The Campout

The boy's camp out in the backyard was a big hit. They were bursting with excitement from the second the tent was pulled out of the garage and set up in the backyard. I set up the tent around 3:00 in the afternoon, and they were already asking if they could go to bed. Well, I did convince them to wait until 8:00 to go to bed. But they had fun getting the tent set up "just right" before that time. Of course, going to bed is a loose term. They were up reading books, talking, laughing, and doing whatever boys do until way after it was dark. In fact, they were still up and talking when David got home from guys night at 10:30.
I was all set up to sleep on the couch with the window open just a few feet from their tent, when David announced that he was going to go out and sleep with them in the tent. I was floored- did pigs fly that day and I hadn't heard about it? David hates sleeping in a tent. I can't count the number of times we've hiked somewhere with heavy backpacks, set up camp in a beautiful location, and then when evening approaches he convinced me that we really can't sleep on the ground and need to pack it all up, pack it all out, and head to a hotel. Here David was actually offering, without being asked, with work the next day, to sleep out in the tent with the boys. I was floored!
Back to the point, the boys had a wonderful time! I don't know how much sleep they actually got, as all 3 of them were pretty tired the next morning. It was definitely a memory making experience for them. They wanted to sleep out again the next night, but storms were expected and we all needed some good sleep. So they've been promised that when it gets a little cooler, like in September, that Mommy will sleep out in the tent with them one night.