Well, I guess it was bound to happen one day. Dave and Lisa sleeping
in a tent? Camping? Are you sure? Camping to me has always been Motel 6 versus Marriott. Can’t be in your own home, you stay inside
somewhere else. If the somewhere else
is pretty sparse, that is camping.
The closest I have come to camping in my life were the
hunting lodge in upstate NY when I was a kid and the small one room cabin Lisa
and I shared in Denali when we were in Alaska.
Both were real wilderness experiences and both pretty lean living. However, both did have running water and a
bed.
This past weekend our friends Steve and Vicki and their
daughter Ella (Siena’s swim buddy) were attending a community camp-out in Lake
Forest. We were planning to go visit
them for a bit so Siena and Ella could play together while Lisa attended a baby
shower. In a strange twist of fate, we had a borrowed
tent from some folks at church to let Siena try “camping” in our back
yard. I had envisioned putting up a
tent, doing some S ’mores over an open an open fire pit or grill and everyone
being safe in their beds by 10 pm. But, in
a moment of spontaneity and coincidence, it turned into the real thing. Well kind of the real thing, I would call it a
night of “urban camping.”
Don’t be fooled by the name, there was no Lake in sight and
we were not in the Forest. The park was centrally located in one of the Lake
Forest communities, so there wasn’t much fear of coyotes or mountain lions,
wild rabbits and unsupervised teenagers were the biggest threat. This event was well organized and came with
dinner and a port-o-john in proximity. There
were games for the kids and story time around the camp-fire. Everyone played, parents with plastic red
cups supervised and then everyone goes to sleep. Breakfast to be served in the morning, but,
you actually did sleep in a tent.
Upon arrival I scoped out the scene with Siena. Lisa was at the baby shower, so Siena, Bella
and I headed into the park. In about 5
seconds Siena was playing with Ella and Bella and I were trying to figure out
what to do next. Put up a tent or put up
with a lot of grief for not putting up a tent; we went back to the car and
started hauling in our stuff. We began
the process by taking out the tent and looking at it with a lost stare. That seemed to work as Steve jumped in to
help pop it up. It was actually quite
simple once you knew how it was supposed to look in the end. We tossed in some sleeping bags carried up
our cooler and chairs and settled in.
The event was fun for Siena, Ella and another of Ella’s
friend’s Kayla. They painted hats and
made candy bracelets. Then the games
began. Good wholesome game like I
remember from my childhood. Kayla and
Siena partnered up for the water balloon toss.
They did great and survived a few rounds into it and far longer than any
of the other children their age. When
the balloon finally broke Siena started to cry.
As I tried to explain that it was okay and we could get another balloon
later, she told me it wasn’t about the balloon, she was upset because they
didn’t win. At almost 4 years of age she
has her parent’s drive for success already.
(Mommy and I may need to adjust our parenting here a little.) Then it was time for the potato sack
race. The three girls looked befuddled
at the sight of the sacks and were really confused when they had to stand
inside them. But with a little coaching
all three girls hopped along and learned a new skill set. The game playing was fun. Following games the dinner bell sounded and
chicken and burgers were served.
When Lisa arrived, she was surprised to see our tent up and
noticed right away that we were lacking something everyone else seemed to have,
an air mattress. When you drive up to
your camp sight versus hiking to it, why would you do without modern
convenience? A quick call to her local
friend Ana and her husband John and a twin size air mattress arrived. Good friends are a gift.
As the sun set on the horizon few fire were lit and an Indian
story teller shared tales of the Indian heritage in California and Orange
County. Stories by the camp-fire were
followed by S ‘mores. As the sugar
highs started to fade three sleepy little girls headed for their tents. In they went and out went the lights. All snuggled up in our tent, the four of us
set to figuring out who slept where. I
started out with Siena on the air mattress but being too big for a twin
mattress, I gave way to Lisa. Bella and
I stacked up the sleeping bags and made a bed of those.
At 6:00 in the morning I woke up, as did Siena and
Lisa. Strangely aware that we were not
in our home and all a bit uncomfortable from sleeping on the ground, we decided
to pack it in early. I had to usher at
church at 8 so we cleaned up packed up and stole away quietly in the early
morning light. Yes, we had survived our
night or urban camping. While sleeping
on the ground can make one a bit sore and cranky when you wake up (and I was),
it was a fun experience for Siena and that is truly what it was all about to
begin with.
So check this one off the things to do list, for one night
it was okay, but I have not placed a tent on my Christmas list. I checked online and it seems most parks and
beaches still have a hotel nearby.
