The Great Outdoors

Camping.....Kaelan saw something on Sesame Street recently about going camping. The tent, the fire, the sleeping bags....it all seemed so charming to her, and so began her personal campaign to get mom and dad to take her camping.
Doug and I used to do our fair share of outdoor adventures, but since the addition of our darling Kaelan, we have realized that we have also added 40-50lbs of stuff to every excursion we partake in....that includes airplane trips, day hikes, and camping.

So, with our last trip still fresh in our memory.....rather the pain from that trip still throbbing in our heads, we decided we would give in and take Kaelan on that camping trip.....only there was a twist........we were not going to camp far from home.

Yep.....that is our backyard!

This is dad enjoying the great outdoors.........

.....nature

This is Kaelan roasting her first marshmallow.

This is Kaelan DEVOURING her first roasted marshmallow!

Overall, it was a successful camping "trip". Mom was not up to sleeping on an air mattress all night, so she came inside to watch the Tech game while Kaelan and dad became one with nature. Dad reported that everything was great until around 3:00 AM when Kaelan woke Daddy to tell him she wanted a new bed. When dad asked what was wrong with her special Dora blow-up camping bed, she responded with the dreaded, "It's wet."

Poor Kaelan was so warm and cozy in her sleeping back, that well, her bladder decided to relax as well. As daddy carried her back into the house, she cried and begged not to leave her tent and camping dreams behind.....

Mom made the executive decision that it was too cold to return to the tent, and that she could cuddle up in her nice warm bed (in her house) and finish off the night. The best part of the whole camping experience for Kaelan was summed up as mom changed the pajamas her shivering girl.

Mom: Well, you made it through most of the night camping. I am sorry you did not get to wake up outside, but you had fun camping, right?

Kaelan: Yeah. I am sad I did not get to spend the whole time in my tent....but those marshmallows sure are good.....I would like to do those again!