The night before we were supposed to leave for our camping trip the hubs and I discovered a show on Discovery - Alaskan Bush People. Instantly obsessed. We decided to stay up late binge watching. The next morning we were supposed to leave at 7:30 am-- HAHAHA. We were late. We hadn't packed and the ‘bush people’ had gotten to our heads - leading us believe we too could be bush people and we didn't need to bring anything on this camping trip. We would just catch wild Florida Salmon with our bare hands and cook it over the fire- obviously. So we literally packed an extra pair of clothes (and my camera duh- true camping necessity) and hit the road.

I do not advise this. Where we were camping was an actual island. The ferry to take you back to your car stops at 5pm… so once you commit- you commit. We could have walked through what we learned to be the rattlesnake armadillo island and canoed back with a 4 year old and 14 month old - but even we‘re not that stupid.

Unlike the cabin we rented in North Carolina last month that had AC/heat, this cabin was open on the top only a ceiling fan. And of course the night we went camping turned out to be the one cold night in Florida. We didn't bring a sheet, blanket, sleeping bag, pack and play, jacket, nothing. So we all piled into bed with a blanket we borrowed from our far more prepared friends and relied on body heat to keep warm. Brrrr. Maybe we aren’t cut out for Alaska- I was sure I’d get hypothermia and it was maybe 60 degrees.

Aside from our failed sleeping attempt - and Lena’s epic meltdown at our genius move of packing no food- we had a good time. Thankfully we went with realistic prepared friends who helped pick up our slack - like lending us the most obvious camping necessity - a flashlight. And if nothing else it was a learning experience. We want to make camping a more regular part of our lives, and now we know that, while we may fantasize of being ‘hard-core’, we are not. And you shouldn't try to be either- especially with small children.