Backyard Camping and Blueberries

Grace has been asking to camp outside ever since she snuggled into her sleeping bag for the first time Thursday night. We told her we would all sleep in the tent on the weekend which she reluctantly agreed to. Saturday afternoon David and I set up the tent that David has had for over a decade (high school graduation present!) but that I've never actually seen in use. That's right, I've known David for almost 10 years and we've never gone camping together. Probably because his idea of camping involves a lot of hiking and no bathrooms which is not really my style. I am willing to go without a shower but a toilet of some variety is something I really find necessary. Mostly I'm in it for the campfire and some s'mores!

We didn't have a campfire but camping in the backyard wasn't as bad as some of the horror stories we've heard from other parents of young children we know. We decided to put the kids down when it got dark around 9pm and we laid in the tent with them for awhile before we got out. Neither David or I wanted to go to sleep that early and I had some photo editing to do from a high school senior session I did earlier in the afternoon so I sat outside with the laptop and said "get back in your sleeping bag and go to sleep" about 500 times. By 10pm I was tired of telling the kids to lay down and I finally got in the tent with them and got them back in their beds and within 15 minutes they were both out. I snuck back out of the tent to do more photo editing inside the house but with the sliding door open so I could hear them. The bugs were really bad and I have about 8 bug bites but it was worth it. You can check out the pics on my photo blog (link is on the left column).

Friday evening David went out with the guys and the kids and I went blueberry picking with friends. We picked a ton of blueberries in the two hours we were there along with a bunch of beautiful flowers that we are enjoying! Saturday morning we enjoyed homemade blueberry pancakes and this afternoon I made blueberry zucchini bread which is pretty tasty too. I love summer!