Under the Stars

This weekend marked the beginning of what I hope will become a Strong family tradition. On Friday night, Jon took Hannah camping away from home for the first time. After lunch, he and Hannah headed over to Blackwell, a forest preserve near our house, and set up camp. They had a tent, lots of books, flashlights, campfire, smores, and even did some hiking. I was definitely just a little nervous about the whole idea. She is only 4 after all...here were some of my paranoid thoughts:

• What if she wanders off and falls in the lake?


• What if she gets frostbite?


• What if she sleepwalks out of the tent and Jon doesn't hear her?


• What if she falls in the campfire?


• What if there is a stranger danger lurking in the forest?


• What if she gets stung by a bee and there is no Benadryl anywhere and she dies of respiratory compromise?


• What if she doesn't sleep well and gets sick?

Lucky for Hannah, Jon is actually rational and they had a great time. None of the above occured. Later in the day, I took Calah and Jacob to meet them and we all had dinner together and let the kids play in the tent. Around 7pm, I took the little kids home and Jon and Hannah stayed the night.

I don't particularly like camping...at least in a tent. Maybe it's because every time I've gone in the past 5 years, I've been in the early stages of pregnancy. For some reason, when I am pregnant, I am horribly repulsed by the smell of grills and/or campfires. So now, when I think of camping, I think of nausea. Also, I can never sleep in a tent. It's too quiet without my precious fan and all I hear are the strange animal noises that seem to come way too close to the other side of the paper-thin vinyl. Seriously, we all know that's not keeping out any bear with giant claws! I also don't really like the whole no showering thing... BUT, other than that, it's fun and I do think it's a great family activity...hopefully an RV will magically find its way into our budget in the not too distant future. Oh well, a girl can dream...