OK, so I have my detractors, those who say there's no way I would ever attempt a real camping trip with my family, let alone survive one. So, since we've just completed our first ever Packiam family camping trip-- in a tent, not a pop-up or an RV-- I thought I should tell you about it.
And the first thing I should say is that a lot would have gone wrong had it not been for Jared Newman! You see, the truth is it wasn't a strictly Packiam family affair. No, I'm smarter than that. What I lack in Hunter-Gatherer skills I make up for in common sense. And common sense says no way we try this alone. So that's how it came to be that the Packiam clan joined the Newman family for three days and two nights at 11-Mile State Park.
DAY 1:
Setting up my tent was going well until I realized that the stakes they give you aren't really designed for actual campgrounds. No. You'd have to buy a set of 9-inch "nails" from REI for that. Fortunately, Jared had Big Man stakes aplenty.
After taking turns pumping up air mattresses and giving Jared a hand with their tent, we got the fire going. And by we, I mean Jared. Lovely meal, capped off with'smores and it was time to hit the hay. Kids did great. You can see from the picture, they thought sleeping in the tent all together was how life was meant to be.
It was a restless night for me. The moon was full, parading its light into our tent like it was hers to shine.
A dark cloud passed over the moon, casting spears of lightning from side to side, proving it could play along. This all sounds like it would be the perfect combination for sleep, but I felt it my duty to stand guard in nature's playground. I kept a watchful ear for any rustling in the leaves that just might be a bear sniffing the sweetness of wet wipes and confusing it for actual berries. And I peered out the window to make sure a tornado was not waiting to descend into our campground. And just when weariness was getting the better of me, the sun was sending the moon behind the mountains, taking its rightful place as Earth's true light. Yeah, I was a little mad.
DAY 2:
Later that morning we rented a kayak and a canoe and took turns paddling the kids around. Norah (pictured with Myra, the Newman's youngest girl) enjoyed getting splashed and Sophia was cruising in style. But Holly looked like she belongs in the Great Outdoors.
Hot dogs for lunch.
That afternoon, we drove about an hour or so-- mainly to get the kids to nap in the car-- to the hot springs by Mt. Princeton. Very cool place. They've pumped water into large un-chlorinated swimming pools. Swimming in a pool as warm as a hot- tub, with cleansing minerals in the water when you haven't showered? Oh yeah! Just what we needed. 
Hit a sweet burger place in Buena Vista then headed back to camp before daylight disappeared. It was a much colder night, though I slept much more deeply. The sound of weekend campers filling in the sites around us brought a strange comfort, as if I missed the crowded living quarters of my suburb.
DAY 3:
Tore down camp and left around 9:30am to make it back for some afternoon events in Colorado Springs. Stopped for breakfast at McDonald's.
So, there: three days (sort of) and two nights camping in a tent with the kiddos. I could get used to this.
Oh...and if you're wondering why Jared Newman isn't in any of the pictures, it's because he was taking them.
And so there wouldn't be any hard evidence that I didn't do this all by myself. :)
