davidandmarta.blogspot.com: tent camp success

in light of last year's failed attempt at a family-of-four tent camping weekend (as i recall, james screamed in the tent for 1 hour, i panicked and drove him home and slept at home while david and ramona stayed at the campsite. so not a failure for all. anyway...), i headed into this weekend's tent adventure with a little trepidation. would james go to sleep in the tent? would anyone fall in the fire pit? will they eat hot dogs? should they even be allowed to eat hot dogs? what about marshmallows? will ramona be afraid of the toilets? you know, the usual crazy parent worries.

fortunately, my fears were unfounded. james and ramona (and david and i) slept like logs in that tent, no one fell in the fire, and they both officially love hot dogs and marshmallows. no fears, no tears, no injuries, and lots and lots and lots of laughter from two filthy happy children.

but, because of my fears, we camped about 10 miles from home. just in case. we were at lake kegonsa state park, which is on the southern most lake on the madison chain of lakes that includes our very own mendota. the park itself is fine, full of families and tricycles and playgrounds and mosquitoes.

we own a few other tents that are lightweight, new-ish, and full of all the fancy fly/vestibule/back-pack-ery fancyness, but none of our tents is nearly as stylish or functional as the 35 year old canvas tent from the david staple family heirloom collection. the poles are bent and the tent doesn't quite stand up straight, but we could fit our whole living room in there if we wanted to, so we'll keep it.

this cot makes an awesome dresser/changing table/climbing toy. especially for this guy.

playing in the tent was a total highlight for ramona and james. they went WILD in there.

first marshmallow experience: curiosity, initial frustration with the "crusty part,"followed by enjoyment, and finishing with renewed frustration due to sticky hands/faces/arms/legs.