School starts soon...how is that possible?  If you haven't gone camping yet this summer, you'd better get the sleeping bags out,QUICK!

{book: the down & dirty guide to camping with kids}

Ben {always the researcher} found these fantastic books to help prepare our 1st time campers for what to expect when they went a few weeks ago {the kids & I all loved them}.

{book: mark the mountain guide}

I have such fond memories of being a kid sleeping under the stars, rock climbing, and learning to use a compass.

Yes...even me...the girliest of girls loves to get my hands dirty and gather wood for a campfire.

{book: mark the mountain guide and the compass adventure}

It makes no sense to me why anyone wouldn't love enjoying the beauty of a forest, lake, etc while living in the midst of it...for a few days at least.

But I truly believe that unless your parents instilled that into you at an early age, you just won't get it {I'm sure there are exceptions to that rule, though}.

{book: theres's a map on my lap!}

 {book: kids camp! activities for the backyard or wilderness}

Don't have time for an actual camping trip? The above book is full of fun ideas both for real camping {as real as you can do with little kids, anyway} as well as backyard camping.

This time, it was a "boys only" trip.

We figured Imani {and her need for naps} would ruin it a little. Hopefully next year we can start going as a full family.

I was bummed to miss out on their fun trip...though the Tim McGraw/Kenny Chesney concert took my tears away.

When we were describing the concept of camping to Ezekiel a few days prior to packing up, he was thoroughly confused.

"WHY would you want to sleep on the ground and live outside for a few days?" he wondered. Apparently if your child grew up in a place where they DID sleep on the ground every night and cook, etc outside...the idea of it being something FUN made absolutely no sense to him. Hah.

{don't worry, even though it didn't totally make sense to him...he still had a blast}

Laith is all about super heroes right now. So...this is how he fished. The entire weekend.

What fun memories. And I'm proud of Ben for taking so many photos {a couple dozen...I can't believe it!}. Nice job, my love.

. . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Now get out there!! Grab your sleeping bag and tent and make one last summer memory before the insanity of school begins!

Take Joy,

Teresa

Want more great resources? Head over to Globo Surf for The Ultimate Guide for Camping with Kids!