Back Yard Camping
A few weeks ago Wayfair contacted me about sharing a favorite childhood summer memory. SO up my alley and the perfect opportunity to check another one off of our summer bucket list. They wanted a group of us to take a childhood summer memory and put an adult twist on it. Such a fun idea, right? You can see everyone's interpretations here.
I chose camping! Confession: I haven’t been camping since I was in my early twenties and trying to fit in with the cute crunchy guys I went to college with. However, I do have the fondest memories of camping with my dad, brother, and sister in the North Georgia mountains when I was little, this memory ranks up top. Since I'm not the hugest fan of roughing it, a few hours of romantic back yard "camping" as a date night sounded pretty dreamy to me.
Let the kids help with the set up, get them all tucked in, hook up that baby monitor, fix some adult beverages and lay under the stars. Here's a step by step on how to recreate a camping date night at home. So magical, you'll want to do this every weekend.
Nothing says camping like a tent, first things first Sam started setting up camp and we were instantly like little kids wanting to get inside. The girls holed up to keep the mosquitos away while we got to work setting everything else up (pre bedtime). We left the cover off of the tent for a gorgeous view of the sky. We also used the cord hole to run an extension cord for us to string up some lights inside.
To make things extra cozy we set up a blow up mattress (aka camp bed) and covered it with a quilt and pillows for some relaxing conversation time (and bedtime story reading). We blew it up easily with a hair dryer and an extension cord. After stories I got the girls ready for bed and set up “the bar.”
Meanwhile, Sam started our supper: pork and beans (classy, right?!). We took our firepit and turned it into an outdoor grill / s’mores station (best part of camping imho). We used a heavy-duty steel camp grill as a cook top. The hot dogs were grilled in a cast iron pan while the beans simmered in a casserole dish that we protected with tin foil on the bottom. The dinner was perfect, especially paired with adult beverages!
We ended the night with a banjo serenade to the glow of mosquito repelling candles and moonlight. Topped off with s’more making and adult conversation of course. Perfection!
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