First Camp-Out! (Fail)

We decided we should do a trial run of sleeping outside in a tent before we whisk the girls off to do the real thing in the woods. With the bears. Kate's very concerned about the bears. We should stop letting her watch Colbert. For the first go, we decided to camp over at Aunt Jo Jo and Uncle Steve's. We'd have employed our own yard, except it looked like this (more on this later, you may notice its current state is one of progress!)


So, We gathered up all the camping gear and some of the not-camping gear (to make the tent more home-like) and off we went to the wilds of Third Avenue. Kate loved helping me set up the tent. Both girls loved getting in the tent, in their styly sleeping bags and snuggling in. They also both loved the cook-out and making s'mores by the fire. We let them stay up too late and eat too much sugar. The we allowed Sarah to insist that everyone "get up get up it's circle time!" and "now, hold hands...ring around the rosie!" twice. That kid is so freakin' bossy.

Then it was time to bed down. We lit the lantern and herded the girls into their tent. First, they couldn't decide on the best position. Then, there was the fighting about the lantern ("on!" versus "too bright!"). Then, just when I thought we'd pulled it off, came the inevitable. "I don't want to sleep out here! I'm scared! I want to sleep inside in a bed." My kids turned out to be bigger marshmallows than the ones they'd toasted and crammed in their whiny s'mores holes. Some parents would be appalled to have a child who's a criminal or maybe a trannie. I'm equally put off by the idea of non-camping children. We let them come in, though, because it wouldn't be much fun for them if I forced them to stay in the tent. However, we're still taking them camping for real and out there, the options will be to sleep in the tent or out under the sky. With the bears.