Family Night Edition #3

So tonight was "Camping Night"! And boy, does my baby girl love to camp! I knew this might be her most favorite night ever simply b'c she asks to go camping...

...about 23.4 times a day.

So, Alison and I left the kiddos at school since it was water day anyway and headed to the house to set up the tent. Yeah...wished I had taken photos of that one. It was NOT our finest hour.

The end result turned out pretty good, though, don't you think?


Our get up! The family tent, some chairs, our suitcase with butterfly nets in it, some fans (this IS the south at the end of June people), sleeping bags, a chimnea (for our fire) and even my alarm clock that played frogs and crickets.

We are going for ambiance here, folks. Am-bi-ance!

One of my favorite parts that I was looking forward to for the evening was the scavenger hunt. I made 10 clues and hid them all around the back yard for Belle (and I had hoped Luke, but he was pre-occupied) to guess the "Who am I" clues to get to the treasure.


Pink clues were hidden on the swingset, the sandbox, the shed...all sorts of places that you'll see further down.


All lead up to this...X marks the spot hidden in the tree.

So, David picked up the kids and told him to call me when he was about 5 minutes away so I could finish things up. Belle walked in and immediately, her smile left her. She asked, "Did you forget about family night?" I bet her that I didn't and that she needed to go put the clothes on I had laid out for her and we would see.

This was her reaction when she walked out...




Here she piles up on the sleeping bag and asked Alison where she was planning to sleep.


Our family portrait! Don't we all look all "campy"?


Luke wasn't too fond of the tent. I think he likened it to the jumpy castle which in his mind was created for evil and sent to scare the tee total pee out of him. So, he pretty much had to sit in someone's lap while in the tent. As the wind blew in the tent we would hear, "No...STOP!"


But he sure did look cool! See me in his shades?


Catching butterflies...imaginary ones


Sissy even got to participate in this one!


See...isn't she beautiful? And SO in her element. She brought her Gussie out for the festivities as well. He even took a nap in the tent.


Lovin his hot dog


Chow time! We just had hamburgers and hot dogs...what you would typically have when camping.


My men!

After we ate it was time for the scavenger hunt! Clue #1: "I am made of wood and have colors of yellow, black and blue. You are always climbing all over me. Who am I?" (Swingset)


She wasn't quite sure about this at first. But she gets the hang of it...


And here she had just found a clue behind the american flag that read: "I hold your Daddy's 4-wheeler when he isn't using it. Who am I?" She didn't even say where it was. She just threw the old clue down and took off. That's Alison running after her.


Getting help reading the clue


She found another one "where you would sleep if you were really camping. Who am I?"


Luke...well...this is what he did the entire time Belle was hunting. Played Candy Land. I brought it out b'c you know...candy LAND...we are camping on the LAND. But he decided it was worht more than gold. So no pics of him on the hunt today.


Belle found something where "You want to climb me so bad but your parents won't let you. Who am I?"


Daddy lifted her up to claim her prize.


It was full of sour candy. She shared, though. And don't worry...Luke showed up REAL QUICK once he realized she found candy!


We ended our night by roasting marshmallows in the fire.

Just when I think these special family nights can't get any better, I turn out to be wrong. Tonight was wonderful! The Scavenger hunt was my favorite!

Look forward to seeing you all next week for another fun night!

PS--If you want some other great ideas for family nights, go here. Heather and Jacinda started this craze and you can look for any tags on their sites that say "family night". Other moms are starting to get on board and share their nights as well.