National Backyard Campout

Recently, our household participated in the National Wildlife Federation's Great American Backyard Campout. I invited every member of my mom's group, after floating the idea many times with various parties of the group. Always, always, lots of folks announced their intention to come. But, when the rubber met the road, only our most frequent camping companions -- Rob, Therese, and Eamon -- came over. The lack of crowd caused Connor to announce to me "This doesn't seem like a very good party".

Au contraire, my friend. Because whenever Eamon - and his parents - are around, there most assuredly is a good party. Even if they were a bit sad about some earlier World Cup results.

Basically, camping in the backyard is just like camping at an actual campsite.

We had bug bites.

We ate s'mores! Well, actually Eamon ate s'mores. Connor and Helen are somewhat interested in toasting marshmallows, and they definitely like chocolate and graham crackers, but they haven't decided to combine that all into one treat.

We even had glowsticks, something that has become a mainstay of my camping gear since Therese introduced me to their power to entertain children. It's also a handy way to locate them when they wander away from the campsite, which was not so much an issue in my backyard, but can be an issue at other camping venues.

The next morning, we had early risers!

But, importantly, we had a sink to wash dishes in, indoor toilets that we didn't need to share with many people, corkscrews, knives, and whatever other kitchen implements were needed, and the next day - we had friends, a moonbounce, and a water slide!

Elaine