Our First Camping Trip-The Tent

Well, I'm breaking our first camping adventure up into several posts because I may have come home with tons of pictures (none that are that great, but I love them because everyone was so happy) and am tired of making collages. So, for starters, we have the tent assembly post. When I asked Kevin how long he thought it would take to put up the tent, he said twenty minutes. I may have laughed a little. I was proud of him, however, that he managed to get it up in about an hour. I was secretly afraid we wouldn't get it put up at all and would end up begging to rent a cabin. I underestimated him. Anyway, he had lots of help, and the kids were beside themselves with excitement when he was finished! I'm pretty sure we could have just hung out inside the tent for the rest of the day and they would have thought it was a great trip. Way to go Kevin!

Now let me finish by saying that we came on this trip with a tent, 3 sleeping bags, and we bought air mattresses on our way to the campsite. We purchased camping equipment last spring, and never have made time to go. We are not experienced campers. Kevin went camping a lot as a kid, but I don't think he quite had a grasp on the planning and work that is also involved. Anyway, camping looked like a lot of work to me, and not particularly my style of getaway. But, we decided to do it as simply as possible, and it worked out pretty well for a fly by the seat of your pants, one night adventure. I will say that there is no better way to learn what you may need for a camping trip than to forget it the first time. I'm all about learning from your mistakes, and let's just say our trip provided many learning opportunities. We still survived and had a great time just being together without the usual distractions.