Camp Hillman

Posted on 2007-Aug-6 at 02:46

So how does a family with 7 month old twins go camping?  They pitch a tent in the garden, that's how.  At least that's how we did it.

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A week ago Saturday Ken presented the kids with a list as long as my arm of things that needed to be done around our place.  He told them that if we got the work done in a reasonable amount of time, we could set up the tent and he would sleep out there with them.  Everyone worked hard, and by about 4 o'clock I found myself out in the garden trying to figure out which poles went into which sleeves and where on earth did we put the tent stakes anyway? 

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I am the official tent-setter-upper in the family, and it is a yearly ritual for me to very unattractively lose my composure while doing so.  I also am the official lights-putter-onner for our Christmas tree.  Same scenario.  I basically start out in a happy mood and then disintegrate into a frustrated sweaty mess by the time I'm done. 

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It starts out with those annoying tent poles.  They do not stay together properly and they always get caught when you are trying to thread them through the sleeves on the top of the tent.  They used to have numbered stickers on them to tell me where they went, but someone tore the stickers off so now it's a guessing game that I usually lose and end up having to start over.  Why would they put stickers on tent poles to tell you where the poles go?  Stickers?  Don't they know kids love stickers, especially pulling them off of things?  I would think engraving the numbers onto something would be a better way to go.

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And then there are the tent stakes.  We ALWAYS lose the tent stakes and end up having to run to the store to buy more.   This year was no exception, but I refused to believe they were missing.  You can get about 100 of them for a buck, but it was the principle of the thing. I marched down into the basement and began to search.  And search.  And search.  No tent stakes.  I did find a part to my vacuum cleaner that I thought was missing and a nice picture frame I forgot about.  Plus several thousand spiders.  But no tent stakes.  I was getting pretty mad at this point and decided I would sing to put myself in a better mood.

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"To God (bang!)  be the glory , great things He has done!" (slam! crash!).  Embarassing childish display.  After the first verse I am pleased to say I was sufficiently calm again and singing much more sincerely.  Hymns have a way of doing that to me.  Once I got through the second verse I decided that going to the store and buying tent stakes was not the end of the world, and I gave up my search.

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Two hours later, the tent was erected (and staked down), the babies were asleep in their cribs and the campfire was built.  We sat in our garden around a crackling fire with the animals quietly grazing behind us.  It was a beautiful evening, cool and clear with a full moon.

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The boys gathered up a bunch of firewood, and we roasted a few hot dogs over the fire. 

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 Kevin had his very first S'More.

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All in all, it was a very fun camping trip.  Everybody had a great time sleeping in the tent.  I had the best time of all because as soon as it was bedtime, I walked up to the house and slept in my nice soft bed.

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Now that's what I call camping!

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Posted by Kitty on 2007-Aug-6 at 04:51 - Link

Hey, that is the only way to camp in my opinion, near a bathroom, LOL. Glad to see you had a great time. And once you've had a smore, you always want another one.
Kitty

Looks like such fun!

Posted by HSBFrontPorch on 2007-Aug-6 at 07:28 - Link

My kind of camping too. Fun by the campfire, beautiful scenery, and then a nice soft bed!
~Nancy

FUN!

Posted by Anonymous on 2007-Aug-6 at 10:45 - Link

Looks like a great time was had by all!

We have a new baby as well. So, my husband camped in the treehouse with the children recently. I slept inside and enjoyed the QUIET! :-)

Daja

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Posted by tioga12 on 2007-Aug-7 at 09:30 - Link

Sound like me trying to sew something! LOL

We have campfires out at the back of our property and let the kids do the tent thing while we go back in the house and sleep in a comfortable bed too. Isn't it wonderful? :-)

Thanks for sharing the pictures. The sunset was beautiful!!!

~Annette

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Posted by Agsd7 on 2007-Aug-7 at 12:16 - Link

You have a beautiful family, love those photos. We camp all the time, I could totally relate to the "tent setting-up" scenario. I'm sorry for all your frustration but you totally cracked me up with that. :)

Love it..

Posted by lerdman4 on 2007-Aug-9 at 07:35 - Link

I loved loved loved your story. Although something seems a little wrong, putting up the tent and the Christmas tree lights?? :o)
I left a comment on your sons blog, it's very nice. We love camping and this made me laugh.. Thanks for sharing
Blessings to you and your family,
Lisa

just beautiful

Posted by Cathy on 2007-Aug-10 at 05:30 - Link

Leah,
You and your family are just beautiful...I love the fun you all have and the love of being together.
~~ hugs to you all my friend ~~
Blessings,
Cathy

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Posted by kayinpa on 2007-Aug-14 at 12:00 - Link

Now thats a great camping trip...unfortunately we cant have campfires on our property. :( My dh, just asked me if I wanted to go camping Labor Day weekend......it would be a forgone conclusion if I didnt have a newborn....who knows we might as well break him in early...if I had twins...absolutely not...unless it was in the garden.