Ed was determined to go camping this summer. DETERMINED! However, it was really hot this summer. We were also really busy. So he had a brilliant idea. We were going camping…in our backyard. We would pick a cooler weekend, and all we had to do was set aside one night instead of the whole weekend. I was a big fan of this idea. Seriously. It meant a lot less work for this mama.
After we set up the tent, we took a hike in the woods. There’s a nice trail along the river less than a mile from our house. Always bring your dolly with pink hair hiking with you. And pink gloves. They help protect you from poison ivy.
No bears in Illinois…however, we were very afraid of our nightly, furry visitor, Mr. Skunk. I waved the flashlight around a lot and stomped my feel whenever we were outside. I took this next picture a few nights after we camped, from the safety of my house. Sorry for the fuzziness, but I wasn’t about to get any closer!
In our version of camping, we don’t use sleeping bags. Air mattresses, sheets and comforters are how we sleep in a tent! Ah, it’s almost like sleeping in our own bedrooms!
Almost.
Have you ever camped in your own backyard?
Emmy kept crawling off the blanket, but didn’t like crawling on the gravel or in the grass. We had room to set up the Pack-n-Play in the tent, so she had a great place to sleep. Lily was very excited to go to bed; she has never slept in a tent before! I was surprised at how fast she fell asleep. I thought she would be awake for hours!
Our camp site was in Kettle Moraine State Forest–Northern Unit, and we spent the first day swimming in Mauthe Lake. (The water was brown, which was a little weird, and Ed thought it was due to
Lily’s favorite stop of the day had nothing to do with camping; it was at 