How to Camp-Out at Home

What do you do when you don't want to join the massive crowds at the campgrounds for Memorial Day? Well, you have a camp-out in your backyard, of course! I can hear you Boy Scouts and Outdoors Junkies now, "That's not a real camp-out. That's a cop-out." Well, I will prove you wrong! You can have a real camp-out in your yard, and this is how:

1. Set up a tent. You can tell who did all of the work by the pictures that I'm posting.
What, you don't believe me? Yeah, well, Jackson doesn't mind pictures as much as Matt does, and I did help a little bit.

2. Make sure you have a fire pit to safely build a fire in your backyard. Let your wife attempt to build and light the fire three times before you intervene and show her that she really has forgotten all of her "fire" skills that she learned as a teenager at Young Women's camp.


3. Roast marshmallows. Make sure Jackson actually tries one that is roasted to perfection, not one that is just warmed by the fire without a hint of color change. (Matt is the ultimate marshmallow toaster -- I burn mine)


4. Sing campfire songs and tell stories. If you don't know any, let Jackson make one up for you.



5. No camp-out is complete without dancing around the fire!



6. Take a hike around the block.

7. Tell a scary bed time story like "The Three Little Pigs." Be sure to use a scary voice for the Big Bad Wolf.

8. Sleep on an air mattress -- what? You don't do that on a real camp-out? We always do!

9. Wake up at 4:45 a.m. to the "sweet" sounds of the birds in the morning. Then realize you really have to go to the bathroom, and you're freezing! ("If I go inside, I'm not coming back out." Those were the words I muttered to Matt at that painful hour.)

10. Give up and take everyone inside to actually get at least 2 hours of restful sleep.