In our own Backyard

Well this was the first Memorial Day weekend that we were not in Wyoming branding Grandpa's cows...instead Wes came up with the idea to have a little camp out in our own backyard. I sat down with the kids on Saturday morning and gave them a list of chores they had to get done before I would tell them what the "surprise" was. After a LONG morning, I finally broke down and told them what Dad had planned. Tye was super excited, Taylor had no clue what a tent was and Tate was mad that it wasn't money.

It has been years since Wes & I have put up a tent. I actually bought this tent last year and it took a few minutes to figure it out. Wes started reading the directions and I got inpatient. (I do have my YW camp certificate - plus two year Jr. Staff behind my belt.) Needless to say I started connecting the color coordinating poles and......

The whole time Taylor had no clue what we were doing, when it was finally all done she couldn't believe how "bootiful it was" I told her this was her castle and Dad was the knight going to protect her. She ran in the house, got a princess dress, went in the tent and stepped outside giggling. She thought she was so fabulous.
Tye grabbed the lawn chairs

And Tate came strolling out of the house with drinks for everyone....can't forget Dad's coke!

We rounded up some fire wood to start a fire for dinner.

And I went all out with Hot Dogs and ketchup! Our kids loved cooking them so much that I thought our dog was going to explode.


We did finish the night off with right with some smores, but not ONE of my kids liked them, Tye didn't like the chocolate, Tate didn't like the marsh mellows and Taylor took one little lick and started with the "agggg, this is nasty" needless to say the dog came in handy again.

We sat around the fire for hours telling the kids about our camping trips when we were first married, and then once the stars came out we called it a night. (So we thought) A fabulous night turned into a disaster! Every hour someone was awake, Taylor had to go the bathroom, then I was freezing, the wind started blowing, Tate had to go to the bathroom, and I was still freezing, I kept tossing and turning, stealing the covers from Wes, he kept rolling around and by 3:30 I couldn't take it any longer....it was the most uncomfortable thing. I asked Wes earlier in the night if I could bring the memory foam off our bed and he made fun of me. Instead I think I slept on the biggest dandelion in the universe. Wes lasted until 5 - when the tractors started and the next day we both had to overdose on Tylenol to help with the pain in our back and shoulders. We barely made it to church, and when we came home the wind had broken some poles to the tent but all I could care about was a nap. The entire family went down for a nap, with Tye holding the record for 5 1/2 hours.

That night we headed over to our friends house and a fun night having another campfire. (Although this time we did upgrade to tin foil dinners and strawberry shakes instead of smores.) Monday we had all the friends over and ended the weekend riding horses with some other families and a great steak and kabob dinner.

I can't say I'll be pitching any tents anytime soon...but we have been laughing about it since. Sometimes it's fun just to be home and spend some time in our own backyard.