Marshmallows Roasting On An Open Campfire

Our backyard campout on Sunday was a huge success!  First of all, I cannot take sole credit for the idea, since it was Amy who thought it up in the first place.  The boys were super excited about every aspect from marshmallows, to playing outside, and of course sleeping in the tent.  I'll be honest, as excited as Amy and I were about the idea; we went into it knowing that at any point it could go south, and fast.  Luckily though, that was not the case.  We began our adventure with setting the tent up.  As Amy and I laid everything out and assembled the tent, the boys stood watching us, totally enthralled.  It was quite warm out Sunday afternoon so once we got it set up we spent some time inside waiting for the temperature to cool off a bit.  During this time we were asked, countless times, if it was time to go to the tent yet.  Once the time came, I had never seen the boys move so quickly to put their socks and shoes on!

To kick off our evening of outdoor fun I inflated the jump-o-lene that my parents had given the boys for Christmas.  They loved this, although I must say they are a pain to deflate and put away.  I think it actually took us twice as long to put it away as it did to set it up!  But regardless, the boys jumped and bounced around as Amy and I put all the blankets, sleeping bags, pillows, and stuffed animals in the tent.

Dinner was the only part of the adventure that, although good, did not live up to our high expectations.  The menu consisted of scorpion tails for appetizers, bison burgers, and grilled plums.  While each of these treats turned out well, and delicious, they just weren't what we expected.  But it did not faze us because we knew the treats that lay ahead - s'mores!  Once dinner was finished I began working on starting a fire in our fire pit.  Luckily there were two logs leftover from sometime long ago, all I had to do was get them going.  Easier said than done!  At best the newspaper I used as kindling served to get the logs to a nice smolder, but never an actual fire.  Once again though, no worries as indirect heat proved just as effective when roasting marshmallows!  The boys loved putting their marshmallows to the logs and watching them turn brown and get gooey!  The best came though when they realized what makes up a s'more!  Who knows how many marshmallows were consumed that night, but we have the pictures to prove that each one was enjoyed!

Finally, they could wait no longer.  Time to get in the tent!  After bathroom trips and changing into jammies we were ready.  Amy again had the wonderful idea to bring an assortment of books into the tent for a story time.  The kids sat, in absolute bliss, and listened to storied by lantern light.  It was awesome!  When it came time to go to sleep there were no complaints.  Both boys have a little monkey lantern of their own that they played with for a while before Amy and I had to implement a lights-out if we wanted to get any sleep!  Once the lanterns were off though, it was a matter of minutes before they were both out cold.  Then Amy and I were able to reflect on a wonderful, fun-filled family day before we too were out cold!
 
Needless to say, it was an amazing day and definitely many memories were made.  The boys' first foray into camping was a success and we are currently thinking about planning our next camping excursion - this time not in the backyard!

All is well, and a little but outdoorsy, in Drosche Land.

Backyard Campout Pictures