I promised my boys a camping trip while we were on leave, so AJ and his kids were able to join us. It is the only time I remember having beans, wieners, and Yoo-hoos for dinner, so you know it was a good time.
Originally, the blueprint for this trip was for all the boys to go camping, build a fire, eat beans, and toot. AJ decided to bring the girls, so that civilized the whole expedition just a little bit, but it was still an adventure. With all of our children, the adult to child ratio was 2-5. When both adults are dads, that ratio is perilously close to disaster, but we did survive.
I made the kids some fishing poles out of bamboo cane, thinking that would be safer since no casting was required. It only took about five minutes for Carlie to hook Jay Allen in the shoulder, so that theory was not as solid as I thought. I had to take a tactical pause and give the entire camping party a safety brief on the use of the cane poles. Happily, nobody else was hooked during the trip, not even a fish.
The next near disaster involved Jay Allen dropping the tailgate on Carlie. I know many of you are thinking, "PAYBACK", but it was clear that he did not mean to hurt his sister and was more scared than she was about the injury. By Benefield family standards, it was a minor injury - no blood, no broken bones, no emergency room necessary. It paled in comparison to James taking a header off the Braggs's top floor and breaking their steps.
After a feast of beans and franks and Yoo-hoos, I convinced all of the children to fish with me. This lasted for a few minutes and then the big kids wanted to go roast marshmallows. James had no interest in marshmallows and kept on fishing for a good while. When he finally returned to the fire, he realized his mother was not there and wanted to go home. So, we took him home and camped on with the big kids.
The kids all settled down and slept quietly that night, though Jay Allen and I regretted that we left the tarp that my dad laid out for us. We slept under an Army poncho liner and it left us just a little chilly when we woke up. AJ had faithfully kept the fire going through the night, though I suspect that had a lot to do with the fact that his dog, Hoss, kept licking his feet when he tried to sleep.
My kids woke up wanting to fish and go paddle boating, so that is what we did, in that order. The paddle boat worked pretty well, and we even docked for blackberry picking on the far side of the pond. Yoo-hoos and blackberries for breakfast are number one!
Well, two minor injuries and two of three kids making it all night is a success for a first camping trip. AJ left just before we did, but technically, I think his camping trip lasted longer, at least for Aaron. When we both got back to my parents' house, Aaron was still asleep on AJ's truck. I don't know when Aaron finally woke up, but I did see him a couple of days later
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