Jack Everett's first CAMPOUT

It's official. Jack Everett is growing up.

Two weeks ago, Kim called and invited Jack to a campout in her backyard. For Spring Break, they had set up a tent and Kristen and Alli had a girls' campout with their girlfriends, and now it was the boys' turn. I knew Jack would absolutely love it, so we packed up and headed to Roundrock for an overnight stay. I am so glad we did.

The huge 10-person tent in the backyard; Left to right: Hunter (9), Sam (9), and Logan (6). Yes, it was a little much for me to see them playing with weapons, but they are boys, they are kind and careful, and I need to let him be a boy. Right? (I will keep telling myself that.)



Yes, another milestone... I let him go in and out of the house barefoot the entire night. He later recalled this as one of his "favorite parts of the campout."



Left to right: Jack, Logan, Hunter holding Davis, and neighbor Sam sitting around the campfire. You can see that by marshmallow roasting time, Jack and Hunter were getting a little sleepy.

He liked roasting them, and even ate a couple after I reassured him that his tummy could handle it.



When it was time to sleep, I wondered how he'd feel about sleeping outside the whole night. He came to me all secretively, "Momma, I don't want to wear a Pull-up because the big boys might laugh at me." I assured him, "Don't you think it would be worse if you pee-peed in the tent?" He said, "Right. Better give me that Pull-up." The big boys were very cool about it and made sure he felt included. An hour later, I went out to see what they were doing and saw an extension cord leading to the tent. Hmmm.... so much for "roughing it."



Jack felt like a big boy and talked about his campout for days. It was a peek into my future... sweaty boys running in and out, missing teeth, sound effects, roughhousing, incessant snacking, koolaid mustaches, burping, black feet, dirty fingernails, fascination with fire...

All that... times two.