Camping adventure.....in our own backyard!

So the kids have been asking about camping.  My husband and I love to camp and have taken a break from it for the last 5 years because it just didn't seem possible to camp with two young kids and two dogs.  So this year we decided it was time to bust back into the camping scene, full well knowing that it may end up with all of us back in the house before midnight.  So instead of driving to a campground we decided to give it a try in our own backyard. If anyone got scared we could easily call it a night and head into the house.   The kids were beyond excited! And I will admit that I was too!  The kids were mainly interested in making smores and then sleeping on an air mattress.  Doesn't take much to impress kids.

Here are my little campers all ready to have their first camp out!

What the kids were most excited about!

Lots of supervision with this process! 

Complete concentration for Abby!

The length of their sticks cracks me up but its absolutely necessary at this age!

Now the agonizing wait for the smore to cool....  I am right there with ya Abby!

Aahhhh the sweet taste of patience!

Alex isn't quite sure about the mess of it, but he learns to live with the sticky fingers.

Oh no!!!  You are going to mess with the balance of the smore if you open it!!!  He is all about opening things up to see whats inside and the smore was no exception.  I did convince him it was easier to eat and tasted better if it was put back together.

Yep that's the look of the sugar high settling in!

Another kid off to a sugar rush.....

After the smores we had to take baths (another great option when you camp in your own backyard).  So while Abby was inside Alex got the whole tent to himself, minus me and my camera.  His favorite activity was jumping on all the air mattresses and messing up the sleeping bags.

For a brief moment he did stop to take a break.  Something about this photo just grabs me.  The wonderment of being a kid??  I don't know but its one of my new favorites!

As hard as I tried this was the best photo I could get of the both of them together. By this point the smore sugar rush was in full swing and they didn't want to pose for a photo.  They are themselves here and that's perfect for me!

All tucked in and ready for bedtime!  Bedtime didn't come until much much later for everyone.....  It was the 5th of July when we did this and most of my neighbors where still finishing off their stash of fireworks.  So we had lots of loud fire works to lull us to sleep.  We made it through the night which I did not expect!  At 4:45am the birds decided to have a community meeting in our backyard.  Of course it woke the kids up and then us.  So at 5am we trucked into the house for some quiet movie time while Steve and I cat napped.  It was a great time and the kids are still talking about it.  I love that we were able to provide them with such a fun memory!  Now if I could just figure out a way to install room darkening shades in the tent I will be more then ready for the next camping trip!