Camping

We took Douglas camping over the weekend, and lemme just say - it was COLD!  We went for it, though.  Not because we're brave - but because the weatherman (who turns out to be a pathological liar) kept stringing us along with promises of the crazy Kansas winds dying down by 5 p.m.  Oh, wait, make that 9 p.m.  Oh, you know what?  The will NEVER. DIE. DOWN!  Ever.

So, there we were, 6 adults and 3 little munchkin boys in 25-30 mile-per-hour winds and 40 degree temperatures (that felt like a million below zero) trying to make a go at camping.  Which meant laying awake all night just hoping our tent wouldn't blow away and feeling sorry for Douglas who kept waking up to the ridiculously loud sounds of our tent flappin' in the "breeze."  The corner stake kept coming loose, so at one point I woke up to see the tent attacking Micah in the face.  Silliness, really.

Our friends tied their tent to their car which turned out to be genius - only in Kansas do you see such things.

The only (sortof) respite from the wind came when we were either in the tent where the sound was deafening but at least you couldn't feel it as much or when we were huddled under the awning (high class) of our friends' tent.  This is where Douglas ate dinner. 

I was worried about his ears with all the wind, so I traded out his oober cute brim hat (thanks, Grammy!) for this truly ridiculous number that is way too small for him (as evidenced by the indentation on his forehead from the seam).  He handled it with as much dignity as he could.  Hey - desperate times, baby.

Look at him trying to take himself seriously.

I was so happy to have a warm fire that it literally took me until morning to notice that our fire was basically in a trash can!  (There's a ban on open fires right now).

Trying to warm up my feet

Thankfully, we were with people who are great at having a good attitude and just rolling with the punches.  So, in spite of the cold and wind, we managed to have a great time roasting marshmallows and eating hot dogs for dinner and pancakes and bacon and coffee for breakfast by the fire. 

We drank some wine, told stories, and made lots of fun memories.

We even got to see a gorgeous sunset through the trees.

And there was the requisite Sleeping Bag Wrestling sesh between Douglas and Micah first thing in the morning.

And, yes, those are reindeer pjs he's wearing - they're the warmest things he has, alright?!  The greatest part is that they have antlers sticking off of his little footie feet, so he walked around the campsite with the antlers sticking out of his shoes.  Dignified, I tell you.  (Thanks, Tia Beana!  Happy Birthday!!) 

Douglas was a big helper, of course.

And as always he LOVED playing with cousins.

So May 2011's Super Cold Wind Tunnel Trash Can Fire Camping Trip was totally a success - not that I would turn my nose up at Summer 2011's Warm But Not Too Hot NO WIND Non-Trash Can Fire Camping Trip...just lettin' it be known. 

All that camping fun wore the DougMan right out.  Until next time, Trash Can Fire Pit!