As noted, the little boys and I camped out last Friday night. My friend Stef, whose backyard I was sleeping in, was kind enough to share some photos so you can see more than my blurry Droid photo from Instagram (which incidentally, I always type as Instragram). I simply adore the above photo… only could have been better if Simon was with us (alas, he had to work and get up early the next morning to watch rugby). Next up in the adoration list are the comments I got on my FB status update from the backyard (I love modern technology and being able to FB, watch movies and check weather from a tent; that is my kind of camping – also my kind of camping: air mattresses. We have an aerobed that inflates itself and once the guys got the tent up, I put the mattress in and turned it on and someone commented, “That’s the sound of Michelle camping.” Darn right.) But back to the FB commentary… nothing like promoting something you are doing and then having people tell you that you are awesome to make you feel, well, awesome – thanks friends. Winning comment goes to Stef whose two-part comment read: “I sound like a terrible friend. A terribly warm friend.” After that and our text exchange, one would wonder why we are friends – I assure you, we are awesome together and share a love of good food, music and pop culture [see also: inappropriate humor].
It really wasn’t a terrible inconvenience and if we lived in an area where I felt comfortable sleeping out in our own backyard, I would buy a tent and do it more often with the boys because camping when there is a kitchen and bathroom a few yards away, not a big deal. More of a big deal is cold temperatures but while my nose was adversely effected, the boys were not at all cold and slept as comfy and cozy as normal. I did fear at one point that I might have smothered Jack with the air mattress but his head was just tucked under his pillow pet.
Prior to sleeping, we grilled out and made s’mores with our small group and had a blast. I won’t share all the photos but I will share my faves of my kiddos. Stef told Jack he could feel free to pee outside since he was going to be camping and to no ones surprise, he took her up on the offer (twice). She did get a great shot of him with pants dropped and a fern perfectly blocking his boy parts, but I’m not certain he would appreciate my sharing that on the blog (a private FB page is totally fine, however). But this shot, post-pee, is just too cute. Love that kid.
Also love this kid:
Liam was in his element, playing with pool noodles (and soccer).
Learning about fire from the men folk.
And light saber fighting with his buddies (I think it is adorable how my kids refer to the children of the people in our small group as their own small group).
Clearly, I was in my element as well, burning roasting marshmallows. I cannot look at this photo and not laugh (despite the unflattering chinnage/eye baggage).
Thanks to our friends for pulling together an impromptu evening that ended up being filled with wonderful memories!
ememby 