The Girls First Camp Out.

Last night the girls had their very first camp out in our backyard. Grandma Karen and Grandpa Jonathan were the brave ones to sleep outside in the tent with them. It took quite a while for everyone to wind down (it didn't help that our kitty, Daisy was harassing them from outside of the tent) but just after 10pm everyone drifted off.

Grandpa and Grandma came over yesterday during our usual Friday morning "play-date". It was a bit hectic because there were LOTS of kids here. Liza was here with Joshua, Jackson and Joel and Julie was here with Brianna and Timothy. Jason, our new neighbor who is 3 was also here as was Felicity...then Grandpa and Grandma arrived! Talk about a bit overwhelming. It wore Grandpa out so fast he had to go take a L-O-N-G nap!

Once everyone left we got into more of a groove for the day (even though it was actually about 1pm by then). We had lunch, Abby took her nap and then the fun began. The girls helped Grandpa set the tent up. Tents have come a long way, this one was REALLY cool and was put up SO fast we had to do it twice because Jeremy missed the first take! Then we started a fire, roasted hot dogs (threw away the freshly purchased MOLDY buns--EWW!) and marshmallows and had s'mores--YUMMY! Apparently that campfire was the attraction of the decade because we had quite a group of kids over here. It was a great time though and it was so nice sitting around a camp fire, it's been a LONG time since I last did that.

The girls slept pretty well, although Savannah was up at 6:30--go figure. Abby actually slept in until after 8, even though it was pretty noisy and rather bright. When she's sleepy, she wants to sleep! What a good girl!

I tell ya, there is nothing like waking up and having your hot cup of coffee outside in the fresh, damp morning air! Oh, it was wonderful. I don't think I've ever seen our yard at that hour before (granted it was about 7:30, but still, I don't usually get outside that early). Savannah sipped hot cocoa (or lukewarm cocoa, as she likes it). Apparently she was watching Jonathan put in his contacts this morning and asked him what he was doing. He was explaining how he couldn't read anything until he got them in and she replied, "That's okay, I can't read either!" Hahaha...then later she told me that she watched Grandpa put his "tonsils" in! She's so funny!

Once everyone was up and moving around, we went out berry picking. It felt like an actual camping trip. It was quite a trek through lots of weeds and stickers, but we got enough berries to make a berry shortcake for lunch. Jonathan wanted the girls to have the full camping experience, so they cooked canned spaghetti on the Coleman stove. Then it was nap time for Grandpa and Abby.



This evening we had another fire and hot dog roast...and of course we had marshmallows. Grandpa and Grandma packed up and went home, but it sure was a fun visit. The girls passed the first test of camping readiness.