Last year Nathan and I decided that we wanted to be a tent camping family. My parents gave us a tent as a gift, but since I was pregnant, we never ended up using the tent despite good intentions. In January we had a two month old, but we were bound a determined to tent camp this summer. We made three one night reservations for different campgrounds and different weekends to try it out. (We were only so ambitious with an infant, a toddler, and a preschooler in tow.)
We scheduled the first trip for Stub Stewart State Park, only 30 or so miles from our house. I mentioned our trips to a friend from church and her family ended up joining us. We were happy to have friends on our first trip, and the boys were happy to spend time with their friends Jane and Josie as well.
Friday night we packed up the van and headed out in some sprinkles to the campground. Luckily, it hadn’t really rained out there. It was dry and beautiful. We set up camp and the kids got to play around at the playground. We roasted marshmallows and ate s’mores.
The boys were super excited about sleeping in the tent. Here they are as we were getting ready for bed.
And Caleb was happy too:
It was pretty cold out there, but the skies were clear and it was so wonderful seeing the stars. All three boys went to bed relatively easily and the adults even got some adult time out by the campfire.
In the morning we cooked a yummy breakfast, sat around the campfire, and then packed up to go home. Nathan and I both had a lot of fun spending time with our friends, and I think for our first tent camping trip it was a big success! I’m glad we have two more short trips coming up this summer. Barring disaster on those, I think next summer we will be in store for some longer adventures.