Christmas Camping

It has almost been hard to get in the Christmas mood with the weather being so mild.  It seems like October outside.  That's not bad since I love October weather.  Since we have had such glorious temperatures we have enjoyed taking evening walks to view the Christmas lights all over town.  I don't think Arthur even wore a jacket one evening.  After our outdoor ventures we then have spent some time hanging out on the couch basking in the glow from the Christmas lights on our tree.

We celebrated my birthday this past week.  As a kid my birthday parties always had to have some kind of theme such as Christmas on the Prairie with a visit to a local fort, Reindeer Games, and Pillsbury Cooking School to make Christmas cookies.  I blame this need for a theme on my mother.  Anyway, this year I am into camping and hiking but am limited on enjoying these activities in "the dead of winter".  A few weeks ago we ordered a tent for future backpacking trips.  I couldn't wait until spring to try it out so we set it up in the living room on Friday night. We donned flannel clothing and had a camp out.  We could have camped outside since the weather was so nice but our neighbors may have thought we were a bit strange so we decided to be strange in the comfort of our home.  My parents also got me a camping cookbook so we tried on of the new recipes-- lemon chicken in a foil packet.  I must admit that it is much easier cooking when you can set the stove at 350F than on a bed of hot coals.

After a Christmas movie we settled down for a long winter's nap in our tent in front of the Christmas tree.  Good news here- our air mattress fits inside our tent which will be great for car camping and, better yet, Arthur fits inside our tent fairly comfortably.  We slept peacefully underneath the glow of our Christmas lights.  It was probably the best night sleep I have ever gotten while camping.  Our "campfire" breakfast the next day was breakfast burritos.  We then had to return to real life and did projects like vacuuming and laundry all day but it was nice to get away and go camping for a short time.  Omnia Vincit Amor.