"camping" out...out back, that is

The last weekend in September we pitched the tent in the yard for one last campout of the season. The kids helped put the tent up and I am almost convinced that D will be able to do it by himself next summer. We also made an investment in a fire pit which D and I put together. We cooked hotdogs and had our neighbors over for s'mores and just generally had fun. Who says you have to leave home to have a good time?

In addition to sleeping bags and pillows, M brought down stuffed animals and two backpacks. Before I really laid into her for bringing so much stuff I had the forethought to ask what was in the bookbags. Well, she had brought her blankie down in one and had gone into my room and brough my blanket down in the other. What a little sweetie! So of course she got hugs and kisses instead of being in trouble for bringing too much stuff into the tent...the picture of her with all her loot is attached.

M made it until about 9:00 when she decided she wanted to go inside to sleep. She said that the tent was not as cozy as her bed...very observant, that one. We moved her inside and to his relief J then had a perfectly good reason to sleep in HIS cozy bed instead of outside on the hard ground with us.

D and I lasted until about 3:30 when the sprinklers around the side of the house came on. In a panic, I crawled over D to get out of the tent and save our camping trip...visions of both being soaked to the skin from a direct hit, and ruining the tent if a sprinkler head was actually under the tent had me really worked up. D sat up and asked what I was doing and I told him. As I left the tent he asked "What do I do if they come on while you are gone?" A question to which I had no good answer, so I did what all good moms do and said "they won't go off."

I sprinted to the garage to turn off our sprinkler system (with a pit stop in our room where J was peacefully sleeping to confirm that I could turn them off mid-cycle...he was pleased to see his lovely wife regardless of the hour, of course). I turned the system off and the potential crisis was averted. Back in the tent D had huddled all the way under the covers and declared that he was hiding in case they came on before I got back. I told him they were turned off and we went back to sleep until 7:00 or so in the morning. Altogether a fun time. I wish I had more pictures but the camera ran out of film and that's that. I need to convert to digital photography here soon and join the 21st century...