A Tradition? begins

Yes, that's right. We're going camping. With an infant, no less.
And the above picture is why I'm going to ask my husband to put the tent together tonight. Just to make sure that we will not be without key pieces. You know, the ones that keep the tent in an upright position. Yeah. Those pieces.

Why don't you do it yourself, you ask? Well, if I try to do it without him, I'll be confused, for one. Very very confused. Plus, I know something would inevitably end up torn, broken, lost, or all of the above. Trust me, I'm not being overly modest. I'm just keenly aware of my limitations. And setting up camp is one of them.

We never went camping when I was younger. Well, I take that back. We did once. But I remember very little about it. I was about 9 or 10 years old. It was with a church small group. And there was one young, newly married couple who were sleeping in the back of their truck. They had a sign on it that said: If it's a rockin', don't come a knockin'. I thought it was hysterical.

So yeah, that's the extent of my camping memory. Impressive, eh? (well, except for the fact that I went to a kids' camp for years and years, but that's different)

But I had heard about a large family who recently went camping and I thought, "If they can do it, I can!" Yes...I'm extremely competitive. Or is it just highly motivated by others? Hmm. You decide.

But either way, it got me thinking. I want to take my family camping. And I want to invite another family with kids to go along. And it can become a yearly tradition!!

Don't you just love how I can go from newly-formed-thought to something that is set in stone for the next 20 years in 0.7 seconds? Yes. Impressive, I know. And the fact that I dragged another poor, unsuspecting family into it (and yes, I had one in mind) just adds to my aggressiveness...Uh, I meant inclusive, loving nature.

So I call up my friend, Leanne. She has three boys, whose ages match my girls perfectly. And who my girls adore. Yes, they were frightened by them in the beginning. *laughing* But once they found out that they were allowed to hit them back (permission given by me and Leanne) to protect themselves, they thought playing with them was the coolest thing ever. In fact, they still talk about one time where "Charis saved Selah" because she pushed the boys off. :) Being with these boys has, without doubt, helped to boost my girls' abilities to stand up for themselves and to not be so "careful". Can you even imagine what camping with them out in the rugged wild would do?!

So why not invite that family to take on the fury of nature with us? I mean, if nothing else, we can just sit back and watch the two genders push and hit each other. Ahhh...such sweet memories that would be, eh?

Anyway, I ramble...So I call up Leanne and say, "Have you ever thought about going camping?"

"You're kidding! You're the second person this week to ask me that. We're going on Friday!"

We talk back and forth for a while. She says that they're doing a "trial camping run" just like the one that I had thought about minutes earlier. "I'm in!" Yes, I invite myself. Why not? If she says no, I'll just sic my girls on her boys. No biggie. *shrug*

She warns me that they very well may end up leaving in the middle of the night. So to just remember that she didn't invite me and therefore relinquishes any and all responsibility for my having a good time. *laughing* She's hysterical, have I mentioned that? I can't get through a conversation with her without wetting myself. And half the time she says, "What did you say?" because, through my laughter, I become speech deficient.

The last couple of days have been a whirlwind of decision making and final detail prep. Because... well, up until two days ago, I was yet to come up with this brilliant plan of inviting myself on someone else's family camping trip. I've been busy.

When I asked the girls if they wanted to go Camping...they both screamed "YES!!!" I laughed and said, "Do you know what camping is?" Selah: "Uh, no. What is it?"

Don't you just love the innocent enthusiasm of kids? If only I could get that enthusiasm for the unknown to cross over on eating certain vegetables? "YES! Give me all the asparagus you got, ma!"

So that's the 411 on this end...we're getting ready to go camping!! (must be read in a sing-songy-voice) AHHH!! And we're all so excited!!!