In Mikie's mind, camping involves sleeping in a tent and eating food cooked on sticks (hotdogs, marshmallows, etc.). So, we invested in a two person tent and a fire pit.
Fast forward to yesterday, October 4th. Mike decided that it was a good night to go camping. Now, I personally thought this was a crazy idea. After all, it's October in Massachusetts, meaning, it's cold. It's 9am right now and still only 44 degrees outside. But, I decided not to fight it. In my head, I rationalized that the cold might be good for Mikie's cough (he has a tendency towards croup that I've been fighting off for the last week). But, I'll admit, I selfishly welcomed the idea of getting a good night's sleep with no little people coming in at 4am and using my bulging abdomen as an ottoman, or my lower back to practice his kung fu kicks.
Mikie was ecstatic at the idea of camping. Before soccer practice, the two boys assembled the tent. This was a challenge since one of them refused to read the directions, and the other couldn't read them if he wanted to. So, in between documenting the event with photos, I had to point out that the poles weren't all the same size, so you couldn't arbitrarily put them anywhere, and that the rain cover was oriented backwards. Eventually, the tent was assembled.
Next came the trip to Target for sleeping bags and lanterns. Mikie was very excited because his bug-themed sleeping bag came complete with a matching flash light and water bottle.After soccer practice, we returned home, and the boys enjoyed hotdogs and hamburgers on the grill. The baby and I enjoyed our standard fare of pasta in the warm house. The boys went exploring around the neighborhood, where Mikie informed everyone he met that they were going camping. I think the neighbors now have a slightly different opinion of Mike: that of a crazy insane person. But, they refused to be discouraged.
When they returned from their walk, they started building the "campfire". Mikie came running inside at this point to tell me they had a fire and it was getting "so big" it was going to "burn our house down." In reality, none of the wood was actually burning at this point, due to a lack of kindling. I came outside to reassure Mikie (and get a smores once the fire was complete). Between Mike and I, we got the fire going, and Mikie got over his fear enough to make "marshmallows on sticks". He doesn't really like marshmallows, but knows that I will only let him eat so many pieces of chocolate without making a "marshmallow sandwich" (aka smores).
By 7:45, Mikie was anxious to go to sleep. After being zipped up half a dozen times and requesting more blankets, he was happily tucked in and off to sleep. Mike and I sat by the fire for another hour before my extremities were freezing and I decided to head in to the house. At 10pm, I noticed Mike was still sitting by the dwindling fire, waiting patiently for it to go out.
At 3:30am, the "camping trip" ended. I know the time because it happened to coincide with my middle-of-the-night trip to the bathroom. I could hear Mikie yammering away downstairs. I thought they may have come inside for a potty break as well. However, when I woke up this morning, I noticed a pile of blankets, sleeping bags, and pillows strewn across the floor of the family room. Mike originally claimed that Mikie woke up coughing, and he thought it best for them to come inside. But, he later admitted that it was "way too cold" to stay out there all night.
On the upside, because they were downstairs, no one interrupted my sleep. On the downside, the time I spent outside by the campfire irritated my allergies. So, I will be spending the majority of my day consuming Benadryl and orange juice.I think next time they want to go camping, they will probably pass on fall in favor of the warmer summer months.
Love, The Trahans
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