Camping with the neighbors.

Fortunately for us, we have neighbors who are much more avid campers than we and invite us to go with them so that we usually exceed our annual maximum of, oh, one time. It's not that Tim and I don't like camping. In fact, the first few years of our marriage we made sure to outfit ourselves amply to camp in (relative) comfort. Then, we organized it all into a few Rubbermaid totes so that we could pretty much just grab and go. Enter three stubborn, I'm-gonna-fight-sleep-till-I-keel-over-and-die children named Anna, Lily and Rachel. Which basically turns what might have been 5-6 hours of decent sleep (way less than the 8 hours Tim and I require) into anywhere in the ballpark of 2-5 hours.

Okay, so our camping history has been dotted with a few experiences that didn't make me want to slit my wrists. But only a few! Usually, I drive home while my kids sleep peacefully in the back seat and throw my exhausted, migraine-ridden, tear-stained self into bed without even showering, leaving the kids to fend for themselves while I get some shut-eye. So you can see why we cross our fingers and pray for mercy weeks before even venturing to a campground.

The thing is, we keep coming back for more torture. Idaho has some of the greatest campgrounds ever! We've fallen asleep to the bubbling sound of rivers, taken dips in hot springs, waded in shallow mountain streams, and gone paddle-boating in gorgeous high-country lakes. We've also enjoyed the company of great friends on several of these outings, an experience that just can't be bought.

It sounds pretty great when I put it that way. I just need to forget how exhausted it all makes me and remember how quick my children are to run to the car and buckle themselves in(!) as soon as I tell them it's time to go camping. It's totally worth it.

Last weekend, we went to Bruneau Dunes State Park with our neighbors. There, you can find the tallest single-structured sand dunes in North America and an outdoor observatory where we got to view Saturn, the moon, and other exciting celestial objects. As Anna put it, "I can see space!" Our site had electricity, so I indulged myself in bringing my Aerobed, allowing me to sleep in circumstances as close to home as one can expect when you're in a tent and the wind chill factor is close to 40 degrees outside. The next day we slid down the dunes on our family tobaggan and basked in the sun on our makeshift "beach". The food was good, the company was good, the sleep was halfway decent, and I think we might have actually started this year's camping season off on the right foot. Thanks to great neighbors for pushing us.