69 Days of Summer- Camping...In the Living Room

Happy Camper

I LOATH camping. No seriously. Not cut out for it. Let's review some of the necessities of camping.

• Being well-prepared/ non procrastinator
• No stove or large kitchen
• Sleeping in the outdoors on the hard ground with unpredictable weather
• Bathrooms/showers are more than a room away

So indoor camping gives my kiddos the illusion of camping with the opportunity to sleep in a tent for the night. After moving houses, I wasn't sure where our tent was. It took a good 20 minutes to hunt the thing down. After it was discovered I heard the biggest cheer ever from some overly excited campers. After setting it up in the living room (yes, it took the entire space) we drug up the mattress we use for the pull out couch in the basement to put in the bottom. Sleeping bags were pulled out and the kids packed snacks and books and jumped in. I got out a couple strands of Christmas lights and outlined the tent with lights. Check out the video below of two kids who were outdone.

So let's review the points above and why I think indoor camping is WAY better.

I decided to do this at about 8:45 p.m. By 9:15 we were set up and ready to go.  No advance thought needed. If your better organized than I, you could cut out 20 minutes of the half hour by knowing where to locate the tent.

I could cook anything we wanted. Now I will argue that real smores are ten times better than microwaved, but on the fly they're both delicious. We also could also store everything in its normal place and just grab and go and we didn't forget to pack a thing!

Like I said we drug the mattress upstairs to put in the bottom of the tent. If I'm sleeping in this thing, we're going to be comfortable. We got a little warm under the sleeping bags so Olivia got up and turned on the fan. Double bonus because we like to sleep with the fan on anyways.

When the kids had to go to the bathroom 100 times before bed, they got out of the tent and walked the 25 steps to the bathroom.

So if you are looking for a camping experience but not interested in going outdoors to do it, try out the indoor campout. God bless all you true campers who enjoy it- it's just not for me and this is the closest thing my kiddos will get with me involved.