around the campfire?

I like camping. I like camping with my ohana. I like camping with some burley guy to help tote and lift, etc. but by now, I should know better to expect something like that. Years ago my camping mom experience started in Hawai'i. Kanoe was 2 days old when she went camping for the first time. We put her crib in a large tent and ran to auntie's house to bathe her!

I'd make lists and bake goodies and pack and clean (why?) and then set off the roach bombs as we left the house. As the years went on my husband of that time had a lot of committments with friends and work and he'd help us get to camp and get unloaded and then take off to do what he needed to do. By the time the older kids were in 4th and 6th grades we could set everything up without dad and they'd take off down to the beach. The church camping was most fun, but now I remember how much work it was. My friends really helped me a lot! We all took turns cooking and watching each other's kids. I spent the time chasing after 5 kids and fit in a set or two of volleyball and a short swim in between the diapers, the cooking and getting after the kids to keep their stuff together instead of scattered all over the camp. Maybe that's why my adult kids haven't taken their families camping! I know that camping in Hawai'i is way different than here!

Camping in Washington has been eased a little because I don't set off roach bombs and don't come home to all sizes of roaches laying on their backs with their legs paralyzed in the air. But, camping in Washington has become nearly as the same as the Hawai'i camping. I don't do as much with lists, I don't bake goodies for 2 days in a row the week of camp and I try not to take two truckloads of stuff to camp. Now with a different partner, I realize that in the last 3 years I've gone to camp 5 or 6 times and he's been there once, but he came from the fire station, stayed a day and went off to work again. My mind picture of the ideal camping experience has changed. Now it's grandma packing a tent, a cooler, a bag of clothes, 2 sacks of groceries and utensils, a bag of charcoal and I'm good to go! I've taken 2 grand daughters camping in the past 2 summers. I talk about going with the family but I'm picturing a beach house with kitchen and bathroom near a nice place to swim!

I went camping this weekend. Setting up a tent in 98 degree weather with dirt and dust is not my thing. I spent a few hours in the lake and threw my foil dinners on someone else's coals! We did our s'mores at yet another friend's pit, and sang camp songs at a larger pit area without lighting the fire. I didn't sleep much in the heated night! 180 people signed for camp and 60 showed up. There was a lot of sausage and bacon at breakfast! Maybe I can talk Wes into a camper with air conditioning or at least be able to generate power for a swamp fan!