The BEST Place to Camp with the Littler Kids? Back up the U-Haul… It’s In Your Backyard

Backyard Camping Tops for Kiddos!

Yesterday I realized we’d yet to make a decent camping stint in this summer of ours.  Shame on me and our frenetic summer lifestyle. 

It’ll happen.... Patience little-people of mine.

So, to compensate, amid shrieks of delight, we dragged out the Big-Old Family Presto One Minute Marriage-Saver Tent (see previous blog) and, WAH-BANG!, one minute later, that baby was up and towering over the petunias right, smack, in the middle of our backyard.

Almost immediately, my girls began the supply runs. Back and forth to the house. Piles and piles and loads of THINGS that were clearly VITAL for a sleepover that night were stuffed, crammed, tossed into the tent.

Upon entering, once they’d “organized Mommy!” and I got the call for the grand tour, ‘twas as if I’d – blink, blink! – entered a Genie’s Bottle. There, along with the camping lantern and head lamp, was every single pink and purple pillow from their bunks, a full picture-book library complete with shelving for their evening reading pleasure, 200,000 stuffed animals (including some of the ones I’d weeded out last week and hid under the ping pong table… grrrr…) shoes for every occasion, the kitchen sink, a full sized replica of our fireplace and a pet elephant. Well, maybe not the last three – but the quantity of items tucked inside the mega tent was, well, mega!

Amazing.

As the sun finally went down around 8-ish, and we were finally able to tuck our little pack-rats and outdoor adventurers into their cozy, jammed nest, zipping up their sleeping bags, and turning virtually every outdoor light on full blast (sorry cat-lady neighbor!), we told them NOT scary stories and zipped their tent flaps up to bed. Little screen open on one side to let the stars through “and see the outside, Mommy!” They felt comfy, happy, complete with every single item from the house squished inside their space. A security blanket of sorts, I suppose.

And then, Zzzzzzzzzzzzz……

Nope.

By 9pm, both girls had moved inside. “The ground is all lumpy and uncomfortable and ….and……”

No worries. We quickly tucked their fuzzy, tired little heads into their INSIDE nests (which were a little denuded but we do own an amazing amount of cr#* so there seemed barely a dent missing) and realized, later, that, amidst the massive relocation of both camping and other vital items like pencil sharpeners and hairdryers, we’d forgotten the sleeping mats.

So, tomorrow, yes tomorrow, we will see if we can make it the whole night or at least to 10pm this time with a little help from their squishy, little sleeping mats… Or, heck, who are we fooling, we might as well break out the Queen Sized Auto-Inflatable Ultra Air Mattress. When in Rome… or, ahem, the Backyard…

Namaste & Three Cheers & Happy Camping! -A