Camping Trial Run

Several months ago we decided we should go camping at least once this summer. We thought about a couple of different weekends, but never actually went. We were always hesitant because we didn't know how Sam would handle it. Now, here in August, we realized how fast we were running out of time. A few weeks ago, we decided the best option was to do a trial run in our back yard. If Sam passed, we'd consider still trying to get in a weekend camping away from home.

As soon as Jason got home from work last Friday, we pulled out the tent and started our "camping trip." Sam was a little confused about it all, but still had fun watching daddy set up a big thing to play in.
Great campsite, huh? We purposely put it up right by the fence, so it would block direct sunlight in the morning. We're such dedicated nature lovers, especially in the morning.
To get full use out of the tent, we heated up some pizza and quesadillas and had a tent-picnic.

Sam had a lot of fun playing in the tent, especially since there are two rooms, which are great for hide and seek and jump out and 'scare' daddy.
Poor Maggie, she wasn't welcome inside. She was sad.

After we ate, we set up a pack-n-play for Sam and our air mattress and brought all our pillows and blankets out. We watched the first half of Princess Bride out there on the laptop (once again, we're awesome with nature...) An hour after Sam's bedtime we finally put him to sleep, thinking that the real trial was about to begin. He went right to sleep, just happy to be in the tent. He was an angel in fact. Jason and I even watched the rest of the movie out there, and he didn't complain that he was stuck in the other section. We realized the real trial only began when WE went to bed. Since air mattresses are so awesome, especially for someone that is 8 months pregnant, we knew there was a possibility that we wouldn't still be there in the morning. Jason warned me he might go in during the night. I didn't think we should leave our child outside in the middle of the night by himself, so I figured I would be the one to stay out there. After two hours, I wanted to cry because of the amount of pain my body was dealing with, my parched throat, my filled to the rim bladder, my sciatic nerve, and my throbbing hips, just to name a few. I finally got up to go inside to use the bathroom and just move around a little bit. I looked longingly at my wonderful bed, but was determined to not chicken out. So outside I went again. After four more hours, with still not really falling into a deep sleep, Jason, also nice and awake, informed me he was going inside. We realized we were crazy for actually thinking we would betray our bed in this way, picked up Sam, carried him to his bed, and had a great rest of the night!

Summary: Sam gets an A+ in camping. Daddy and Mommy get an F. We will not be camping again until we forget this whole night, which will probably take place next fall, when we reconvince ourselves that we can be campers for a night. Then we will be reminded again of why we don't camp... ever.