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May 12, 2008

A camping we will go

So F and I have been tossing around the idea of taking an overnight camping trip with Mads this summer. Just one night, and close enough to home that we can pack up and leave at 3am if things go bad.

F is of course near giddy at the warm and fuzzy prospect of campfire bedtime stories and lakeside fishing lessons (though I’d like to point out that he returns from his boys’ fishing trip each year with not much more than a really bad hangover). While I can't wait for the days of family camping trips, right now all I can think about are the logistics of changing a poopy diaper knee deep in dirt and mosquitoes. And then there is the whole sharing-a-tent-with-a-two-year-old thing. I can’t begin to wrap my head around how that works.

Tent_city_6Anyways, I’m slaving away over a hot meal of Kraft Dinner, peas and ketchup last night when in comes F from the shed with the tent in tow. Brushing away my repeated question of, “You’re not actually setting that up, are you?” he proceeds to do just that. Smack dab in the middle of the living room. Thankfully he stopped short of hammering the pegs into the hardwood, instead it’s secured to the floor with masses of green painter’s tape. As you can see. (And yes, the balloons in the corner are from her birthday party 6 weeks ago.)

Of course Mads was out of her mind with happiness. In the tent, out of the tent, in, out, in, out, in, out. She corralled the dog in there, hosted a tea party for all of her many stuffed and plastic Doras, read teddy bear a bedtime story. I kid you not, from her plastic Easter egg collection to all of the letters from her magnetic alphabet on the fridge, just about everything she owns ended up in that tent by the end of the night. She sprinted around the house gathering her “stuff” and yelling, “Mommy? Daddy? TENT!” I’m surprised she didn’t fall down unconscious from the sheer panicked joy of it all.

Cut to this morning when she is up too early – yes, again – and demanding some tent time. I went into her room to try to convince her it was actually still sleep time but she wasn’t buying it. “Knock knock door! Knock knock door!” she wailed, pointing towards the living room. That’s her way of asking us to open the door so she can get the hell out of Dodge. Or is this case, her crib. Although, from the looks of things it won’t be too much longer until she’s able to do that herself! When I went in to her room I caught her with a leg on the railing trying to launch herself overboard. Help me, Rhonda. My worst nightmare. But that is a battle for another day. Back to the tent.

When I wished F luck in trying to take the now beloved tent down tonight he predictably said, “Well, we can leave it up for a few more days.” So we'll just have to wait and see if that means a few more days, or a few more years.

Funny how having a tent pitched in your living room makes you yearn for the days of tripping over Hot Wheels and Little People.

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Comments

:)...laughing out loud over imagining maddie pushing the dog in the tent :)
....I am going to pitch the kiddie tent we have, at home.

Posted by: desertmomsblog | May 12, 2008 9:57:18 PM

Great blog!! On a side note, I love your window...very bright & cheery :)

Posted by: Leanne | May 13, 2008 3:31:33 AM

Ha ha ha Carolyn!! That is so funny! I won't DARE mention this to DH or I can promise you, we will have a tent in our living room by days end. DH and I have been talking a lot lately about trying to get in a camping trip this summer. But we'll cross that bridge when we get there.;)

Posted by: Kelsy | May 13, 2008 10:31:11 AM

i think it would be just down right mean of you to ever take down that tent! if she likes it so much, you guys should just leave it there, green tape & all! it won't take that long to get used to it!;) well, we just got back from 6 days camping in an rv! running water, shower, toilet, heat, cozy beds...it's the only way to take kids camping! okay, not the only way...the wimpy way! but it was fabulous!

Posted by: brandee | May 14, 2008 8:30:26 PM

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