The Return of the Back Yard Campout

According to Bethany, we are "the only ones" who don't have a "house car" (a camper/trailer). For the first ten years of our marriage we tent camped every year with babies and toddlers up in the mountains. I just don't want to do it anymore. At least I don't want to camp up in the mountains. I hope I will come back around. But I'm taking a hiatus from real camping.

Enter-- The Backyard Campout. You just set up camp in the backyard. No packing up food. No mountain dirt- just a few grass clippings. No fear of bears dragging your children out of their tent in the middle of the night. (I know--I've got issues.) You can even bring a real mattress to sleep on. It's not the most adventurous way to go, but you do get to sleep outside in a tent.

We don't do friend sleepovers but our family has become very good friends with a family in our ward and so we joined up for backyard campout together. We had a great time. Abe's quickfire is fabulous for ambiance and warmth. Not so much for actually cooking food because it just turns marshmallows gray.








These little cuties are sticking their heads through the doggy door of our tent.