Its a good thing I have fun and adventurous siblings or else my kids would be bored with me on our summer road trips. My brother suggested we camp in teepees in Oregon. I’m pretty sure I’ve made it clear, we’re not campers. And my brother knows me well enough to know that camping isn’t at the top of our list. So teepee camping was a nice bridge to the outdoors. Half the battle with camping is all the gear that you have to bring and then set up and take down. I’m all for showing up and having my tent set up for me and comfortable sleeping pads ready to go. Just add sleeping bags!

We planned simple meals that required little prep or clean up so it was a breeze. My parents didn’t want to sleep over so they drove up to spend the afternoon/evening with us.

My brother brought his fishing boat so the boys were occupied after dinner, then on the shore as the sun tucked behind the mountain and first thing the next morning. Hunter was in heaven.

Little sidenote: One of Hunter’s great attributes is his ability to find interest in just about everything. He’s a chameleon. If he’s with a group of boys playing football, he is in the middle of it all. If he’s up in Utah with cousins, he turns into the best Nerf sniper and then he goes to Idaho and he becomes an outdoorsman begging to go fishing or practicing his archery skills. And he loves it all – it’s what make him such a great friend, he’s happy doing just about anything.

I’m not sure if the kids were more excited about the teepees or the campfire and s’mores!

I couldn’t get over the beauty as the sun set that night. It was peaceful. So peaceful that we got the kids to bed (rather late) and then sat talking under the stars – and they put on quite the show that night. It was probably the most stars I’ve seen in a night sky since my summers working at Zion National Park. It was worth staying up so late enjoying the ambiance even though we knew our kids would wake up with the sun…and they did!

Camping checked off the summer bucket list!