The cooking and camping go hand-in-hand. My Dh and I are going to be camping next summer with our boys (the two oldest when they can join us...). So, DH bought me a 10-inch, 6qt, tri-leg dutch oven. I am determined to know how to cook WITHOUT a camp stove. The way I look at it, as long as I can start a fire and I have my dutch oven (and food) I can feed my family. I don't have to waste money on the camp stove every time we pack up for the weekend. It will be for emergencies. So, we started. And nothing has burned! Yay, me!To further our camping experience, it is always nice to have a tent. DH and I have been pricing them for almost 6 months now. WOW! They can sure be expensive. We have finally settled on one we really like but it will cost a tidy bit and we have too many things to take care of right now to justify that purchase. It will wait. Enter - my family!
I had been up to my grandparents' home for something and ended up talking with Grandpap about our hopes for camping next summer. He offered his old tent that has been in storage for going on 20 years. Hey, it was more than DH and I had at the time, so I was more than happy to tell DH about it. A few days later my uncle called me to offer his and Aunt Martha's tent, too! Again, it had been in storage for many years.
Well, Saturday we packed up the boys and headed to my grandparents' house to see what we were dealing with as both my grandpap and my aunt/uncle said they weren't sure the condition of the tents but we were welcome to them. OMGosh!!!! They were awesome! Aunt/Uncle's tent is so cool! It is a small 3-4 man tent with a screen house attached and a canvas roof. Fabulous condition! Aunt even pulled the original instructions from the pole box! Hahah! In this family that is amazing! Pap's tent is fully canvas and the condition, well, have a look!
Today was Mr. Pirate's eighth birthday. We had his party over at my MIL's. It was small, as my older brother and his family didn't make it and my DH's brothers didn't make it (although one of DH's brother did drop off his oldest daughter). That's okay, though. We had a great time. MIL showed me how to make icing roses (yay!) and then we played outside with Mr. Pirate's new football. I even managed to figure out how to spiral a football (it's taken over 20 years, my brothers should be thrilled!). All in all, it was a wonderful day!
7 comments:
I can almost hear those old tents - "Air! Sunshine! Freedom!" So glad you can use them. So many memories.
When we get the orange tent up I will post a picture of it, too. We only had enough room in the yard for one at a time and the full canvas tent needed a good airing-out. 10y/o wanted to sleep in it last night! Lol!
Camping??? When? Where? Wait just a cotton-pickin' minute here! You all had BETTER come visit us on your camping trip! We've been trying to get you to visit for HOW many years now?!
Wait...is this something Greg cooked up? Are you camping with us at the beach next summer?
Nice DU. I have one too, and it makes the best fried potatoes with peppers, onions and sausage over a campfire. (and giant pancakes too!)
I can't believe he's 8. Seriously, where did the time go? He's so darn cute too...
Ah, Dana, you are great! Hahaha! Yes, we are going to start camping. We will start next spring in the local national parks we have available to us, just to make sure that we are all set before we do any road trips. We have the beginning thoughts of maybe camping out in your backyard at some point next summer but we haven't thought too far beyond the "wouldn't that be a great idea" stage.
I want that recipe!!! Seriously. The lid for our dutch oven flips over into a skillet! Cool beans! We will be getting a stand for the lid so we can use it in that manner and also a tripod for any meals that need hung over the fire. Another dutch oven will be purchased so that dinner AND dessert (or rolls) can be fixed at the same time.
I can't believe he is 8. I have only two months before the other turns 11! Oh, and Eric's oldest, Tater, she's going to be 13!!! 13!
Well, keep watching for pics of the orange tent. You will love it!
LOL, I've been wondering who in the heck "Tater" was for months now! No idea you all meant Katie!!!!
Greg's been wanting a tripod badly himself, we've just been putting it either in the coals or on the grate over the fire. PLus, with the lid being a skillet once it's flipped it's handy for making two different foods at once.
Can't wait to see the orange tent!!!
oh, and I'm begging here....please remove word verification! I hate that thing! You moderate your commments anyway, right? PLease, PLEASE!!!! I think I'm completely retarded when it comes to seeing those words correctly! I feel so dumb when I have to re-type the darned thing 4 times because "cl" looks like a lowercase "d" to me!
Awe, but I like the word verification! Lol! Aunt Martha and I have a running commentary on who gets the best "word of the day". Yeah, we get bored...
The comments are as good as the blog. Forgot to tell you my last word verification was "grook". I can't even begin to imagine what your yard would have looked like with both tents pitched in it. Can hardly wait to see the orange tent basking in the sunshine.
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