More Camping

The first night in the tent was a success! Partly. Ok, not really. Annie and I didn't plan to sleep in the tent. Mark had to work early and I didn't want to deal with the kids & baby all by myself in the morning, so Grandma said she would take the kids in the morning, and I could sleep in my bed. Then it turns out that she also volunteered to let Mark sleep at home too, and it would just be Grandma and her Grandkids camping. I think she likes her grandkids... :) Julibeth came out to sleep with Ethan, but at some point (I heard it was when the kids were fighting over who got to sleep by Ethan) Ethan and JB went in the house, and then it was just Grandma and our three oldest kids. Around 5 or 6 in the morning Shelly went in the house to try to sleep on the couch, and Emily kept sticking her head in Grandma's face saying 'Sh Welly, side, Honey, side - Sh Welly, side, Honey, side.' No amount of Grandma agreeing with her that Shelly and JB were inside would stop her from relaying the information. Grandma's a trooper!

Side Note: Shelly had the funniest dream. She was sleeping on the couch, and in her dream she was riding in the car. She was trying to put her seat belt on, and 'Oops, I fell off the couch.' I laughed so hard when she told me that story! Anyways, back to our regularly scheduled programing.

So, we decided to leave the tent up and try it again on Sunday night. This time Mark and I both stayed. There was plenty of room to have the foams for the kids, a port-a-crib for Emily and the bassinet for Annie, but instead we all just used a foam pad, air mattress, or blanket and 'roughed it.' Emily likes to wander when she's not in a crib. That was a mistake. Annie likes to scoot off her blanket. That was also an adventure, but she only did that twice so it wasn't as bad. Our air mattress was fine. That was a good idea. :)

And, as always, when sleeping in a tent, dinner must come from a fire. Or at least dessert.

I had spent much of the morning on Saturday making these chairs for the 4 oldest kids (Ethan, Shelly, Jason and Emily).
Elaine sewed the fabric, and LaMont drilled the holes for the drills, but I did the design (I stole it, and then altered it on accident) and all the pvc pip cutting and most of the putting together - the first time anyways. They came apart a time or two during drilling and fabric sewing.

The kids love to play on this mound of gravel.

Like the joker look? He had some punch to drink...

Mmm, smores... Although I think that's the end of my hotdog, and not a smore. Smores are still good.

Annie loves to sleep on Grandpa

He usually doesn't mind too much.


I love this way of roasting things. Mark is brilliant.

The kids found some farm equipment to play on.


She had some punch too...

I love the smile I can almost see behind the cup...

He's fairly high up. Grandpa was nervous.


Nanon came to join us and show off her new car.




This is the stuff that really made Grandpa nervous

We kept trying to tell him to turn around

Grandpa, not Ethan. Ethan was fine, Grandpa was not.

Although there are quite a few sharp edges on this thing.



Falling and getting cut is a real possibility

He finally felt better when the kids decided to get down

and give Grandpa a hug

Annie wasn't nervous at all, not even once.

The tent experience went fairly well. I found myself unable to go back to sleep after I had been woken up by kids around 1:30. Mark agreed to bring the baby when she needed food, and I was keeping him up anyways. So around 4 I gave up and went home. Other than that, it went much better than the last time. Julibeth and Ethan stayed in the tent with us, and woke around 6, Emily and Jason were in the house before Mark brought the baby over around 8, and he thought Shelly was still asleep, but he was wrong. All things considered, I think we'll enjoy the new tent.