Camping in the Backyard

"We went camping, just me and my dad..." This is a line from Mercer Mayer's book, "Just Me and My Dad", a children's story about a little critter, er... boy, that goes on a camping trip with his dad. It is one of Henry's favorite books, and I've read it to him probably 100 times.

Last Saturday, Henry and I (and Tanya too) slept outside in the backyard in tents. We didn't do the whole camping routine like cooking outside or peeing/pooping behind a bush (the neighbors probably think we're crazy enough for sleeping out there in the first place), we just slipped out back at bedtime and slept the whole night in the tents.



I don't think I've ever seen Henry that excited. I took him out first at bedtime, and he and I got into the big tent and read books by flashlight. Every other page or so, he'd look up and around and say, "I can't belieeeeve it!". He and I have been talking about camping and sleeping in a tent for so long, and there he was finally doing it.

We made it the whole night, too. That was a bonus. I expected him to last a few hours and then get so whiney and uncomfortable that he'd have to come inside. But he didn't. He slept quietly and comfortably next to me the whole night. Tanya and I planned to switch out (she started off in the little tent by herself) at some point in the night, but it wasn't necessary.

Now, the next step is to actually travel somewhere and camp for real :-)