Father/Son Campout...

One weekend a year, Steve pretends for our boys that he loves camping and they eat it up. They go with our church to the mountains, set up a tent and roast marshmallows. The boys play in the dirt, throw rocks, stay up late and just about every thing else a mother would object to. They don't brush their teeth, they don't put on clean clothes and they have a great time. I would be such a buzz kill on this trip! Even when I suggested they take their tooth brushes, Steve shot me a look which screamed - Sure we'll take them, but we're not going to use them and I'll probably just lose them.

So they don't have to cook food while they're there, they stop for some food on the way up just before hitting the campsite, and on the way home. (breakfast is provided so they're taking care of in the mornings)

Here's how clean and nice they look on the way up:


Coming home is a completely different story:

The fact that they're in a restaurant with running water and soap and they still ate with their dirty hands kills me!


While they were there, Hunter spent the majority of his time building a fort with his friends. He's at the perfect age for camping - he loves everything about it and loves being outside to explore and he made sure to take his pocketknife.


Bennett had is own group of friends he ran around with and stayed relatively happy.



Cannon roamed the campsite. He did well for the most part but he still had a couple meltdowns (I'm sure the smores being washed down with soda didn't help!) One meltdown he went belly down on the dirt and just cried.

He also wasn't too happy when his balloon sword popped just minutes after he got it. (One of the dads is a fantastic balloon artist and he's always ready to make a kids day with a balloon - sadly campsites probably aren't great conditions for balloon animals!)




They arrived home with very little sleep and a couple loads of laundry smelling of campfire, but they were happy. They had all sorts of stories to tell us and Bennett is already talking about next year's camping trip.

(He takes Hallie on a similar weekend trip in the fall, but they manage to find friends going with RVs so it's not tent camping. That's my ideal camping!)