Backyard Camp Out

The girls have long been asking for us to take a camping trip, which I would really like to do, but the idea of camping with Maddie at this age is too daunting!  So, on the night of August 13, we compromised.  This is what the night looked like at our house:

Pretty, right?

I mean, look at that moon, and the sky was clear as a bell

So, I convinced Don to set up a tent in the backyard.  Between the two of us, we made quick work of it.  And, we "roughed" it.  By that I mean that we did not use air mattresses, even though I REALLY wanted one.  There wasn't enough room in the tent for all of them, and I couldn't have one and make the kids sleep on the ground.

Here is the tent:

See that strange glow?  Don ran an extension cord from the patio outlet so that I could have a reading light out there, after the kids fell asleep!  So, not really roughing it at all.

Here are 3 of my girls, all ready for bed.  Maddie slept in the house with Dad, Brianna was out for the night, and Brittany decided that she didn't really want to sleep in the backyard.

Here they are, all tucked in:  Abby, Emma, and Katie.  Aunt Becky had gotten them sleeping bags last Christmas, and while we had used them for family room slumber parties, this was the night we broke them in for outside use.  Although you can't really see them under all of the girls' "must have" blankets!

Brittany did come out and join us for a while, though.  We all took turns adding to a round robin type of story, and Brittany told the girls all about her day at school that day.

This is a picture of Katie, sound asleep.  I love the pose!  And yes, she really was sleeping.  I know this, because Brittany was tickling the poor girl, and the most she did was brush her hand across her face.

Abby fell asleep pretty quickly too.  I guess all the cool, fresh air, really wears you out!

And then there's Emma.

She had Brittany and I fooled for a good long while.  She kept a VERY straight face while Brittany was playing with her, and we honestly thought she was sound asleep too.  And then she cracked a smile, and that was the end of that.

This was what I woke up to the next morning.  Nylon sleeping bags, on a nylon tent bottom, with little wriggling girls in them all night migrate very well.  We all started out in a nice, neat row, but sure didn't stay that way long.  Here are Abby and Emma in one corner, and here's Katie in another.

We all had a really fun time though, and a surprisingly good sleep.  And I wasn't too stiff the next morning!