Camping in the Living Room

We were supposed to go camping today.  It was just going to be for one night.  Monkey was excited – not only did it mean sleeping outside, it meant time with his cousin (and favorite person on this planet).  But Bear got sick.  She had some kind of stomach bug and could barely keep anything down.  Although she showed signs of improvement and would most likely have been on the mend by the time we went, being relatively far from civilization with a sick toddler didn’t seem like the best idea… especially with the amount of clothes and sheets we would have had to pack just to get through the night (if the previous nights were any indication of things to come).

Monkey was disappointed, especially because, as expected, Bear no longer showed any signs of being sick (thank goodness, the rest of us seem to have escaped this bug).  All the same, it was the right decision to stay home.

But, how do you make up for missing out on a camping trip?  Set up a tent in the living room, of course!

I brought Monkey upstairs to get ready for bed, and while we were getting his pajamas, Papa brought his tent, lantern, and sleeping bag up from the basement.  Not wanting to deal with a real fire in the fireplace tonight, he set up several candles inside – it was enough to simulate a campfire.  Monkey went downstairs and was thrilled, especially when he got to help his Papa assemble the tent.

They shared a snack, played a card game, told some stories, and cuddled up in their sleeping bags.

I kissed them goodnight and told them I’d be on the lookout for bears (but that they were on their own if any skunks came by).  The candles were blown out, the lantern turned off, and the tent zipped up.  I can hear gentle snores in the living room down the hall and I know that my boys went to sleep happy.