Anticipated Happiness

Did you ever build a tent in your bedroom when you were younger? That was one of my favorite things to do as a child. My sister and I shared a bedroom most of our life and so there was always some sort of dividing line in our room - invisible, a string, or the fact that one side was clean and the other a mess.

We got the idea to build tents over our bed one day and I loved it. Finally - some peace and quiet from her! She couldn't see me, I couldn't see her or her mess...it was great. I could pretend I was deep in the woods camping, or wherever my imagination took me.

At our grandparent's house, we shared a room too, and for some years, a bunk bed. We discovered tent making was even cooler with a bunk bed because you could stretch blankets half-way across the room. I'm not sure Grandma enjoyed the mess but we had so much fun doing it!

Back home, on the farm, there were lots of places for a child to explore. Besides building tents in our room, we also enjoyed being in the wood line that surrounded the house. At the foot of the hill behind our house was a small grove of pine trees. As their needles would fall, a soft brown floor was created - perfect for a clubhouse. We scoured the farm for boxes and broken things that we could turn into furniture. Hours were spent playing out in that clubhouse and so many memories were made...Wendy nearly breaking my nose when she threw an old bucket at me....finding opossum babies (UGLY!)....secrets, whispers, and laughter.

This weekend, we're taking advantage of an extra day off and going camping. Noah's never been more than one night so I'm excited to see his reaction. We'll boat and swim and snuggle under the stars...a S'more or two will have to be made...Grandpa stew, since the evenings will be cool...but more than anything it will be uninterrupted family time, my favorite thing!

I'll apologize in advance for not bringing you my daily post this weekend. It may be a little difficult to find a signal while camping, and while I love to write, isn't really the point of the weekend. Tune in next week though for what I'm sure will be many joyful moments we'll experience on our trip.