Everyone has done a bit of camping. it’s good to get out in the fresh air, the great outdoors and into the wilderness. We love the idea of camping, we’ve got a tent, sleeping bags, roll up mattresses – the lot.
Unfortunately we haven’t quite managed to actually get to a camp site. we haven’t even managed to think about where we could go.
I must admit that I have come to appreciate a nice soft bed. without the need to get dressed in the morning to get breakfast. or flog to some horrible concrete shed in the middle of the night for a tinkle.
But the idea is fun, and the kids think it will be an adventure.
The Wife tells us she has even been a girl guide. and is well up for it.
We thought that the best thing to do would be to try out all the kit and arrangements in a safe environment. the back garden seemed like the perfect place.
We waited for a sunny forecast, and when the day came we set about erecting the tent, inflating the mattresses and sorting out the sleeping bags, pillows and duvets. Then more pillows.
The Wife gave the sleeping arrangements a quick try out, leap up and declared that she needed a slightly thicker mattress. Fair enough, it was only a thin slither of foam. She pottered off in to the house. After a bit we got a call for help. The wife was struggling to bring out the “guest” mattress from the spare room. A full blown bed mattress.
We lugged it into the tent, it just about fit in, but it made the flooring levels all uneven. Our roll mats looked very inadequate in comparison.
I don’t recall the Scouts having pillows, duvets and extra think mattresses, but perhaps it is different in the Guides down south.
The kids were loving it. all hyper and bouncing off the (tent) walls.
To completely get into the camping mood we even had sausages in buns. The kids were even allowed tomato ketchup. For dessert we had Marshmallows on sticks. Nothing healthy within a post code. Proper camping.
As the evening set in, we started to get settled and ready to appreciate the wonders of sleeping in the fresh air. We all took our positions in our respective places.
After lying on our mattresses for a few minutes, The Wife realised that the sleeping conditions were not to her liking. The mattress was not quite right, there is too much noise from the insects outside, it was not dark enough…
She declared that she was going back in to the house, got up and ran into the house to her comfy bed.
This didn’t seem to perturb the rest of us and to keep everyone occupied I suggested we play i-spy.
Number 2 started, as tradition dictates the youngest always starts.
“I spy with my little eye, something beginning with…”
Number 2 needed a bit of time to come up with something.
“T”
Number 1 was quick off the mark – “TENT!” she exclaimed.
We all took turns.
It came around to number 2 again.
“I spy with my little eye something beginning with… T”
Sensing number 1 might know the answer I quickly threw in – “Table”
Number 2 was a bit upset that I had not got it right.
Number 1 then corrected me a suggested – TENT.
Number 2 was pleased that someone had guessed correctly.
We carried on going around.
But after a while it is a bit tough to find things in a small confined space to use.
Undaunted, number 2 was determined to see if we would get her favourite T word wrong.
Number 1 was getting annoyed with the lack of imagination.
I was struggling to think of T words. Turtle, Tornado, Tyrannosaurus Rex …
Number 2 was annoyed with me as these could not possibly be in a tent.
We were obviously enjoying ourselves too much as after a while there was a shout from the window for us to make less noise. We were obviously disturbing The Wife with our game of i-spy.
As there was now plenty of room to spread out with only 3 of us, we had a lovely nights sleep. I think we all had a good nights sleep.
I think we’ll do it again, but perhaps with out the full bed mattress next time.