This past weekend, Lisa and I packed up the car (and I mean PACKED .. like... to the roof...) and headed out camping overnight.

It was Emma's first camping experience, so we only went for a single night. We weren't sure how Emma would like it... specifically, how she's fare overnight sleeping in the tent... but she was great.

The new tent we bought... we knew it was big... but once it was set up and we got all moved in, we realized just how big it is... it's massive.

We had Emma's portable playpen/crib set up in one half, which is like it's own room, and our own queen sized inflatable mattress in the other "room", with all of our bags, clothes, shoes, Emma's things, etc all in there... and still had room for, I'm sure, another 4 or so people.

So, that was cool! Heck, the main "room" is even tall enough for me to stand without hunching over! Luxury! lol

Only down side was when I put the tent up, I noticed there is a little access flap (supposedly for a power cable...???... in one corner that was partly open. When I tried to close it I couldn't, and then noticed that the zipper was broken. In my attempt to "fix it" (which involved my Swiss Army multi-tool LOL), I destroyed it. Doh!

Oh well, we shoved my sleeping bag pack in the opening to close it temporarily, and Lisa will sew it up permanently, as we have no need for a "power cord access door".

Anyhoo, Emma seemed to enjoy it. My dad and stepmom live not far away so they came for a short visit, and Emma always loves to see her grampa and gramma.

And my sister came out with her two kids (she also lives nearby to where we were camping), and Emma also loves to see her auntie and cousins.

Emma seems to have inherited my and Lisa's habit of being mesmerized by a campfire, as several times we all were just sitting there staring at the fire.

And Emma slept great... slept right through the night in fact. Lisa had her bundled up really well, and she was snug as a bug... meanwhile Lisa and I were cold, as we could have used an extra blanket... it got COLD over night.

It rained the following morning, which was a drag... nothing worse than packing up from camping while it's raining... everything is soggy and dirty and miserable. But, c'est la vie!

So, anyways, the first outdoor camping was a success. We weren't sure how Emma would do, but we are no longer worried.

Now all I need is the cross bars for our roof rack on the car, and a cargo box... so we don't have to completely jam the inside of the car full of all the "necessities". lol

Actually... we'd probably still stuff the car... we'd just fill the extra room with more stuff. lol


Here are a few shots from the weekend.














And me, looking like a total hoodlum... lol... hanging out with our Jellybean by the fire.



All in all, it was a good first Fathers Day for me. Two thumbs up!