A First for This Little Family

Round 1:
We got this great idea that we wanted to take the boys camping. We hadn't gone since the summer we got married and thought that it would be tons of fun to do with our little boys. So, since we are kind of wimps and didn't know exactly what we were getting ourselves into, we decided to try a campout in our backyard first. Baby steps... It turned out to be a lot of fun!

We borrowed my parents fire pit, set up our tent, ate dinner outside (although I cooked it in the kitchen, I'm not that crazy!) and spent the evening playing in the backyard together.

The boys loved the tent and Joe loved the fire, we even got to make s'mores! (Although Sam would only eat the graham crackers and chocolate.)

The next morning...

We decided to have Andrew sleep inside in his crib, so of course I had to sleep in my own bed so he wouldn't be alone inside...oh darn! Joe and Sam slept the whole night out in the tent. I snuck out there and took pictures of them sleeping when I got up to go running the next morning.

Round 2: The Real Deal

So with the trial run being such a hit and success, we decided that the next weekend we'd try the real thing. We enlisted my parents to go with us and set out. We went to my favorite spot from my childhood, Honeysuckle campground. It's way up in the mountains and it was beautiful, just like I remembered it. Talk about a walk down memory lane! The boys are natural outdoorsmen, they were just thrilled by all the sticks and rocks and dirt.

This is Joe and Sam going exploring, isn't is gorgeous?!

This is when we were gathered around the campfire that evening, probably right before Andrew went to bed. Putting Andrew to bed was the part that I was most worried about, but he didn't even make a sound. We set up the port-a-crib in the tent, laid him down with his favorit blankie, and that was it! Way too easy...meanwhile the rest of us enjoyed s'mores. This time, Sam actually tried the marshmallows.

The next morning...yes I survived the night with no air mattress and both of the boys slept through the night. Not bad, if you ask me! The boys were thrilled to wake up and find out that we were STILL camping and that we hadn't snuck them home to their beds while they were sleeping. Andrew discovered his new favorite place to play, under the picnic table (see below) and Sam showed me how he was as big as the trees (almost...).

Here's Andrew helping Joe roll up the tent...what a happy helper!

The River:

Did I mention that there is a little river/creek/stream (depending on the time of year that you are there) that runs right by the campground. The water was way to cold to get in (it was a pretty cool weekend) so we just made due with playing with the rocks. Joe and Sam built a dam, or tried to at least.

So after a great experience, I've decided that we can be regulars at this camping thing, assuming that we pick up a few essentials that we don't have yet, like an air mattress for me!