Roughing It

Our first family camp out!  We decided to do a test run this year in our own backyard. We could see the mountains and the stars so it definitely counts as camping.  

Actually I slept in the house to take care of little Joshie in his crib. (I know, it was noble of me to sleep in my soft, warm bed.) But I did help the older kids get all snuggled into their sleeping bags - five people in a four-man tent - and I read bedtime stories to them. They were hyper and silly for the first five books, until I started reading the Velveteen Rabbit. The kids were asleep by the end of it.

The next morning they were all happy and well-rested!  Mostly. Ben said they woke up pretty early but he made them stay in their sleeping bags, so they snoozed on and off.

I rescued them around 7:30 am. Nicole is already doing the teenage-girl early-morning pose for the camera. It sounds like they all stayed warm - it only gets down to around 50 degrees. Greg migrated toward Dad's sleeping bag during the night, but other than that everyone left each other alone.

Here they are! The survivors of the First Annual Nelson Family Camp-Out: Ben, Greg (3), Nicole (5), Zach (6), and Jonathan (8).

I think that this little guy and I slept the best though. We'll probably join the others next summer. But we're definitely going to need a bigger tent!