When our ward announced the ward overnighter, I became dead set on going to it. My poor little ones had NEVER been camping because Jared and I aren't super outdoorsy. I wanted to try it out, despite having to have 6 people share a 4 man tent, with 4 of those people being almost 8 years and under at the time.
We packed up half our house (or so it seemed), and made the drive, just to unpack, set up, and try our butane camping stovetop for the first time. The burgers were a hit, but Jed spilling almost an entire Gatorade on our limited blankets was not!...especially since we had not realized how the temperatures in the usually too high Arizona heat drop drastically at night.
One of the things that I loved was these camp shirts that I had the kids decorate for the special night! Why did I do this? Was it just for safety? It helped;o) I could spy them from far off with these bright shirts. I mostly did it, though, because I found them on sale for $1 each and thought it would be fun and memorable.
My little crazies are so silly;o)
I threw in jackets at the last minute, and I was sure happy that I had!!! They slept in them all night long, and in the middle of the night I made sure their hoods were on their heads, too, because it was a bit chilly. They seemed to sleep pretty well.
Before anyone wanted to get up, the littlest of our littles decided to crawl around, giving loves to Daddy and happily chatting about who knows what.
The girls soon thought being up was a great idea, and I started trying to keep them quiet so we wouldn't wake up the whole camp.
Lexi woke up happy and adorable.
Jed may have had a bit harder of a time;o)...or maybe he just was being a bit more serious, because he was showing off his poor cut hand from when he had fallen multiple times the night before.
Jared obviously got good sleep...ha ha...or not!
Neither of us did! I thought multiple quilts would be soft enough, since I didn't think we all could fit safely if we brought in any air mattresses. I WAS SO WRONG,... at least, about the quilts being soft enough. Jared and I tossed and turned all night long!!! I have a new appreciation for the sacrifices of Lehi, who "dwelt in a tent."
That morning we took a hike up with our family and one of Addie's besties, Aubrey.
After enjoying a breakfast that was provided by the ward, the kids also got to bust open a pinata that an amazing lady made to celebrate, since someone's birthday was that day!
My conclusions of how I feel about camping are the following:
*It is fun for the kids/a lot of work for the parents.
*Sleeping is pretty good for the kids/AWFUL for the parents.
*It takes a whole lot of prep work before/clean up afterward.
Overall,...it is worth it once a year, and only if air mattresses and warmer wear is brought! This first experience taught us a lot about what we could improve on. We will probably never be big campers, but we will go just enough that our kids will not be able to say that we never took them;o)
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