Overnight in a Tent

As spring approached this year, Josh began to get excited about the possibility of going camping. So, I promised him that we would. Without exception, every time we planned to go camping something went wrong and it rained or we ended up at a hospital with Katie or just home with her because she was so sick. Last night, I finally took him out and let him get in his first "camping" trip of the year. We stayed in our tent about a quarter mile out behind the barn where we keep our horses in Irasburg. From the back corner of the pasture, we can walk down an overgrown path that follows a power line and eventually comes out in a small meadow surrounded on all sides by a mix of hard woods and softwoods. It's close, but it feels like we hiked out into the remote wilderness and got away from everything. This was an after school/work activity, so it was hurried and not very extravagant. We simply parked the car, carried the tent and our sleeping bags out to the meadow and set things up and then headed into the house to say hello to Nana and Grandpa Jerry. We didn't spend too much time visiting because it was quickly getting dark and that over grown path that led to the meadow was barely visible in the light of day. The wind was blowing too hard last night for a camp fire so we simply crawled into the tent and went to sleep. Josh was out in a matter of minutes. I spent the next several hours wondering how I ever thought sleeping on the hard ground was fun. It didn't bother Josh at all. He slept through the night without stirring. I know - I was rolling over to ease my aching back at least twice every hour. This morning, we packed up and had pancakes and bacon with Nana before coming home. An aging camping trip promise fulfilled at last.

I almost forgot to mention that he lost another tooth this morning as well. One of his top front teeth has been loose for weeks and these last few days it has gotten really loose. This morning, he pulled it out himself so he wouldn't lose it while eating his pancakes.