Camping in the backyard
August 19, 2006
Tonight Rob and the boys are camping out in the backyard. He built a huge fire in our koi pond turned fire pit and roasted hot dogs for dinner with them. Yes, our house a had a man made coy pond in the back yard that we promptly drained and now use it to have bonfires. Because honestly, aren’t bonfires much more fun than watching little fish swim around?
And then we all roasted marshmallows and made smores.
And then I retreated back into my bug free and comfortable house. Why sleep on the cold hard ground reeking of smoke when there is a comfortable bed and shower mere steps away?
And so my tenure as the fun parent has come to a screeching close. As it should be.
I should just embrace the fact that my lot in life is to make sure that all the rules are followed and that no one has too much fun.
And if it means I get to sleep in my climate controlled house without the risk of bugs crawling on me or racoons opening up my tent, I am fine with it.
RSS feed for comments on this post.
The URI to TrackBack this entry is:
http://www.notesfromthetrenches.com/2006/08/19/camping-in-the-backyard/trackback/
Yup…we have camp fires in the back….when I was invited to spend the night outside on the tarp with NO tent…I said…uhhh…no thanks!!!! you boys have fun.
My dd and I had a glam party in the house!!!
August 19th, 2006 at 9:26 pm“my lot in life is to make sure that all the rules are followed and that no one has too much fun”
Boy, I think you just succinctly summed up the job of the mom!
Camping and bonfires are such fun; but there’s absolutely nothing wrong with a climate-controlled, nature free zone, especially when you’re trying to sleep! Hope your kids and dh have a good night!
August 19th, 2006 at 9:28 pmSounds like fun…for them! My boys spent a night in the yard last week but only because dh tried to organize the garage and had everything on the driveway. He didn’t want anyone to “borrow” anything so he said, “Let’s camp out!”
August 19th, 2006 at 10:03 pmOr, you can be the sucker I was at 22, when my then 10-year-old brother begged me to chaperone a campout for him and a friend. Guess who woke up a 3:00 am, bugbitten and freezing, while my charges had called it quits and gone inside? Sorry, kiddies, Mommy learned her lesson over a decade ago!
August 19th, 2006 at 10:39 pmMy kids only get me to camp out every five years. I guess it is like labor, you forget until you in the middle of it and realize how painful it is!!!
August 19th, 2006 at 11:16 pmsee, it’s that kind of self sacrifice that gives mothers around the world a warm fuzzy feeling! Glad the kiddos had fun, and you didn’t have to go along!
August 20th, 2006 at 12:10 amSince we have no kids, we have both a koi pond AND a fire pit in our back yard. Big kids like having fun too! And I come inside and sleep in my nice cool bug free home!
August 20th, 2006 at 12:15 amI recently camped with my husband, three year old, and four month old. It was HORRIBLE. Everything went wrong. The 3 yo cried the whole time. It POURED, the tent leaked, we rented a boat and damaged it causing us to fork out another $100, it was freezing at night (ever breastfeed a baby -at 2 AM- who felt more like an ice cube than a human? –it literally hurt to have skin contact!) Yeah, don’t blame you one little bit.
August 20th, 2006 at 12:24 amI took my girls camping this summer. Well, I took them to their Aunt and Uncle’s lake side cabin, they all camped, and I went to a hotel. I did bring them doughnuts in the morning.
August 20th, 2006 at 3:12 amThat’s why you are the Brains AND the Beauty in the family….
August 20th, 2006 at 5:14 amHow fun! I was just discussing camping in the backyard with the little princess last night. I love the coy pond/bbq pit!
August 20th, 2006 at 9:16 amI’m with you, sleeping in the house and making sure no one has too much fun.
August 20th, 2006 at 9:26 amI am called “The Fun Police” almost daily in my house..great pictures.
August 20th, 2006 at 12:02 pmLove the fire pit! Burning lumps of sugar (marshmallows) are kinda cool too although I tend to eat the chocolate only.
August 20th, 2006 at 12:05 pmThe things I am learning now to prepare me for the years to come!!! Camping for me requires indoor plumbing and at least a travel trailer. Thanks for the lesson on how to both enjoy and avoid backyard camping!!
August 20th, 2006 at 12:34 pmWe’ve always had bonfires and camping in the backyard… this year we took the kids ‘real’ camping again for the first time in a couple years.
112 degree’s. Raccoons terrorizing our campsite. Raccoons eating our soap. Swampy sand at the lake that smelled like hog manure. Green warm tempid water (because of the 112 degree weather). Hot tents. Hard ground. Living out of ice chests.
Yeah… I like the backyard camping much better!
August 20th, 2006 at 12:57 pmI am just soooooo not an outdoorsy person. I could maybe handle the campfire but defintely not the sleeping outside. I plan to go through my life without EVER actually camping. I love my bed, sheets, and indoor potty too much.
August 20th, 2006 at 1:04 pmSo, um….are there just dead fish lying in your fire pit? Did you have fish for dinner?
August 20th, 2006 at 1:46 pmI just don’t GET camping. I mean…. I just don’t GET it. Didn’t humanity evolve so that we didn’t *have* to live like cavemen?? Have I missed something?? I mean, if camping was so good would we have invented cities? Huh? If we were meant to live in the great outdoors would God Almighty have invented AC? Think about it.
And why is it men who like camping? Is it genetic?
Though encourage the disposition in your kids Chris so that sometime in a glorious future when your Dh goes camping in some hellhole backwater out of the way rurality he’ll be able to take all your kids with him!! Every. Single. One.
Excpet the she-child. She must stay and you must teach her to make coffee for such a momentous time….
August 20th, 2006 at 2:16 pmAfter a life of vacations camping with the family and wondering where, exactly, was the vacation? . . . I’m thinking YOU are the one who had the best of both worlds and the “too much fun!” Way to go!
August 20th, 2006 at 2:24 pmUgh, the fire pit! I totally missed this when I was back there.
August 20th, 2006 at 2:32 pmWell gosh. Someone’s got to house sit. Might as well be you.
August 20th, 2006 at 3:27 pmSounds like a pretty easy trade off to me. Did you actually get to sleep alone in the house?! Wow.
August 20th, 2006 at 3:34 pmMy in-laws have a koi pond. All we ever see swimming in it are OUR CHILDREN.
A bonfire sounds much less dangerous.
August 20th, 2006 at 9:02 pmHow fun! I am totally with you on being in the house. Hanging until after the s’mores works for me!
August 20th, 2006 at 9:30 pmUmmm. Chris, I heart you. Can I come live at your house? With the s’mores and the camping and the giant fire? Please. I’m nice and polite and long out of diapers and can stay home alone for many many hours. Think about it.
August 20th, 2006 at 9:56 pmWe’ll have to wait another month or so before camping is even POSSIBLE in our area. It’s killer hot; literally.
August 20th, 2006 at 11:19 pmI frequently refer to myself as the “No Fun Police” because even though I’m the one who organizes and initiates the fun event, I’m also the one who has to say, “It’s time to go”.
August 21st, 2006 at 9:50 am