Everyone has a comfort zone; some small, some huge....mine is kind of a medium size.  I've always been pretty aware of my comfort zone; what's in it and what is not.  Camping is not in my comfort zone.  So I've decided my family is GOING CAMPING! 

My husband and I have 6 year old Stella and 3 year old Rachel.  As far as that goes, I can see the "light at the end of the tunnel" meaning I finally have no more stroller, no diapers, no sippy cups!  I can be upstairs at the same time that my children are downstairs; a true liberating feeling!  I can go to the bathroom BY MY SELF (sometimes).  All of my slowly growing independence must have made me a bit crazy because before I new it a normal shopping trip to Costco for milk, laundry detergent and toilet paper ended in me coming home with a 10 person Coleman tent!  When I got home and asked Tony to help he unload the Costco trip from the car, his first response was "what the .... is that?"  (Humm, looks pretty self explanatory to me.... in fact the word TENT is clearly on the side of the box.)

Long story short, that was last Wednesday afternoon.  Tomorrow at 2:20 pm the Minter Family Inaugural Camping Trip begins.  I have spent the last week and a half "gearing" up for the courageous outing.  Since I am never one to dive into anything with out at least 10 different lists, I had to work quickly (possibly before reason jumped back into my head and I remembered that I dislike bugs and dirt). 

Campsite (lakefront of course) reserved at Stone Mountain (yes we are going to ease into "roughing it" - I'm crazy NOT stupid). 

Tent "practice" completed - Tony and I got it up in about 20 minutes (after very foolishly trying to set it up in the living room).  Guess what, a 10 person tent is pretty LARGE!  The take down took only 15 minutes AND we got in completely back in it's box.

Cast iron cookware purchased and seasoned along with all the needed (and unneeded) cooking  gadgets.

Sleeping bags you say?  No I don't think so, to ensure this expedition has a chance of repeating itself, I decided to go with the queen size double high airbed with the soft, flocked top and a super comfy down comforter. 

You can see where I'm going with this list so I will leave you with your imagination as to what else was "essential" for me to take on this trip.  I'm confident that those of you that know will me be pretty accurate.

So, the girls are excited, Tony is excited and I am beyond myself.  I can't wait!  The weather forecast?  Friday partly sunny with a high of 75 and a low of 55.  Saturday and Sunday, rain.  Yep rain.  Are we still going, of course.