Traipsing Through The Forest

OK, not really traipsing, but camping in a campground that is near a forest.

I haven't been camping since I was a little kid. My memories of camping are just flashes, and nothing really cohesive or something I can grab onto or describe. I only have stories that my mom has told me about our camping trips. The one she likes to tell the most is the time they forgot to bring my milk, and ended up having to give me coffee to help me keep warm. It continued when we got home, and she realized that it might not be the best idea when she caught herself giving me a little extra sugar because I had asked politely for it.

Well, this weekend we're going camping in Plymouth, Mass with friends. Obviously, it'll be the princesses' first time camping. I don't even know if Mr. His Highness has ever been camping, although I know he's been fishing. We're borrowing a 3-room tent, some air mattresses, and a hand pump. Luckily there will be electricity outlets, so we need to bring extension cords. I'm finalizing the errand list and "to pack" list right now and hoping I'm not forgetting anything. My BFF says it looks like it might rain Saturday, but let's hope not. It wouldn't be a complete disaster, but it would keep us from swimming in the lake and hiking, especially if the rain is accompanied by thunderstorms. We're each "taking on" a meal for the weekend, and mine is Saturday's lunch. The menu is simple. Cucumber-Tomato Salad with my homemade dressing to be made ahead of time; BBQ-steeped Chicken that I'll also make ahead of time and just reheat on a grill; canned corn.

I'm getting excited about the trip, but mostly for the sake of the kids and the fact that we get to spend the weekend with friends. Princess Grace will be ecstatic that she gets to spend the whole weekend with her own BFF, who is my BFF's daughter. Princess Juliana is thrilled that my other friend's daughter will be there, as well as the other kids who will be there. Princess Anneliese is just happy that all of her buddies will be there, and all of her aunties and sisters. Luckily, although two of the friends won't be bringing spouses, my BFF's husband is coming so our husbands can go do male bonding stuff. BFF has a son, Friend 2 and Friend 3 each have a son too, so the Mr. His Highness and Mr. BFF Hubby can get some male bonding type stuff going with the boys.

The only problem is that after this weekend, we'll lose our "you'd better behave or else" and "you need to get to bed now or else" leverage. ;-) I'm going to have to come up with something else to motivate them quickly.