I mentioned how our previous attempt to camp out, (two weeks ago), in the backyard was rained out. Well, this weekend, we tried again.

I set up the tent in our backyard, right next to the play set. The boys  gathered up all their blankets and pillows and sleeping bags, and I pulled some extras out of the closet for us. They got their showers, brushed their teeth, got a couple of books each and one toy each, and we three headed out to the tent at 8:00. I zipped up the door, and we all snuggled into our blankets.

The evening air was full of noise: birds singing, the breeze in the trees, a plane flying overhead, cars passing by on the road, air conditioners turning on. Holy moly, but nighttime outside is damn noisy. The boys are used to sleeping in a quiet room with a fan running, so this was like trying to go to sleep on a construction site. So far as noise goes, I could probably sleep at a rock concert. I ended up falling asleep before they did.

I woke up sometime in the middle of the night. The sky was dark and the sounds were relatively quiet. But the hard ground was killing me. Even with a folded blanket and the tent floor under me, I just couldn’t get comfortable. I tried to avoid tossing and turning too much because I didn’t want my movements to wake either or both boys. I laid there a long time in discomfort. Eventually I reached around and found my cell phone to check the time. 10:56. Not even eleven o’clock yet? I’d been asleep only about two hours? There was no way I was going to make it through the night in the tent, on the ground.

I slowly and quietly got up, unzipped the tent door, stepped out, zipped up the tent door, and tip toed through the yard to the back door. Once inside the house, I opened the blinds of the den so I could see the backyard and the tent from the couch where I found comfort and sleep.

Early in the morning, just as the sun was starting to lighten the sky, Calfgrit7 came in the back door and said he couldn’t sleep. He wanted to go up to his bedroom, so I told him to go on. He ended up in bed with his mother.

A little while later, with the sun fully up, Calfgrit11 came in the back door. He wanted to go on up to his room and play, so I told him to go on. I lay on the couch for probably another half hour before it was time to start the day.

So in the end, camping out was noisy and uncomfortable — everything I thought it would be.

Bullgrit

I got this for breakfast at Panera.

Just sharing the pic because I thought it a bit interesting.

Bullgrit

These are two side-by-side houses in our neighborhood:

These photos were taken back in December, but the general differences remain. Both the houses were built at about the same time, and have been occupied since about the same time, (4 years?). I suspect one of them might be built on an old Indian burial ground.

Bullgrit

Saturday afternoon, Calfgrit7 asked if we could have a camp out in our backyard. (We’ve set up our tent in our backyard before, and I thought I had blogged about it, but I can’t find the post now.) Well, I had already cut the grass, trimmed the edge, and raked everything up, so I didn’t really feel like doing the work of putting up the tent then. I told him we’d do it Sunday night, since Monday was a holiday.

Well, Sunday afternoon, when we were going to set up the tent, it started raining pretty heavily. So, as a consolation, we decided to have a camp out in the den. We got out the boys’ sleeping bags, pillows, and blankets, and we spread everything out on the floor downstairs. Wifegrit was going to sleep in bed, like normal, (wuss), and I was going to sleep on the sofa.

Calfgrit11 got in his sleeping bag, but Calfgrit7 curled up on his beanbag chair with a blanket over him. Then after about 20 minutes past bedtime, he decided he couldn’t sleep and asked to go on up to his bed. I told him, “Sure, go on up,” and he left his brother and me to be the lone “campers.”

After CG11 fell asleep, I got up off the couch and snuck up to get in my bed. When I opened the door to my bedroom, I found CG7 asleep in my spot next to Wifegrit. I gave a big sigh and turned around and went back downstairs to sleep the night on the couch.

So much for any kind of “camp out.”

Bullgrit