Camping Goddess

Not everyone loves camping & anyone who has met my fiance would believe that Sam is one of  "those hotel only snobs". However, you would be wrong! Sam has shown an interest in going camping lately that has got my flagging country girl spirit all in an uproar. The moment he mentioned going I put a big tent on layby (he's pretty tall after all and the last thing we need is to have him throw his back out from stooping to get in the tent) and started salivating over the many camping grounds and exciting places we could visit.
A week ago we finished paying the layby off. I am stoked!

The tent is HUGE! A 12 person tent should be but I have some very vivid memories of being squashed with my then 10 year old sister into a 4 person tent. So I completely expected it to be alot smaller than it is. It easily has enough room for tall Sam and sprawling sleeper me in one "room" and the kids in another "room" with our gear at our feets and the communal gear in the "family room".

I fully expected Sam to have lost interest in it by this time - but I was determined to get the kids a chance to enjoy the bush (or atleast a caravan park). Surprise surprise - Sam is still keen on it and since I've still got most of my old gear I only have a few things left to pick up.
That is - to get it to a level that I would call comfy.
Since we're talking about the man who beleived that when I said I grew up in a country town, that I meant I grew up in a shack - hillbilly style - and was surprised when I took him to a town with a shop and *gasp* brick houses! I'm determined not to shock him with our first camping experience so I've been slowly introducing him to the process of setting up camp (and warned that we will probably be tired and a mite grumpy from the long drive to our camp spot with kids who aren't used to it when we put the tent up) and now we're in the process of getting those extra things that make camping more enjoyable.
Nothing like the old days - you know when you used to sit on a log around the fire in the 3 layers of clothing you wore yesterday and the day before, frantically trying to think up another card game you can play so you don't have to go to bed and be in all that quiet darkness imagining all sorts of creepy crawlies heading your way with the axe murderers and baby eating dingoes. Eeeek!
So we're kinda going luxury camping. Chairs (no dirty logs for us :P ), tables, air mattresses, mini shower, blankets (sleeping bags were the only thing I hated about camping), lots of lights, this kewl little air conditioning vent(for the kids day time naps only!) lots of enclosed mesh & space for everything - including a kitchen sink. Yep a kitchen sink.

We still need a decent esky (you know the ones rated for days not hours), another single blowup mattress, another portable gas bottle (incase our campsite/weather is not fire friendly), a radio (incase of Sam panic attack about the quiet/isolation) and a few more rechargable lights. After that we're out of here!

I imagine sitting out under the stars, a glass of vino in one hand and a marshmallow stick in the other while telling stories about how I used to go camping with my parents - the kids exhausted from a day of fresh air and lots of swimming and hiking are almost asleep and sitting quietly listening to us and the sound of the crikets. Armed with my new camping recipies - I'm proclaiming myself a camping goddess :D