Several years ago, when we lived in Gold Beach (also on the S OR Coast) our small children wanted to go camping. I think I was actually pregnant that first year. Somehow, camping seemed an insurmountable task on so many levels.
I couldn't imagine packing, loading, setting up camp, keeping little ones safe, preparing and serving and eating food, and then cleaning up. Not to mention SLEEPING, which is hard enough to do at home when pregnant and the mother of a tiny person or three.
Then there were the ramifications for the days following - the days of creeky hips and aching back and misery.
So, we came up with a compromise which has served us well for at least the past six or seven years.
Pajama Camp
Those first tender years, we actually drug the mattress from our bed out into the tent in the back yard for the night, which proved a viable compromise. Now days, we have an air mattress. From one year to the next, we always forget that neither of us sleeps when we spend the night on the air mattress. Perhaps next year we will have the foresight to drag the mattress out there again.
This is our faithful family tent in the park like setting of our back yard.
But, wait! Is that the shadowy figure of a child in the tent?
Yes! Yes it is! A PJ Camp newbie of the highest order.
"Did you say we're going to sleep in here??"
"Yippee!"
Life is good in the family tent.
Everyone plays until it is dark enough to fall asleep. (And until the parents grow hoarse from reminding them to stop giggling.)
In the end, all the children sleep wonderfully and awaken with joy, glad the warm house with the bathrooms is only a few yards away.
Perfect.
I couldn't imagine packing, loading, setting up camp, keeping little ones safe, preparing and serving and eating food, and then cleaning up. Not to mention SLEEPING, which is hard enough to do at home when pregnant and the mother of a tiny person or three.
Then there were the ramifications for the days following - the days of creeky hips and aching back and misery.
So, we came up with a compromise which has served us well for at least the past six or seven years.
Pajama Camp
Those first tender years, we actually drug the mattress from our bed out into the tent in the back yard for the night, which proved a viable compromise. Now days, we have an air mattress. From one year to the next, we always forget that neither of us sleeps when we spend the night on the air mattress. Perhaps next year we will have the foresight to drag the mattress out there again.
This is our faithful family tent in the park like setting of our back yard.
But, wait! Is that the shadowy figure of a child in the tent?
Yes! Yes it is! A PJ Camp newbie of the highest order.
"Did you say we're going to sleep in here??"
"Yippee!"
Life is good in the family tent.
Everyone plays until it is dark enough to fall asleep. (And until the parents grow hoarse from reminding them to stop giggling.)
In the end, all the children sleep wonderfully and awaken with joy, glad the warm house with the bathrooms is only a few yards away.Perfect.
Taste and see that the LORD is good; blessed is the man who takes refuge in him. ~Psalm 34:8
Backyard camping is GREAT!! We love it too. Even after many years, that backyard corner looks familiar.
ReplyDeleteNow please stop twittering, facebooking and blogging so much, because I'm having a hard time keeping up!!
=)
=)
=)
Yeah!! You're back!!!
ReplyDelete