Yes, Doug and Michael went camping. But I have to tell you, this was not actual camping. This was yuppie camping. It was 5 minutes off of a major highway with a Target a mile down the road. The campground had CLEAN BATHROOMS WITH SOAP AND A SHOWER. Hell, I probably could have camped there.
Except when I arrived there was this camping bureaucracy because our group had too many parking passes and they couldn't give me a parking pass but okay they will give me a parking pass but I can't actually park because we have too many cars per camp site. Okay? Lady, it is camping, there are car rules? (Shh, I parked, don't tell anyone. We also snuck in beer and it was a dry camp ground.)
(What? Isn't camping ABOUT DRINKING?)
(Oh, also, I'm such a stickler for the rules I was concerned about both the drinking and the illegal parking. My friends laughed at me.)
Oh right, so I went. Kinda.
Calm down, I didn't sleep there.
I went for smores. As did Michael.
(Sorry for the bad iphone pictures. We do own a real camera, but the battery is dead and we can't find the charger and I think I should just suck it up and buy a new one. But I know as soon as I do that we will find the charger. )
(Also, I will stop with the parentheses. Soon.)
So, there were smores. And glow sticks. Another parent had a brilliant idea to bring the kids glow sticks so we could see them when they ran around in the dark. They loved it. It was like Christmas! I think. I'm Jewish.
Michael had a blast, declaring this better than the "Mickey boat." I'll tell you one thing, it was cheaper. But we had enough supplies for a Disney Cruise. They camped for one night and the amount of crap that was brought was unbelievable. This was not roughing it.
I will say that my perception of Michael is so colored by everything going on with the school. (And I will update on that, I promise.) My friends commented on how well he was doing and I was all "he is the worst behaved child here" and they are like, "he is four. Cut the kid some slack." I have started seeing everything through his schools eyes and I need to stop. In 5 hours of basically what was "unstructured free time," what the school says he "can't" do, he hit one child once. Bad, yes. Catastrophe, the sky is falling, any different than any other 4 year old? I don't know.
At 8 pm the kids were put to bed and I bid the crew good night and came home, enjoying wine and tivo. At 10 pm I talked to Doug and he said the kids were still all up and the grown ups were going to bed. I chuckled and said I would see him in an hour.
But no, they camped. And Michael loved it. Except from what I understand there was not much sleeping. Just like any other four year old.
So maybe I can camp, but only if it is yuppie camping. And next time I'm bringing wine. And I want my own tent.
{ 6 comments… read them below or add one }
I wouldn’t go yuppie camping, I would go full hardcore survival camping…which is why I don’t go camping. I would die.
Wine and private tents? Sounds fabulous to me! I love camping but have to have a few drinks before I can stop thinking about the inevitable insects sharing my tent. Shudder. Glad it was fun.
i like this yuppie camping idea. see, i need a clean toilet to pee in. so happy to hear how you “broke the rules!!” i’d be paranoid, too but that’s why breaking the rules as an adult can be FUN! oh, and the SMORES! i really love love loves smores. i’d sleep near a spider for that!
A “dry” campground??? No Way, my purse would be overflowing w/ bottles of wine. Glowsticks, Smores & Wine, heck I might’ve even slept in a tent after that
Oh & give yourself a break about your son. I bet he is a lot like every other 4yr old boy & the school is just a little too uptight.
i would have totally gone for the s’mores and glow sticks!
xoxo
Love it! Abel and Lucas went camping for 2 nights with my in-laws this summer and I used the pregnancy as an excuse to go to the campsite from about 3pm-10pm and sleep at my in-laws house. It was prefect–the best part of camping (beautiful weather, camp fire, s’mores) without the worst parts (tent, bathroom far away at night, cold or no shower). I think I’ll do it that way from now on!