Great American Campout 2008

I got an email a few weeks back about the 4th annual Great American Campout sponsored by National Wildlife Federation. It was a cute little site campaigning families to get back to nature and spend some time outside this summer. Well, the idea of leaving my house and going to a far off campsite in the middle of the Texas summer did not appeal to me - but sleeping in my backyard was much more doable. On this site you could register your campsite - whether it was in your backyard or in a state park. I invited some friends and their families and 2 took me up on my crazy plan to camp in our backyard.

So everyone arrived around 6pm last Saturday night - tents were set up in the yard and hotdogs started cooking.....

The wind began to blow. The rain began to pour.

Adults played some Guitar Hero. Kids played inside. We waited for the rain to stop. It did....and we roasted marshmallows and made smores.....It then rained some more. We played more Guitar Hero and the kids watched a movie inside.....in Brennan's camp themed bedroom......Movie was over. Rain stopped. Camping began ... again.It rained a little bit more. But it was nice inside our tents. Once we all got situated. It was an adventure and not the best night's sleep. But I'm glad we did it. Maybe next year it won't rain.

Thanks to my nice friends (the Paladini's and Jackson's) for entertaining my silly idea to camp in my backyard.