backyard campout

we are a camping family. we love being outside, building a campfire, jesse playing guitar, listening to the "weird noises" while trying to fall asleep, taking walks, going out on the water in canoes or kayaks, everything but the bugs (that like me way better than anyone else) . we have been wanting to go camping all year, but with a young baby and the heat of the summer, it has been difficult to make it work. actually, it has been difficult in general since having luca - we look forward to a not too distant future when our whole family can enjoy the experience. well, this labor day three-day weekend with such beautiful weather, we decided to go for it sunday night. we pitched our tent in the backyard! for barely twenty minutes worth of work, you would have thought we had taken luca to disney world. a huge fort in the backyard that we were going to sleep in all night. he only has been camping once before at about 14 months of age - too young to remember. the highlights for him included being in charge of zipping the door open and close each time we needed to go in or out and playing with the flashlight after dark - shining it on the tent walls and in our faces.



gia also was ga-ga (like my baby humor) over the tent - we've never seen her act so goofy crawling all over and launching herself on pillows, blankets, . . . people.



it was definitely difficult for luca to settle down and fall asleep - he kept getting up and running around the massive tent (we bought it for our third anniversary looking towards the future of the hart clan). we let gia sleep in her crib. luca finally wore himself out and snuggled in between us- he tucked his blankie under my cheek and stared at me until his eyes got sleepy. several times during the night, jesse and i woke up to find luca trying to sit up, stand, or walk in his sleep. we heard some weird sounds that we still can't determine the source. the neighborhood squirrels were making loud, rude noises at daybreak - we though they were mad at us for invading their territory. later we realized that our cat zion had escaped the house and was prowling the backyard.


we spent yesterday playing in the fort and using it as a huge playpen for gia. luca helped jesse pack it all up last night. he was so proud for helping fold the tent and tarp, put the stakes in the bag, and packing up the bin with our gear. a fun family time without the hassle of leaving home.