annual indoor winter campout

The kids had a day off of school last week so we decided to do our annual indoor winter campout. We started this a few years ago as a way to make January less depressing. Ben took the day off and he and I took turns doing a run at Lake Johnson to enjoy the beautiful weather that day. Then we all headed to Lake Benson and went on a short hike. We came home and had a fire in the backyard (and Ben burned our Christmas tree) and we had tinfoil dinners and s'mores. We set up the tent in the playroom and the kids slept in there (Ben slept in the playroom with them, but opted for the guest bed and Simon and I opted for our own beds). We had a pancake breakfast in the morning. I love this simple tradition and the kids always look forward to it.

Putting on a performance at Lake Benson.

Skipped the marshmallows and went straight for the chocolate.

winter camping.

A few weeks ago we did our annual indoor winter campout. We cooked tinfoil dinners in the oven and also made "banana boats" in the oven (bananas stuffed with marshmallows and chocolate). We considered building a real fire in the backyard but it ended up being an unusually cold night. The real excitement of the night was setting up our tent in the playroom. We watched a movie from inside the tent and the kids thought it was pretty cool to sleep in there.

Checking out the first deer sighting in our backyard.