"This is the BESTEST time I've ever had!" Rudy said as he, Jason, and I lay on the crispy grass in our back yard, looking up at the stars and talking about all the different things people of the past have thought about what those glowing orbs are. I taught Rudy about constellations, and he and Jason both identified their first ever constellation in the night sky: The Big Dipper. It was the first constellation I learned to identify as a child as well.
A few feet away, Jason's old Boy Scout tent patiently waited for us to FINALLY tuck ourselves inside for the night. Jason and Rudy had set it up around 10 am, because Rudy just couldn't wait until the evening to begin our camping adventure.
Around 9:15 (which is about an hour later than Rudy's 'late' bedtime), we finally nestled into the conglomeration of blankets and pillows we'd turned into a family bed inside the tent. Rudy remained nestled for about 30 seconds. 3 pee trips, 2 re-dispersals of the stuffed animals he'd brought out with him, and countless attempts at ignoring the 3 year old climbing all over us, whispering in our ears, yodeling in our ears, and rumaging through the tent, Rudy announced that he really just wanted to sleep in his own bed inside. It was about 10:30, and Jason and I were happy to oblige. Tucked into our own bed, with Rudy finally sleeping, Jason murmured,"Well, that was an epic fail."
As our first attempt at a family camp out, perhaps the fact that Julia never even made it in the tent, and the rest of us abandoned the tent before sleep graced any of our eyes could be considered a fail. But as a family memory, it will be added to the list of "bestest" times we've ever had. :)
