Stephanie and Dad camping!

Stephanie, my two-year old has noticed that camping is something Dad does and that he often takes kids with him. I've noticed her talking a lot about it lately and I think she was dropping a hint. She's not really up to camping but a few days ago I did set up a tarp in the back yard and we "camped" for about 20 minutes. She's been talking about it ever since. She'll just walk up to me and say "we went camping!" She loves to look at these pictures too.

The tarp I used was my 8x10 foot tarp and I set it up between my trekking poles rather than tying to trees. The poles are just setting on the ground, not stuck into the ground. The tension of the tarp keeps the poles upright which in term keeps the tarp up.

The thing you see hanging from the tarp above us is my candle lantern. It's kind of cool thing. It's just a candle that is sheltered from the wind but it gives quite a bit of light (which you can't tell here because of the flash).

So here we are snuggled in our quilts and warm clothes. Stephanie was so excited she kept getting up and jumping up and down, hitting the tarp with her head. After about 20 minutes though we headed back in. I knew she would never be able to get to sleep in this new and exciting environment. But that didn't matter. What did matter is that she and her dad went "camping" together!