"A tent for four, please!"

My husband and I often come up with these schemes, plans and adventures that we never fully think through before we commit. We currently have two of these adventures in the works - a camping trip and a rather muddled road trip. Like all of our master-planned exploits these two events may be hazardous to our health, our mental and parental health in particular.

First up, camping!?!? I keep asking myself whose ridiculous idea was this. Then, I tell myself it was my husband's, but truth be told I am the genius who came up with this one. My husband loves to camp. We have done very little camping as a couple and only been once with our oldest daughter. When we took our oldest camping for the first (and only) time we actually cheated. She came for one evening and left by noon the next day to spend the rest of the weekend with her grandparents at the cottage. Now here we are two years since that trip and I was feeling guilty that my husband hasn't had an opportunity to enjoy another camping trip. So I decided it would be great to organize a family camping trip as his Father's Day gift. Awesome, right? Ha, who was I kidding?

Picture it: a four-year old who has slept outside once and never really camped, a one-year old who has never even been in a tent, me who has barely camped and really would rather be inside cuddled up with a good book, and my husband who thinks one day we should camp Algonquin with our kids. Oh dear!

I'm sure we are going to have a great time and it will be nice to have a whole weekend together, but the logistics of camping with two kids seems like a nightmare to my Type A, worry-wart brain. For example, where does the baby sleep? Where do we bath the baby? What do we do with our oldest if it rains, if it pours? What about bugs, poison ivy and are there snakes? What do newly, walking babies wear on their feet at the beach? Can you buy bug spray without DEET that actually works? It is suppose to be hot, but we need to keep the girls covered to protect them from the sun and bugs...don't we? How do we keep the babies milk cold, and what to feed her? Can she eat a hot dog like the rest of us? And on and on my brain whirls out the long list of what ifs and how will we?

With a little over 72 hours until our impending departure I'll let you know how it goes. Other people camp with their children. It's not like we are trailblazer on this adventure, so everything will be fine. It will all work out....right??? See what I mean about hazardous to parental and mental health? I need a nap just from thinking about all these things and I haven't even attempted packing our gear!