The first camping trip!

I grew up in camp grounds.  True story!  Every christmas holidays, my family would pack up our pop-up camper trailer and spend a week at various beachside holiday parks.  Sometimes we returned for a few years in a row, sometimes we just had that week.  I have fond memories of playing sharks in one campsite thermal pool as it slowly filled up each morning, I remember making friends-for-life with other girls and then not seeing them ever again after that glorious week.  I loved my bedroom that popped out the side of the trailer when it was erected.   All those awesome summer camping memories.  But I haven't slept in a tent since I was a youth group leader helping out on an overnight trip about 10 years ago.  I have come to love the motel lifestyle, with its comfy beds, shower, toilets and walls.  We are blessed that dad moved on from his pop-up trailer home and invested in a real life bach that we can spend a week at each year!  Why sleep in a tent with 3 little ones in a noisy campsite on the ground when we can have a beach holiday in a HOUSE each year!  I happily put aside the tenting days, and when I had that anxiety bout a few years ago and was left unable to cope with any noises at night - well, I thought that was it forever.  I would not  be tenting again.  

However, I am aware that we are kiwis.  And our kids need the kiwi experience.  They want to sleep in a tent.  Its important.  And anyway, we haven't seen any of New Zealand as a family - It is too expensive to stay in a motel for longer then a night after all.  So finally, with Luke approaching 3, and the girls old enough to reason with at bedtime, we risked it all on Saturday night.  Our first tenting experience as a family.

Background story - Jaimee begged us for this.  On the way to church one morning, she was asking about sleeping in a tent (yet again) and I was considering where would be best.  Our backyard?  Maybe. I commented about our 10 acres of land at the church as we pulled closer.   Jaimee suggested "what about here mum?  I loved the idea.  Close to home, yet not on our back door step.  A peaceful and private spot in the country(ish).  It had toilets, a kitchen and even a hall.  I could ease into tenting again softly here.    My family ministry hat kicked into gear alongside my mummy hat...why not invite others to join us? Make it a fun family church sleepover?  And so...

On Saturday night we pitched up our tent (yes, we actually own one - Marty was given one before I was around!), and also a borrowed tent right next to it so we all had space, blew up the airbeds and unrolled the brand new sleeping bags I had brought hours earlier (I could have borrowed, but we really needed some anyway).  The tents were really only suited to 2 people each, but we squeezed 2 single airbeds into one tent and set up the three kids to lie across them! 

We had 3 other families join us for our adventure, and I was delighted to find that one of them had also never been camping as a family! Yay, we are not the only ones.  We had in our sleepover group 2 mums, 4 dads,10 girls and Luke.  The girls ran off and played while we set up and then got dinner sorted on the BBQ.  One of our friends had brought a brassier, so we were able to roast marshmellows and stay warm through the evening.   With great company, happy kids, the sheep in the paddock next door, and olive trees all around us, I actually was enjoying myself.  OK, so I was happy there was toilets and a kitchen on hand, but with the pop up trailer and staying at campsites, it was a camping experience I could relate to.  Yeah, I can do this tenting stuff! I found my inner kiwi again.

Of course, we were going to make the most of the fact that we had awesome facilities to use here too! We set up the big screen onto the side of the church, and settled in for a screening of "Chitty Chitty Bang Bang".  It was a great choice, the adults were giggling and the kids stayed focused.  As the temperature dropped, all my kids were in sleeping bags and wearing beanies.  Luke kept telling me "I hipster!" when he pointed to his hat on his head.  Someone must have told him he looks like a hipster in his funky cap?  Wasn't me! But it sure was funny.  

The movie ended at 10.20pm and it was straight to bed with everyone.  Our sleeping arrangements lasted all of 5 minutes.  No way Luke was going to sleep between his sisters, he was chatting away happily to them both!  So I left my cozy new double sleeping bag I was sharing with Marty and ended up wedged between my girls inside a pink childrens summer sleeping bag.  Luke took my spot and slept all night.  As did the girls.  Us adults....not so much.  It was COLD!  The first day of autumn had rung loud and clear.  Brrr.  I lay there unable to move much, with a warm body but a cold head, jealous of my oblivious children fast asleep beside me.  There was no room to move in the small tents, and most of our sleeping bags (except the new ones) were summer weight.  It was not the most comfy of sleeps.  But at 6.30am when I got up, my 3 kids were all still asleep happily.  So tenting for the night did work after all. Huh. Cool!  

Here is the girls at 6.30am - I had been wedged in that small spot between them all night: 

So what did I learn?  

1.  We will do this again.  At the church again for sure.  And also other nearby spots.  Perhaps not for a week, but for a weekend. And we will go from there...I still want power, a kitchen and showers if I am away longer then a day or so!

2.  We need to buy a bigger tent.   And a decent lamp.  And a few other basic comforts like sleeping bags and airbeds.  If I am going to do this with my family, I want to have more room then just crawling space on top of our beds.  We are looking at options already for getting a big one for next year.  We could borrow, but I think we would use it more if we just buy one we really like and know how to put up.  On special, Its the same price as a couple of nights in a motel anyway!  

3.  Don't tent in autumn.  In my defence, I had wanted to do this in January or Febuary but a couple of church leaders had said they wanted to come and asked me to do it this weekend as they werent available until then (and they didn't even show up!).  

4.  Camping with friends is way fun.  The whole experience was awesome because of who we were with.  So who's in for a tenting weekend next summer with us???.....