Camping in the Great Outdoors

When I was growing up, our family took regular camping trips to the Great Smokey Mountains, something that I'll always look back on with fond memories. Somehow, when you're a kid, all the hassle of packing important things like food, blankets, and marshmallows don't seem so insurmountable.

Well, I want my kids to have those same fond memories. So, being a little less intrepid than my own parents, I decided to take the kids out on an excursion that was more in my stress level.

The back yard.Handyman pulled the tent out of the attic, and we got the thing set up in fairly short order. Our neighbor dropped by to give advice. Men are like that. Want to attract a load of men in less than a minute? Open your car hood and hem and haw, and it will draw them like flies to poop.

(Excuse the last statement. I'm becoming my mother, who thought the statement, "Like bees to honey" was not gross enough.)

The kids were lots of help.Please note the excessive sarcasm in my typing here.
Marshmallows are a necessity for camping, at least for Levertons. I don't personally care for marshmallows, as they're too sweet (ick), but Peter and Breanna each ate about ten of them apiece. That was not wise on my part.
Thankfully, the temperatures that night were cold, but not too bad (high 40's). I bundled the kids with enough clothes to rival the Michelin Tire Man, and had six blankets piled in the tent for us to snuggle in. About midnight I decided it was too hot and pulled off a sweatshirt. Or two.

In the morning, we were a bit stiff (okay, just me), but the kids had a wonderful time. I'll have to remember to do this when the weather warms up again in July.

If it's not too cold in your area yet, be bold, be intrepid, be daring -

- go camping in your back yard.