Pre - Fourth of July - Backyard Camping

For those of you that are outdoor adventurers, this will seem somewhat ...dorky.

To kick of our Independence Day Weekend, we had a family camping trip . . .

. . . .to the back yard.

I love the idea of camping... an open campfire, man and nature and such ... but when it comes to actually executing plans to camp - more often than not my plans melt away like wax from a citronella candle.

R. is even less a camping enthusiast.

I think we both like the idea, but at bedtime, we long for the luxuries of home.

I came home from work yesterday with a plan in mind; I had heard on the radio that cool temperatures were expected for the night and thought we should take advantage of it.

My first proposal was to go camping somewhere but even as I presented that proposal to R. (without whose endorsement - most plans are guaranteed to fail), I already had a back - up plan. The back- up plan was to camp in the woods behind our home.

R. started the preparations for grilling supper and I began site prep and tent set up.

In true Clark Griswold fashion, I insisted on having all the accoutrement's of a real camp-site. This required moving the grill and a picnic table to the top of a hill near the tent site.

We enjoyed a wonderful traditional 4th of July meal.

AA and I enjoyed a moonlight swim in the kid's pool.

R. and I slept very little. My hastily prepared campsite was on something of an incline and we had mattress malfunctions. We have three air mattresses but the one belonging to Mom and I had a leak. I did a quick repair job on it but I think it was still losing air.

After AA had gone to sleep (he's a heavy sleeper), R. and I switched mattresses giving him the leaky mattress. I understand that that was a very selfish move but it's one of those things you get to do when you are the Dad.

Around 2:30, I was awakened from a very light slumber by Ab who suddenly was dealing with a fear of coyotes. About an hour later, I actually heard several coyotes howling to each other - accompanied by some furious barking from our old chocolate Lab, Tanner. Fortunately she was asleep again by that time.

We arose very early and it was cold!

R. and I are planning to strategically catch up on some of our sleep today...

'Hope you enjoy the pics in the post below: