Last weekend found Ben and I yet again in the woods with our friends Eric, Janine, Ben and Alison.

We went to the same campground that we did last year, but this time around Janine and I reserved, in January, an extra large campsite (which is actually two sites into one) and one that was very close to the super duper fancy potties.  That simple fact made my bladder shake with glee.

Friday night we decided to go to the local restaurant for their famous fish fry.  Sadly, we weren’t the only ones with this bright idea because the place was packed!  And since there was one short order cook using one small grill, the wait was so long I saw Ben start to grow facial hair.  Luckily the view was beautiful and the kids were happy with their crayons and Pepsi.

Saturday morning, after waking up at 7:00 am (someone seriously needs to invent shades for tents) coffee was a necessity.  The coffee I remembered to bring.  The coffee mug?  Oops.  Luckily I had my handy dandy trusty Telly Tubby cup.  Because really, what says “I’m a Ruffing It Kind of Girl” more than a Telly Tubby cup?

By 10:30 I couldn’t stand it anymore and took the boys down to the beach.  Where we proceeded to spend pretty much all day frolicking in the water, playing in the sand and eating copious amounts of pb&j.

This was my view that day.  And my idea of heaven…

A full day in the sun and fresh air done tuckered us out.  But if you ask me, there is no better way to spend a summer day.

The weekend was great and we so lucked out with the weather.  Late Saturday afternoon, when we could no longer pretend the thunder was “just a plane” it did start to rain.  As we made a b-line to our tents I had one hand on my kid and the other on the wine bottle.  Um, hello!?!  I have priorities!  Luckily it only rained for maybe 3 minutes.  Afterward the skies cleared and the weather turned cool.  That night in the tent with my boy by my side, I had the best night sleep I have had in a long time.  And no, it had nothing to do with my very dry wine.

Last Sunday, in a final farewell to Summer, Ben and I went camping with our good friends Janine and Eric and their kids Ben and Alison.  Oh and their dog Pickles.  Next to Lucy, he might be the greatest dog ever. 

So Janine and Eric, if Pickles ever goes missing in the night, I’m so sorry but ah, don’t go looking for him at my house.  He won’t be there.  Really. 

We went to Yellowstone Lake State Park and it was just beautiful. 

Since I am not a regular camper (I know, huge shock right?!) most of my camping gear was supplied by my father.  Ok, ok… ALL of it was.
My duffel bag?  Dad’s.
My sleeping bag?  Yep, Dad’s.
And my tent… ah the tent.  The circa 1920 tent.  Fine, it wasn’t from 1920 but it has to be at least 28 years old, as I remember sleeping in this thing when I was Ben’s age. 

This is Janine and Eric’s 21st century tent. 

Which took them all of 7 minutes to put it up.

Then there was my “classic” tent (as the other Ben aptly called it).

I have named him Wilson.

Wilson comes with lots of metal poles that you have to put together, he’s made of a very heavy canvas and it took me, Janine and Eric at least 30 minutes, a set of 28 year old directions and 2 gallons of sweat to put up.  But ain’t he grand?

Wilson is much like my Dad’s chairs.  He works just fine so why bother getting a new one?  And now, Wilson has been bestowed to me as my father’s camping days are pretty much over.  I’m a lucky girl. 

Even though this little camping trip was just two days and one night, we packed a lot in.

We went swimming at the beach:

The boys played football:

Don’t let the tough guy look fool you.  Ben is happy, he’s just being too cool for school… or camping in this case.

Somehow the Nintendo DS made it into the car, and therefore into the campsite.

Which turned out fine because it gave us adults a nice break every once in awhile.  Translation: time to sit and really enjoy those beers.  Or in Eric’s case, to do this:

And of course there was cooking over an open fire.  Which is my second favorite part of camping.  Especially when I have experienced campers with me who cook things like grilled salmon and chicken chipotle sausages!  

But my ultimate favorite thing about camping, is sitting around the camp fire at night under the blanket of stars.  We were so lucky as we had a totally clear night and it felt like we could see the whole universe.  Janine and the Bens swore they saw a star moving.  But Eric and I were having nothing of it.   

And then of course there were the ghost stories.  Some being so scary that my child wouldn’t leave my side for the rest of the night and I do believe there were even some quiet tears shed.  I would like to personally thank Janine for accomplishing that feat with her, “Johnny I’m on your first step… Johnny I’m on your second step… Johnny I’M RIGHT HERE!!!!” routine.   You can pay the therapist bills when later in life Ben doesn’t understand why he trembles every time a guy named John walks up the stairs behind him.

If you have ever wondered what two women look like after a night of sleeping on the ground with no coffee in the morning; well here you go:

Pretty huh?  Don’t ever say this blog isn’t 100% real.

Minus the sloping campsite and the rock hard ground, all in all a great time was had.  Next year we are going to the same camp ground but this time we are going to get a campsite that is next to the FLUSH toilets and not the pit ones.   Next to having a sore hip from lack of an air mattress, almost puking in the pit toilets isn’t my favorite way to wake up in the morning.

So to all you naysayers who thought this Princess couldn’t camp… take that! Not only do I camp, but I even got a thumbs up from Janine. 

Which, trust me, is a huge compliment!