Camping 1.0

We went camping last night. Backyard camping, that is. I put up two tents: one for the three of us and one for Kara and her son Caleb. Zach slept inside with Grandma and Grandpa. The boys had a lot of fun playing in them and soon enough it was time for our campfire dinner and s'mores. No pictures there because it was hard enough getting everyone fed, safe from the fire, entertained to prevent tantrums, etc.

We decided to put Kent to bed at 7 pm inside the house because of the noise and light. We figured we'd wake him gently, add another warmer layer on him, then carry him out to the tent when we were ready to call it a night, around 9:30. Everything worked out just fine until we came down the stairs and went outside and unzipped the tent. That noise peaked his interest and it was game over. I laid him down on his pack and play mattress and tried to get him to sleep, but he wasn't having it. Instead, he rolled around, played with his feet, grabbed my face, crawled to the edge of the tent to press his face against the mesh side and peek outside. I tried curling him towards me and patting his butt: my usual "go back to sleep" technique when he wakes up too early then I'd like. I tried rocking him, which almost worked until the neighbor came home in his truck and parked it. I also tried just leaving him to settle on his own, wiggles and all, but all he wanted to do was explore his new space. Sigh. Not wanting to wake Kara and Caleb, and wondering if he'd ever seem sleepy again after this wasted hour, we decided to call it quits and go to sleep inside. Luckily, we hadn't reserved and paid for this spot. Luckily, Kent went back to sleep in his crib just fine.

Not sure when we'll do this again, but next time, we'll just put him to sleep inside the tent right away.