Our First Time Camping - the Prelude

I have been told this is quite shocking (always by people that don't know me)...but I have never been camping. Ever. To be quite honest I have never felt one slight twinge of a desire to go camping. I mean sure I would rent a cabin that has a/c, and I love boating, but sleeping outside on the hard ground?? No. No no no.

My first question is "Why?! Why would you do that to yourself?!"

This is my brain's vision of camping:

Section in woods you might have to clear yourself, tiny fire you have to start with sticks, walking in to the lake with your bar of soap to wash off in the mornings...basically I was envisioning Man v. Wild. Except with two small kids and huge mosquitoes. And bears. And probably a rabid possum somewhere.

So when my friend Vanerellian suggested it, and Brewerman chimed in, I balked, laughed, snorted, then realized they were serious. I think my first answer consisted of the He-doublehockeysticks word and NO, then as we talked more and I realized I would then get to eat s'mores I figured what the hey. I have boys now and surrounded by testosterone, better get with the game. Plus, I wouldn't have to prevent them from peeing outside. A definite advantage that could possibly erase at least 5 minutes of arguing out of my day daily. Plus....S'MORES.

And that is how, my friends, we set out to go camping for certain Lil'Guy's 4th birthday. Then about a day before we were going to go, we realized that we should have made reservations weeks ago...everything was sold out. Who knew? I didn't understand....don't you just pee a circle around your tent, beat your fists against your chest a little, and call your digs your digs? Well apparently the entire state of Tejas knew because there was literally no camping sites left at any lake except for the lake beside ghetto-ville in G-town. I am worried enough about polar bears and elephants trampling our site, I don't need to worry about getting robbed or stepping over dead bodies.

And this, my friends, is how we ended up doing a half-behind version of camping and had to convince Lil'Guy that it was just as cool. We did a trial run and just ran up to the lake for the day. It was great, we bbq'ed on the grills I swore I would never eat off because - EW! It was delicious by the way. We went swimming in the lake I swore I would never get in via the beach, and we had a great time.

We then drove by the lake's camp sites so they could convince me that I wouldn't need a machete to clear a path for our tent and we could check them out for future use.

Whoa.

Okay did you know there are sites with a driveway, fire pit, area for your tent, and....wait for it..............


Electric and WATER!!!

Wait, no...that should be more like....

ELECTRIC and water!!!


Then right up the walking path they have a cool little playground and showers / rest rooms too! What!? A place I could shave (let's be real, no one wants to see even a day's worth of growth on these legs), SOLD! I can do this. Give me a gigantic tent via Costco and an air mattress and I could pull it off.

And that, my friends, is how we made reservations to go camping for our very first time three weeks later...complete with a grind and brew coffee maker, tents that should have been more clear that you need to read the instructions first, poison ivy, fire ant cemeteries, scorpions, and a visit from a Park Ranger.



More to come....


Ooooo the suspense is killing you isn't it.....this is too much.....oh oh oh why don't I just post already!?

I love keeping my six readers in suspense. It keeps you coming back for more. (Hi Mom!)
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Oh and P.s. We are still waiting to hear back from the social worker, even though we had all our stuff turned in two WEEKS ago. Not that I'm counting...and I'm being super patient. Only sent them three emails so far which is pretty good right!?