1. It is impossible to look graceful whilst exiting a small tent. Large tent- maybe. Small tent- nope.
2. The warmth and optimism you feel for the evening at 8:00 pm is inevitably gone at 2:00 am.
3. Sometime in the aforementioned 2:00 hour, one will question why the hell they decided to sleep outside when there is a perfectly good bed waiting for them at home.
4. Sometimes it is better to cut your losses and bail. Specifically if your two year old can’t get on board with sleeping in the cold. See numbers 2 and 3. (Mike and Karen- you did what you had to do. He wasn’t going back to sleep).
5. When camping out one night with a large group, there is always enough food to feed everyone for at least 5 days. And whether it is smoked chicken burritos with roasted vegetables and adobo chiles or Kroger brand chips, it will all taste good.
6. Question number one the morning after the camp-out is always “how did you sleep?”. (I think three people in our group of roughly 60 slept soundly, warmly, and well. Those three people were my husband and two older kids).
7. In order to maximize your chances of sleeping soundly, warmly, and well, borrow good camping gear from your friends who have hiked the entire Appalachian Trail. People crazy enough to do things like this inevitably have the gear that makes it somewhat less cold and miserable at night. (Thank you, Tom and Anna).
things i learned: 1. that good camping gear doesn’t do jack if your feet easily get claustrophobic. 2. that everyone in camp can hear everything that goes on in your tent. 3. roasted veggie burritos might make for an entertaining night of noises. –let’s do it again real soon though!!!
yes, particularly on number 2 (which ties nicely into number 3): tent walls are not real walls.
8. That somewhat mild concern at 8:00 pm about hypothermia and your 4 month old will grow and multiply exponentially by 2:00 am.
2:00 am is not a good hour. Period.
haha! i laughed out loud at your post! we went on that camping trip last year and my husband thought we were fools for going! our big kids slept like champs, but around 3 am, i thought we might have to pack the tent and head home when i was trying to nurse a freezing crosby in a cold tent! brrr!! i think we had our tent packed up by 6 am and were the first ones out of the campsite, though since everyone was up with the first noise and light! somehow, my kids still LOVED it! making memories, right??
yup… we’ll probably do it again next year:)
I think it’s absolutely awesome that you went camping with the family! My friends with a 2 year old have found that sleeping in a family size tent with him actually let’s them sleep in – it’s like a gigantic pack n’ play, safe, and since they are in there with him, they can snooze while he entertains himself. Also, if we’re talking car camping, let’s just go ahead and embrace the inflatable queen (or king) size mattress that fills the tent. Really no need to “rough” it if you don’t have to.
wise words, cat. wise words. i am totally on board with an inflatable mattress. and maybe a space heater??
oh my gosh, we might have been warmer sleeping next to the fire! and of course it’s 80 degrees this week.