Camping

This past weekend was Dads and Kids camping.  Our kids all went.  Well, except for Quinque, who refused to go along.  Preparations last week were quite amusing.

Hannah wanted to start packing about a month before.  We managed to dissuade her from this.  Meal planning was done LONG ago, and Hannah’s list was really, really, really cute.  She had a chart for the days and meals and a list down below of the things we needed to get at the store.

The day before they left, after Naomi’s suitcase was packed (oh, and she had corrected some of the erroneous outfit choices I’d made:  “Mama, I’ll go get the shirt that goes with this skort, because it’s not this one.”), she spent some time sitting next to her bag, with her backpack on her back.  She was staring out the open front door.  I’m not exactly sure what she was thinking, but I enjoyed watching her be quietly excited.

Simeon was excited because graham crackers were going along.  He loves graham crackers and we don’t have them very often.  Sleeping in a tent was also high on his list of things to be really excited about.  He also revived his old favorite from last year:  “Fire. Ugh.”

The kids were excited about leaving me at home. 

Hannah:  I’m looking forward to coming home to a clean house.

Simeon:  Bye, Mama!  I love you!  [This was about an hour before they actually left.]

Naomi:  Dada, do you know how do a high pony tail?  Yes?  Okay!  [As long as my high-pony-tail-making skills weren’t necessary, she was sure she’d be fine without me.]

They were all very sweet about it, though.  They assured me that they’d miss me and would be happy to see me again.