Camping with Girl Terror.

I went camping today! I love camping. The tent thrills me. I like sleeping outside. I even like that whole thing where you wake up, and you can barely move because you slept on permafrost all night, with a shoe under your hip. I like the stretching out by the fire, with warm toes and freezing nose.
Since having kids, I've been camping exactly once. I took off when Girl Terror was 1, and camped alone for two nights. (When I got home, we conceived Tannen. Too much info? Sorry.) Hubby is NOT a camper. As a child, he was forced to camp, endlessly, and the novelty wore off. When we were dating we camped occasionally, but that was not about camping, really....
So. I bought myself a cheap, huge tent a few weeks ago. I set it up in my backyard, pleased as punch. The instructions said it was a two person job, but I am Camping Woman!! I did it alone!! Hear me ROAR!! Ahem. Anyway. Tent in backyard. Girl Terror has been asking for over a year to go camping. For me, camping is a quiet time. I like being alone, sometimes. It is peaceful, and for lack of better words, it helps me grow my soul. I could not imagine a bouncy little girl in that picture.
I finally decided to go half way. I said we could sleep in the tent, in the backyard. That way, we'd still be getting the camping vibe, but without the possible camping problems. Turns out she was all about the marshmallows, so no worries. This afternoon we hauled blankets, an air mattress, sleep foamy, pillows, water bottles, stuffed animals, kleenex, jammies, a book, and the ever important marshmallows, out to the frontier. At 7 PM, Girl Terror and I headed out for our Wonderful Fun Night of Camping! To say she was excited would not even begin to cover it. There was a little disappointment in the marshmallow department....I wouldn't agree to light a fire in the yard. So she ate 3 marshmallows "raw", and declared herself full. I had already told her that I would lie out there for a bit, but then I was coming back into the house to watch a show with Hubby, before returning to the campsite for the night. She was all "I'll be fine, Mummy. Just go. Don't worry about a thing, see you when you get back!". When I went back out, she was still wide awake. For her, 9 PM is incredibly late, so she was a bit concerned. It was bright in the tent. And noisy. The cars going by, the neighbor kids out, the dogs barking.... I told her we could easily sleep inside, but no. She insisted she would be able to fall asleep. After 20 minutes of her pretending to be asleep, we reached a compromise. Tomorrow she and I will spend afternoon rest time in the tent. Just us. We will lie on the beds, and make like we are camping. But for the night, we would sleep in the house. By 9:30 PM we were back inside, returned from our adventure. She fell asleep by 9:35 PM, after informing me she would most likely be very, very tired in the morning. You know, from the late night camping trip.
I can only hope that the "camping trip" with her brother goes as well.