[Yes. ALL CAPS with! exclamation points! I’m serious about this.]
Part of the problem is that we’re broke. We literally can’t afford to gas up the big green truck (or the little white Honda, for that matter) and drive anywhere further than about 10 miles.
The other part of the problem is that half of the state was actively on fire for about six weeks. Seriously, huge fires. I think that the biggest one was a bit over 93K acres! Huge. And, one was right where we love to camp. So, we picked a new spot and decided to go camping with Tante Sid, and it started on fire the very next weekend. Then, there were two fires in our county, and, and, and…..
Now that the fires are out (thanks to three days of much needed rain), everything is so dry due to the drought that is gripping the nation, that we don’t want to go in fear that a nearby fellow camper will do something stupid and burn us all up. It’s really, really bad.
Anyway, all of that wasn’t part of my plan when I started writing this. Here’s where we actually get to the part that relates to my post title!
Since we couldn’t go camping, we decided to “camp” in the back yard. We took two pup tents out for the boys, and I slept in between them with no tent. It was a bit chilly in the middle of the night, but otherwise absolutely beautiful. It was a Friday night which means that I’m tired from a long week at work. I do my best couch parenting on Friday nights! I just want to sit and veg and then go to bed, but of course, the boys weren’t having any of THAT!
They didn’t get to sleep until after 11pm. We looked at stars and the moon. We talked about noises that we could hear. We wondered if a skunk would wander into our yard and spray us. Finally, they went to sleep. THEY did. I didn’t. I’ll say it now: I’m getting too old and fat to sleep on the ground. That shit’s uncomfortable! (Plus, I had to keep waking up to make sure that they were covered up and staying warm all night because neither of them can hold still enough to keep the blankets on them – not even a fully zipped up sleeping bag!
Peanut was the first to wake up. Of course. At the I-want-to-see-what-the-crack-of-dawn-looks-like hour. He’s impossible. I woke up when I heard him wake. We looked at each other, and he immediately crawled into my sleeping bag with me. As soon as we got snuggled together, he looked at me and said “Mom! This is the best camp out, ever!” Then, we just giggled and laughed and tickled and giggled some more.
Meatball was, of course, asleep this entire time. In fact, we were heading into town to do something at a specific time, and I had to carry his sleeping body into the house so that we could all get ready!
But, it really was a great camp out. I love those moments with them.
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