Church Campout

Over the weekend, my family attended our church's overnight campout.  This is the second time that I've put up my new tent, the Big Agnes Flying Diamond 8 person tent, and it is really her maiden voyage, so to speak, since the last time was only in our backyard.  We discovered that a double air mattress fits exactly in the rear room of the tent with no wiggle room whatsoever.  So my dreams of a queen airbed have flown the coup.  Ah well, c'est la vie.  We also found out that with said double air mattress, you can also fit another twin air bed and four children in the tent perfectly, which is exactly what we needed to do.  I enjoyed my air bed as I found out the last time that if I am closer than a foot to the ground, my body declares mutiny.  sigh.  The only drawback that I had this time was that the wonderful double sleeping bag that I bought in anticipation of my husband's joining us really needs two people in it to effectively retain any heat.  Fortunately, Bethany was having some difficulties getting comfortable on the ground and Kaitlyn was bothering her as well so I received a much needed sleeping companion that was mutually beneficial.

From left to right: Malia, Me, Carmen, Bethany, Kaitlyn and "Big Agnes" (the tent)

I really enjoyed camping with the girls.  They are at the perfect age for camping.  Except for the occasional moment of panic, I mostly didn't have to worry about where they were or what they might be putting in their mouth.  There were lots of other children to go exploring with and Malia especially loved the many dogs that families had brought along.  I don't think there was a time the whole campout where she didn't have at least one dog dragging her along somewhere. 

There was a wonderfully steep, sparsely wooden hill behind the campground that constantly drew children up and down its slopes.  Often there would be a smaller child that would go too high for their own comfort and the older kids would be more than happy to form an impromptu rescue party just for another excuse to tromp up the hill again.  It is safe to say there wasn't a clean backside and more than one hole ripped into perfectly good pants among the lot of them from the wonderful escapades on the mountainside. 

There was also a talent show around a bonfire.  I had brought my ukulele.  Papa brought his guitar and Bethany brought her violin.  I had printed out several songs that I liked to play not knowing how many times I would get a chance to do.  Well, it turned out that there weren't a whole lot of takers at the talent show and without meaning to, the Hammari family had the majority of the stage time.  Papa, Bethany and I got to play two songs each, Bethany read one chapter from the book that she is writing (The Cats of Kilimanjaro) of which she is currently on page 70, and Kaitlyn demonstrated how to make the perfect s'mores. 

I have high hopes for the upcoming campouts if this one is any indication.