My little princess Naomi started running a fever Thursday.  The only other symptom she had was a little bit of a runny nose, but she was obviously not feeling well.  The next morning I went to get her from her crib and the first thing she said was, “Mommy, I feeling better.”  She was still warm, but did appear to be doing better.  Well other than the fact that she didn’t want to eat much at breakfast.  Then lunchtime rolled around and she was hungry and requested mac-n-cheese.  She said her tummy didn’t feel good, but having not eaten much all morning I knew she was just feeling hunger pangs.  She sat down to lunch and quickly inhaled 3 bites of mac-n-cheese then stopped eating.  Two minutes later what went down came right back up.  Guess it wasn’t just hunger pangs after all.  I think this is only the second time she’s ever thrown up.  The first time was shortly after she came home and nothing like this.

The remainder of the day found her asleep or wanting nothing more than to sit quietly on mommy’s lap.  For those who know Naomi, sitting quietly does not describe the child.  Sitting still for more than 2 seconds just isn’t something she’s typically capable of doing, so being able to hold her quietly was really quite nice for both of us.

The following morning she again announced, “I feeling better mommy.”  Her temperature was definitely down and she seemed more active.  However, within the first hour of being up, she threw up again.  Fortunately, as the day went on she got better and better.  Her appetite began to return and we were throw-up free for the rest of the day.  By late afternoon she and Lili were playing nicely together and having a great time.

I decided that since Naomi was feeling better and both girls were getting along so well we would do something special.

After dinner I gave the girls their baths and got out two air mattresses and set them up in the family room for a little Saturday night campout.  This was the first time either girl had been involved in any type of campout.  Lili was extremely excited.  Naomi, on the other hand, had seen campouts on t.v. and was sure it involved leaving your house and sleeping outside.  No matter how many times we told her we weren’t leaving the house, she just kept saying she wanted to stay home.  That was until the air mattresses were being inflated and she realized that we really were going to stay home and sleep in the family room.

Honestly, I was kind of excited about this adventure as well.  When our boys were younger we did a fair amount of camping.  We had a big tent, sleeping bags, and all the camping supplies we needed.  We would load everything in the van on Thursday evening and as soon as we were done working for the day on Friday, we would head out to a favorite campsite.  We enjoyed spending time outdoors cooking over a campfire, playing cards by lantern light, exploring and relaxing with friends and family.  For the last several years I have wanted to take up camping again.  Of course my idea of camping now is a little different as I would prefer RV camping, but there is a lot about camping that I miss and would like to have the girl’s experience.

The girls have also talked a lot about wanting a travel trailer to go camping, so even though family room camping is a little different, I was excited about having them experience camping for the first time.  So, we got everything set up for a mommy and girls camp-out, had a bedtime snack, brushed teeth and sent daddy upstairs for the night.  We had the t.v. on to watch a movie (not so reminiscent of our previous camping life) and I turned off the lights.  As soon as the lights were off Lili began crying for me to turn them back on.  She claimed that even though the t.v. was on, it was dark.  Now, we have been to the movies a few times and our family room wasn’t as dark as a theater, but it was apparently too dark at that moment.  It took a few minutes to get her calmed down and my heart sank as I realized that if she can’t handle a family room campout, she’ll have even more trouble with an RV campout and tent camping is definitely out of the question.  Fortunately though, she did calm down and we found a movie that we would all enjoy and settle down for the evening.

After watching the movie and part of a second movie I turned off the t.v. and said it was time to go to sleep.  Naomi was asleep within seconds, but now the room really was too dark for Lili.  Light was filtering in from the street lights, so there was light, but I was again in the position of calming her down for the night.  She was just tired enough that it didn’t take long and was soon sleeping soundly.

As for me, I spent the night with one child right up against me all night while the other tossed and turned because she isn’t used to sleeping with anyone.  It was far from a restful night for me, but we now have our first camping experience under our belts and Lili announced that she wants to camp again.  Apparently, the dark room wasn’t that bad after all.