Camping

So, I have a couple of daughters that are American Heritage Girls. And the group decided to hold a Camp-o-ree. Original plan was for mother and daughter to attend camp. Andrew and I had planned to attend the prior week for cub scouts. Ours didn't work out. So, the day before the camp-o-ree we decided that we should all go. (5 of us anyway). So, we loaded up the truck and off we went of a Friday night. Excitement abounded. We quickly chose a campsite and started setting up camp. After putting up the tent, we realized that we had set up on some tree roots. I said no problem as I had an air mattress and it wouldn't matter to me anyway. Life is good. Then we go to bed.

By 10:00 we had no air in the mattress and my son had a real nasty cough. Add to that a pretty nasty rain storm around midnight and sleeping was not going to happen. Being a typical competitive man who does not like defeat, I was determined to not let one bad night beat me. So, while everyone started their activities on Saturday morning, I went off to Academy for supplies.

After collecting 3 new air mattresses and a sleeping bad I headed back to camp via my house where I took a shower. My wife had previously decided to not stay a second night but the kids wanted to stay and I was game. Armed with a new outlook and functioning gear, I proceeded to set up camp again. The 3 new air mattresses fit perfectly across the tent. Our food preparation was stressful that night as it just didn't want to get done.

Finally about 10:00 that night we settled off to sleep. Probably one of the best nights of sleep ever. The next morning after breakfast my 17yr old broke down camp all by herself. I am very proud of her.

I am hoping to continue this with my children as we all learned a lot and came closer as a family.