Labor Day Weekend Camping Trip 2009

My cousin asked us to go camping with them in September and my husband doesn’t “camp”, so the conversation went something like this…

HE SAID: No.

SHE SAID: We’ve never been camping together in 17 years!

HE SAID: We went camping a few years ago with your uncle, remember?

SHE SAID: You rented an RV! That doesn’t count. When have we slept out in a tent in the middle of the wilderness in all the time we’ve been together? We’ve never been on a family camping trip?

HE STARES.

SHE SAID: We need to unplug from society and get back to the land of the living.

HE SAID: What are you talking about?

SHE BLATANTLY USES THE CHILDREN: What about creating a great memory with the kids? They’re getting older…it would be a great experience!

SHE SAID: Pleeeeeaaaaase?!?!?!

HE SAID: {heavy sigh} OK.

SHE SAID: What?! Really?!?

And that’s how our camping trip of 2009 came to be. I ran to the telephone to call and tell everyone I was going camping with my hubby and my kids, who I’ve never been camping with. Oh, happy day! A family camping trip!

We swam, played “kick the can”, cooked great food over the campfire, roasted s’mores every night, went for twilight walks, played card and word games with the kids, told stories (some true, lol), walked around camp in our PJ’s, kicked it on the beach, threw the frisbee around, lounged and chatted over hot coffee.

But, alas, it wasn’t all bliss. My oldest daughter got stung on the inside of her lower lip by a bee that was floating in her soda…and my youngest got a tummy ache and threw up in between those lovely trees in the great outdoors. AND, that last night, I just about froze my whole *ss off (and there is some junk in this trunk)…no joke. Due to the fact that we’re NOT regular campers, we forgot important things like extra blankets and extra warm sleeping clothes (thank goodness for my cousin in her little RV – with heater – who gave my girls a few extras). I was doing jumping jacks in the restroom to stave off hypothermia, while my husband snored himself into tropical dreams. And so, admittedly, I used my puppy as a heater and stuffed him in my sleeping bag. Don’t worry, he was perfectly thrilled with the idea…he was all snuggly while defrosting me. It’s like I forgot that I live in Idaho or something.

Other than that, it was brilliant ~ loved it and will fight for it again next year!

Warmly (now that I’m home),
Rachel