Camping sounds

Another edition of our lives in children's book form. Some details may have been changed to fit the story, and this adventure actually took place a month ago. But, well, it's a story, so enjoy:


Molly and Charlotte were sisters and the best of friends. They did everything together. They played dress up together. They played school together. They rode their bikes and scooters together. Sometimes they fought, but they loved each other and always said, "I'm sorry" and gave each other a hug.

One of the things Molly and Charlotte really loved to do was listen to their mommy and daddy read to them. One night, their daddy read a Bernstain Bears story all about camping. The girls had never been camping before, and everything in the book made it sound so fun. You get to sleep in a tent?!? OUTSIDE?!? All night?!?

Molly and Charlotte looked at each other. They both knew immediately that they wanted to go camping themselves. Molly and Charlotte spent months asking their parents if they could go camping.

"Mommy, can we go camping?" Molly would ask.
"Not tonight, sweetie, it's a school night," her mommy would reply.

"Daddy, camping?" asked Charlotte in the few words that she could say as a 2 year old.
"No, honey, we have a lot going on this weekend," her daddy would say.

A couple weeks later, Molly would try again.
"Mommy, can we go camping?" Molly would ask.
"No, not now. It's the middle of summer. It is TOO hot to go camping," her mom would say.

"Daddy, camping?" asked Charlotte again.
"Not today, Charlotte," her daddy would tell her. "Tonight, you're going to spend the night at your grandparents' house."

While the sisters loved spending the night at their grandparents' house, they still wanted to go camping.

Finally, one day, after months and months of asking, Molly and Charlotte's mommy and daddy said that this weekend would be the weekend. The weekend they could go camping. But, only if the weather was good.

The girls were so excited. They gathered their sleeping bags and their footie pajamas, and they watched the weather forecast on TV every single day. They wanted to make sure nothing would stop their camp out.

Saturday arrived. The weather wasn't too cold. The weather wasn't too hot. There was no rain in the forecast and not a cloud in the sky.

It was camping day!

Their mommy and daddy decided that they would set up their tent in the backyard instead of going to a campground like they had read about in the book. Their mommy said something about testing out how they would do. Molly wasn't worried, she knew she was going to love camping, and she was sure Charlotte would love it, too.

In the afternoon, the girls helped their daddy set up their brand-new tent in the backyard. It was really easy to set up. Molly and Charlotte played on the swings and kicked a ball around. And, the next thing they knew, the tent was standing up. It was like magic!

Other kids from the neighborhood even thought the tent was cool. Aureley and Michael came down to see what was happening in their backyard. Molly and Charlotte thought the tent was their very own playhouse.

Aureley, Molly and Charlotte waving from inside the tent.

It was so nice of Daddy to set us up our own playhouse.

This is pretty much the coolest thing ever.

They played in the tent all afternoon while their daddy cooked hot dogs on the grill. He said that all camp outs should have hot dogs. Their mommy thought all camp outs should have s'mores, but they couldn't find any marshmallows, so they couldn't have s'mores. Their mommy was sad about that.

It started to get dark, and the sisters were so excited to sleep in the tent. It was the first time they had ever asked, "Is it bedtime, yet?" Their mommy made sure they put on their warmest footie pajamas so they wouldn't get cold. They carried their blankets and sleeping bags and pillows and stuffed animals out to the tent. It was such an adventure!

Their mommy took some pictures of all of them in the tent, but then she kissed them and hugged them and told them to have a great daddy-daughter camp out adventure. Then, she went inside. Molly and Charlotte couldn't believe she wouldn't want to sleep in the tent with them, and they couldn't imagine that she would want to sleep in the house all by herself. She promised she would be fine, though.

Daddy-Daughter adventure!

"Roughing it" with blankets, pillows and multiple air mattresses.

Molly and Charlotte snuggled into their sleeping bags and closed their eyes.

All of a sudden, Molly heard a noise. Bark, bark, bark, ruff, ruff.
"What's that, Daddy?" Molly asked.
"It's just Dexter, the dog next door, barking, Molly," her daddy answered. "Go to sleep."

Then, Charlotte heard a noise. Who, who, who.
"Daddy, what's that sound?" asked Charlotte.
"It's just an owl, Charlotte," her daddy replied. "Go to sleep."

The girls rested quietly for a minute. Then, Molly heard something else. Rustle, rustle, rustle, rustle.
"What's that noise, Daddy?" Molly questioned.
"It's just the leaves on the trees blowing in the wind," said her daddy. "Go to sleep."

Charlotte heard a noise. Slam!
"What's that?" Charlotte asked.
"It's just someone shutting their car door," her daddy said. "Go to sleep."

The girls lay quietly again. Then, they both heard a noise. Zzzzzzzzzzzzz, honk-shew, honk-shew, zzzzzzzzzz.
"Daddy," they both asked, "what is that noise?"
But, their daddy didn't say anything.
"Daddy?" they asked.
"Daddy, are you awake?"

They both crawled over to their daddy's sleeping bag. And, there he was. His eyes shut tight. Sleeping. Molly told Charlotte, "That sound is Daddy's snoring!"

They looked at each other and laughed and smiled. Camping was just as much fun as they thought it would be when they first heard about it in the Berenstain Bears book.

So, Molly and Charlotte snuggled close to each other, closed their eyes and drifted to sleep. All the while, listening to the sounds of a dog barking, owls hooting, leaves rustling and their daddy's snoring.

And, even though they liked "Rock-a-bye Baby" and "Twinkle, Twinkle," Molly and Charlotte now had a new favorite lullaby: the sounds of a camping adventure with their daddy. Snoring and all.

Adventures in Ballooning

Now that preschool is back in session, and we only have one year before kindergarten, Molly and I have been working a lot on her reading. So, in honor of all books we've been reading lately, here is last week's adventure written as a children's book. Enjoy (or not):

Adventures in Ballooning

Molly was 4-years-old and loved to imagine what it would be like to fly. In fact, every night she dreamed that she was flying in the sky. And, each morning Molly told her mom all about her dreams and what she had seen while she was flying.

Sometimes, she saw squirrels packing away nuts and acorns for the winter. Sometimes, she saw trucks and cars racing super fast through the streets. And, some nights, she even saw zebras running and playing tag with elephants. Molly always started her stories to her mom with, "Last night, when I was flying in the sky ... " Her mom knew that Molly was just dreaming and using her imagination, though. Molly wasn't actually flying through the sky every night.

But, that didn't stop Molly from wishing she could fly. Every time she heard an airplane, she looked up and followed its path through the blue sky. She watched as it played hide-and-seek with the white, fluffy clouds. Molly taught her little sister, Charlotte, to watch for airplanes, too. She even taught Charlotte how say the word "airplane." Molly was proud that she was able to teach her baby sister things like that.

One day, Molly looked up in the sky and saw the most beautiful sight she'd ever seen. It was round, soft and the red, yellow, blue and green colors were so bright it appeared as if someone had painted them on a bright blue canvas. It looked like a giant balloon was floating in the sky.

And, it turns out, that's what it was. Molly asked her mom about it. "That is called a hot air balloon, Molly," her mom replied. "Those balloons are so big that people can ride in the baskets underneath. They can travel all over the world in them."