2 days!

And then we are off on our summer adventure.  I think I'm mostly packed.  We have a few odds and ends to put together tomorrow.  Mostly the food for out camping expedition.  I need to pick up our first CSA veggies tomorrow and do a last load of laundry so we all have clean clothes to travel in.  I think the kids and I are all packed for clothes other than my running clothes from tomorrow that I'll wash.  Tom on the other hand isn't packed at all.  That's okay, he doesn't take long and he's a big kid that can take care of that himself.  I've got the rest done.

I'm amazed at the amount of stuff we have and yet what we don't have.  I read other camping lists and can't believe how much I cross off.  Don't need chairs or tables.  Use the ground, a stump, or the vehicle.  The bins we have other stuff in will work just fine for a table.  A couple of flashlights and you're good.  No reason to have flashlights and lanterns.  I plan on sleeping at night, not running around or even reading. 

Now, I do understand that a lot of the stuff on those lists are creature comforts.  It would be great to have them along if we were r.v. camping or something.  It just doesn't make sense though for a few nights of car camping.  It is okay to "rough it" for a few days.  Good for us even.  Makes us appreciate those creature comforts even more when we get back to them.

I sometimes wonder about our adventure as every time I say we are camping with the kids people look at us like we're crazy.  I don't expect the kids to sleep much.  They'll be too excited to be sleeping in a tent, in sleeping bags, and together in the same room.  Otherwise I'm not too worried about them.  They don't need a whole bunch of stuff.  They love to play with sticks and dirt and rocks and there is plenty of that camping.  Their hips don't hurt like crazy from sleeping on hard ground like mine do.  Shoot, they sleep on their floors all the time.  In fact that is Mia's preferred spot right now.  To the point that I wonder why we have a bed for her.

I'm a little envious of them camping.  Mom and Dad will set up camp, and beds, and cook, and everything else.  They just have to worry about playing and having a good time.  I don't even worry too much about the kids travelling for a lot of hours in the car.  They've always been good travellers.  They mostly sleep or color while in the car.  Sure, we have to stop and pee a lot but that just goes with having 5 bladders to coordinate. 

I don't know if we do anything all that differently from other people or if we do it exactly the same.  We keep snacks in the car along with some little cars, some crayons and an activity book and a couple of small toys and books.  That usually keeps them entertained just fine.  Now that they are getting a bit older we can start to play road games with at least Bear too.  Spotting letters of the alphabet is a good one.  That would keep him in practice on his letters too.

I am so ready to be on the road and doing the summer vacation thing.  Tom and I really haven't done this since just before we got married.  We still have that tent in fact. Best $100 we ever spent.  At the time the tent was ridiculously large for just us and Buddy.  Now it makes more sense since we have the kids.

I should go put finishing touches on my camp kitchen.