About a week and a half ago the kids were interested in camping in a tent outside in our backyard, in the snow. The temperature had risen to about 20 degrees, so of course we thought that night would be the time to do it! We purchased some military issue sleeping bags last summer that are rated to negative 40 degrees that we wanted to try out, so preparations began... Rob and Connor worked on setting up the small tent in the garage, and then Rob and I moved it out to the yard.
We found a flat, protected area on the walkway from the house to the shop, and then both kids prepared to bring their gear outside. They had great fun for a while and then called us (we loaned them my cell phone to have with them outside) at about 10:30 to let us know that they couldn't fall asleep. The wind was blowing, making noises on the side of the tent and Cinder, our dog who was out with them, was having trouble settling down. :)
So we decided to try it again the next night as a family in our bigger tent. Again, it was 20 degrees so we felt pretty confident that things would go well. The kids and I set up the tent outside that afternoon, and got all of our gear inside. That evening, we enjoyed a campfire and roasted marshmallows for s'mores.
Then we snuggled into our sleeping bags, I read a chapter in the Sugar Creek Gang book we were half-way through and then tried to fall asleep. Once again, Cinder wanted to stick her nose into our sleeping bags to find our faces. Rob couldn't fall asleep, so he went to work in his office at about 11:00. I ended up bringing Cinder in to the house at about 11:30 because she was being such a pain. The wind started to pick up and it made quite a racket on the tent. Then Samantha woke up at about midnight and told me she was cold and wanting to go inside. I sent her in and she promptly fell asleep in her cozy, warm bed. I stayed outside because Connor was still asleep in his bag. Rob came back outside, feeling bad that we were still "sticking it out". Then at about 3:00 am Connor woke up and said his face was cold and I was just waiting for an excuse to get back in the house. The air was getting quite chilly, and I learned in the morning that it was back down to -10 degrees!
The next morning we had strong winds, cold temperatures and blowing snow to contend with as we dismantled "camp" and put away our gear. It wasn't quite the adventure we were hoping for, but it was a learning and memorable experience!
So we decided to try it again the next night as a family in our bigger tent. Again, it was 20 degrees so we felt pretty confident that things would go well. The kids and I set up the tent outside that afternoon, and got all of our gear inside. That evening, we enjoyed a campfire and roasted marshmallows for s'mores.
Then we snuggled into our sleeping bags, I read a chapter in the Sugar Creek Gang book we were half-way through and then tried to fall asleep. Once again, Cinder wanted to stick her nose into our sleeping bags to find our faces. Rob couldn't fall asleep, so he went to work in his office at about 11:00. I ended up bringing Cinder in to the house at about 11:30 because she was being such a pain. The wind started to pick up and it made quite a racket on the tent. Then Samantha woke up at about midnight and told me she was cold and wanting to go inside. I sent her in and she promptly fell asleep in her cozy, warm bed. I stayed outside because Connor was still asleep in his bag. Rob came back outside, feeling bad that we were still "sticking it out". Then at about 3:00 am Connor woke up and said his face was cold and I was just waiting for an excuse to get back in the house. The air was getting quite chilly, and I learned in the morning that it was back down to -10 degrees!
The next morning we had strong winds, cold temperatures and blowing snow to contend with as we dismantled "camp" and put away our gear. It wasn't quite the adventure we were hoping for, but it was a learning and memorable experience!
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