backyard camping
fall warmth
This past Sunday we kept on enjoying the outdoors right into the evening. Inspired by our party last month I had the idea to fire up the grill for hot dogs, and then put some wood on to make a proper fire for warmth and marshmallows. While Leah was busy with Lijah, who was a little sick and fussy, the boys an I brought the full camping spirit to our own little backyard.
as disorganized as the real thing
Hot dogs are a treat themselves, and when I brought out juice boxes and pretzels (because camping!) they were delighted. We of course set up the tent, because it was part of the whole procedure, but there was some question whether we were actually going to sleep in it. There was no question, though, about the marshmallows. Pictured below is Harvey's second one catching fire.
fires
In the event Zion decided to sleep inside in his bed, while Harvey and I braved the chill under a pile of blankets in the tent (it actually wasn't that cold—well above freezing!). Our bedtime story these days is The Wolves of Willoughby Chase, so as we turned off the headlamp we wondered if we were going to hear the howls of wolves around us during the night. While Harvey reports that it took him some time to fall asleep—longer than his usual 30 seconds, I suppose—he slept soundly once he did drift off, so he wasn't awakened by either of the two—two!—periods of coyote noise that I heard. Luckily we survived the night, and woke up cheerfully when the sun made its appearance. Which is at a very civilized hour, this time of year!
afterwards
We'll have to do it again soon.