properties that Tony's parents are members of which had a swimming pool where we swam both days. Also, our site surrounded a big grassy area that had a big pig roast for dinner- we didn't eat it but it looked cool. Then they played Bingo for $1 per card and of course, being the Bingo queen that I am, I won a sleeping bag & some peanuts (Tony picked out the peanuts of all things...should have known better than to send him up for the selection!)

After it got dark they showed "The Lorax" on a big projection screen for all the kids. It was really fun.

Then the sleeping part came...or the lack thereof. Macie fell asleep right away in the other tent which was good. Pax on the other hand was not so easy. I took him on a 15 minute walk in his stroller to get him to sleep the first time, but he woke up as soon as I moved him and I had to lay with him for at least 30 minutes. He ended up waking up at least 3 or 4 times during the night, one of them he was so hysterical I couldn't get him to calm down for anything! I attemped to jump in the truck to block out the noise for all of our fellow campers but when you unlock it or open the door it lights up like a Christmas tree which lit up the whole camp site! I got in it and realized the windows were down slightly which didn't help with the cold air and the fact that I hadn't grabbed a blanket or anything when I jumped in. That also didn't help with the noise of Pax screaming! I finally got him calmed down & back to sleep but didn't dare open the door again either to get back in the tent or get Tony to grab us a blanket because I didn't want to light up the whole place again or risk waking Pax. So I probably sat there for a good 45 minutes freezing cold (making sure Pax was warm) and not sleeping. STUPID TRUCK!!! Eventually I couldn't stand it anymore and got out as quick as I could and laid Pax between Tony and I and he slept the rest of the night pretty well. It was a long, tiring night, so I was pretty dead the next day...and he was not a happy camper! Haha!

Anyway, we just stayed the one night but overall we did have a fun time. I guess it's just going to take some getting used to for Pax. I think we'd do better with a nice motorhome, though! :)