Great American Backyard Campout 2014

We’re most definitely a camping kind of family. Mr. M sometimes thinks that I’m not very outdoorsy, but I think that opinion goes away every time I outlast him on complaining about a lack of showers or worrying about bears at night. But did you know that we hadn’t introduced Miss L to the wonders of sleeping outdoors until last year during the Great American Backyard Campout?

We set up our 4-person tent in the backyard complete with our sleeping bags and sleeping pads and lantern and gazed up at the stars through our tent windows. Miss L absolutely loved every single ounce of it, and after that one Saturday night, we ignited a monster that asked to sleep in the tent practically every weekend after that.

She guilt tripped grandparents into joining her in the tent too. In fact, I think she even asked to sleep out in the rain one cold fall weekend!

So far this summer, we’ve spent 4 nights in the tent in the past 2 weeks. Two were in the backyard and two were in Yosemite (many more photos to come) last weekend. And I’m sure we’ll end up outside again for this year’s Great American Backyard Campout on Sunday!

And if you’d like to join us, I wrote a BIG post on how to throw the ultimate backyard campout on Momtastic! It’s got tips on camping gear, s’mores and everything else you need for a memorable overnight experience for everyone!

So who’s going to come camping with us this weekend (or maybe just this summer)???