Yes! We actually went camping for real last weekend! It was a very easy beginner camping trip to Arcadia Lake only 20 minutes from our house, but it was a big milestone for us. In the past 5 years our tent has never made it out of the living room. The kids were so excited and their enthusiasm was the thing that made the trip great. Dave and I both have memories of camping as a kid- and the experience is much different from the parent side. It is a lot more work. We arrived at our campsite late and even with rushing to get everything set up and ready we were still eating our hot dogs and roasting our marshmallows in the dark. Who knows how many bugs were sticking to our smores as we shoveled them in our mouths?
One thing was the same though, everything sounds creepier at night. As soon as everyone was all snuggled in and the kids were beginning to drift off to sleep. . . Dave and I heard footsteps outside our tent. And then a big CRUNCH. I guess when we cleaned up after our dinner in the dark we missed something- most likely a peanut or chip- and we had some visitors clean up the rest for us. It sure scared me for a while and Dave couldn’t even lay back down for a long time. When we got up in the morning Dave was telling the kids about the animal that we heard eating our leftovers at night and all the kids were guessing what kind of animal it might have been. “Raccoon, squirrel” suggested Grant. “”Skunk, beaver” suggested Nina. “Or a Hippo!” suggested Rachel. Yup, gotta watch out for those wild chip-eating Oklahoman hippos!
Our second wildlife experience occurred when Grant saw a baby lizard on the ground. Everybody gathered around it to see- it actually took a while before any of us realized that it was a plastic toy.
All in all, it was a pretty good experience. Nothing bad happened. Most things went smoothly, what more can you ask for in a camping trip?
6 comments:
You are so brave. Our tent has never left our yard either. There is a father/son camp-out coming up next month, though, and I hope Mark will be tough enough to take the boys.
So funny about the lizzard! VERY fun! We're excited to go camping this summer too! Utah is still waffling between summer and winter...hopefully summer will win soon :)
The pictures look like you guys had lots of fun. I can't believe how big the kids already are.
Did you find out who or what sneaked around your tent during the night?
Fun fun! I was so surprised that you WENT.. YAY for you! I haven't gone camping for umm several years.. Need to go soon as I can.. that sounds.. I'm glad that I can take my wonderful technology off when I go bed... heehee.
you brave, brave souls. That's awesome.
If i hadn't seen the pictures, i wouldn't have believed it. What's next-- buying a pet?? :) I'm glad you guys had fun. Cute pictures!
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