Well, we tried it

Tent camping, that is. We thought we'd kick off our White Mountains vacation with a couple of nights sleeping outside. The result? The boys had an absolute blast. Mo and I, on the other hand, were exhausted. There was SO MUCH PACKING for this little excursion, with Xavier taking the prize for most stuff. With killer mosquitos, a bee sting, a pee-soaked sleeping bag, bear warnings everywhere, a sleepless night and severe thunderstorms in the forecast, we remembered that we were on vacation and packed up about 18 hours after we made camp.

The location couldn't have been more beautiful: a secluded, wooded site in a simple campground.

 There were plenty of rocks to explore and places to look for chipmunk holes.

Lots of room for our family-sized tent and gear.

 And many, many trees to pee on (at the same time, of course!).

Xavier actually slept like a champ in the tent. Isaac was the one who was too excited to settle down. With no "off" switch and a party boy through and through; I know we are in trouble come high school. Once the other two went to sleep, Isaac tortured us for about an hour with his lighting demands: I want a flashlight. I want light. It's too dark. The light is pointed the wrong way. 

I eventually rigged a reading light to the outside of the tent, allowing some light inside, but preventing him from taking the light to shine in his brothers' faces. We threatened, used time-outs, told him we would drive him home to stay with a babysitter while we were on vacation, everything we could think of to get him to simply be still in his sleeping bag and hopefully fall asleep. However, he continued demanding a flashlight and didn't stop complaining until we told him that unless we kept the flashlight with us, we wouldn't be able to find our way to the tent when we went to bed. He quieted down. 

Then, about 10 minutes later, we heard him sneak out of the tent, climb around the outside to get the reading light and tiptoe towards us. Without a sound, he snatched the flashlight from next to me and replaced it with the reading light. 

Mo and I gave up and Isaac got his flashlight.

With no electricity, showers or running water, we felt like we were really camping! I was disappointed to cut our time there short, but sometimes you have to cut your losses. We'll keep trying, maybe next time a little closer to home. 

Or maybe we'll just wait until Xavier's four.