While most of the nation is gripped in a deep freeze they apparently forgot to tell Texas since one of our past weekends it was in the 60′s. And what better thing than to do in January than go camping? Camping season in Texas is very short. Well, comfortable, camping season that is. It’s about 2 weeks in our “spring” and 2 weeks in our “fall.” The rest of the time the daily highs are around 90-100 and the night it barely goes to 80.
So, while I’m looking forward to taking the kids camping this spring I figure a fun way to spend the weekend and do a “test-run” of the event was to do a little backyard camping. That way I could see what they thought of the
"Roughing It"
whole thing, check out my gear and see if there was anything I should get for the “real” camping trip later. Once I told the kids what we were going to do I swear just about every other sentence was about going camping. I made sure to explain to them we weren’t actually going anywhere but as true children they didn’t really care. They specifically wanted to know if we’d have a fire to roast marshmallows to which I replied “duh,” (not really).
I setup the tent before the kids got home from school and organized the tiny grill as our campfire. Since most of the grass was completely dry I made sure that the grill was standing on some solid patio tiles to avoid it getting tipped over or spreading burning embers. I also kept a fire extinguisher and garden hose nearby, “just in case.”
Once I got them home I told them we needed to get our beds ready. They both went to their rooms, grabbed their favorite blankets and pillows and then staked out a corner of the tent. After that they started playing around in the backyard and on the swings. They wanted to play soccer but I vetoed that since the chances of a high-velocity, youth-size soccer ball hitting the small 12″ grill containing a pile of white-hot charcoal was about 100%.
Once the fire was going it was time for hot dogs. They loved getting to cook their own and we were quite successful in that PD was able to only steal one of them.
Fire!
As we ate the hot dogs Katie remembered that she needed to look good for her fans and that when you’re cool the sun never really sets.
Fashion Plate
After we ate the hot dogs I then showed the kids a strange clue that I found in the backyard that was part of a mystery we needed to solve (but that’s post for another time).
Good Times
After going on an adventure and solving the mystery it was time for the smores.
Mmmmmmmm....
Delicious!
After enjoying the smores I brought out Katie’s awesome telescope and we looked at the moon and a few stars. It was a perfect night of fun but it was finally it was time to get in the PJ’s and climb into the tent. They wanted to play their Nintendo DS’s, which I allowed even though they weren’t standard issue camping gear. They’ve been having so much fun and behaving so well I didn’t see a problem with it and couldn’t tell them no. They played their games for a little while and I read my book by lantern light.
PD really enjoyed the tent and blankets as well and was resting near all of us. The wind wasn’t too bad and was just enough to keep a good breeze going through the tent. My cedar allergies started bothering me a bit but it wasn’t anything unbearable and was definitely worth the trip. The night passed uneventfully and while we woke up entirely too early the next day it was a great time. I’m already looking forward to the next trip.