Reconnecting…

Wednesday, September 1, 2010

Last week is kind of a blur. With Rayne missing from the household for more hours a day than not and the ensuing adjustments that haven’t really yet fallen in place with our new schedule…we ended the week in desperate need of a reconnection. We needed to reconnect with Rayne, we needed to reconnect as a family, and we needed to reconnect with ourselves. Brent thought that Friday night would be the perfect night to sleep out in our tent {something we’ve wanted to do all summer}…and I wholeheartedly agreed.

So we made Friday night as fun and lighthearted as possible. We attempted to create as much of the camping experience that we could while still having the comforts of home. We cooked out, we played outside until late, then we got baths and bundled up for our big night. The weather was calling for temps in the 40′s and a thick fog rolling in around midnight…so we knew we had to bundle. We dressed warm, gathered lots of extra blankets, and headed out with our lantern and flashlights. We hung out, we read, we laughed…we reconnected!

I awoke much too early and much too chilly! But thankfully we could run right in the house and have our warm coffee and some warm breakfast! We were all quite tired the rest of the weekend…but I would do it all again in a heartbeat! I’m just hoping that our great weekend, full of reconnecting, will keep our hearts warm all week long!

25 comments

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Kate

What a fun way to spend an evening! I might just have to give it a try after Labor Day.

Carol Blackburn

Hi Maegan, looks like everyone had a blast. What a lovely way to bring the family together and reconnect. It’s something your children will remember especially since their Mother is such a wonderful photographer and they have all those beautiful photos to look back on.

Katy Noelle

Oh, Maegan, what a precious time – I can just see it! Funny! That’s our plan for this weekend. School started today but, we felt like we just weren’t present to each other this summer. S’mores, here we come! =0

Love, Katy Noelle

I LOVE your photo essay, here!

amy

love these shots best of all!

barbara

these pictures made me smile, especially the one of brent reading to the kids. i’m SO jealous of your HUGE backyard!! reconnecting is good )

take care,
Barb

Sandra

beautiful. love it!

Jamie

What a beautiful way to reconnect.

Corinne

These make me feel all warm and fuzzy
As I type, Lucas is actually sitting next to me making our first camping trip reservations for the second weekend in September… yikes! We just got our first family sized tent, and can’t wait to try camping with the kids (though I’d be lying if I didn’t say I was nervous as all heck!)
Looks like you guys had so much fun. So glad you had a chance to reconnect. That’s what it’s all about

Sandra

Just beautiful..both the images and the sentiment!

urban muser

sounds like you guys had a great time. as usual, great photos!

amy

I love these pictures and I’m so glad you guys got to do this, it’s a great way to start out-right on your own backyard!
what a fun way to spend a friday night and the end of the first week of school together!

Courtney

Such great photos! And it looks like you guys had a great time!! Glad you got to reconnect and have some family time!

laurie b

sounds wonderful! i have such great memories of camping out with my family, way back when. and i’m sure your daughters will in the future, as well.

Diana

Oh what fun. The photos are fabulous. We used to do that….Almost makes me miss having my kids young again. tfs.

Micheline

You guys are creating some really great memories for your kids… and for yourselves.

diane herman

Love everything about this post!
The fun photos, the smile, the joy and the colour of the tent is PERFECT!!!
It is almost fathers day here in Australia…and you have given me the funnest idea…a tent for my hubby so we can camp out with the kids

Jennifer Gregory

Maegan, I’m so glad you guys got to reconnect. As Rayne progresses through school, you’ll find periodically you’ll need to take time for that. You will find a groove.

We started 3rd grade this year, and every year we’ve spent the first month getting used to a new teacher and finding our groove. We also find we need to reconnect when the school year starts even though it’s not a new process for us. Going from do nothing to do everything in the blink of an eye. I work outside the home so I don’t get to slow down that much. I can imagine how much more intense the yearning is. You’ll find periodically during the school year you’ll need to connect. We do at the beginning of the year and then again after we return from Holiday break, after our heavy testing schedules (if someone could tell me the true benefit of making 2nd and 3rd graders sit for testing 6 hours a day for a week, I’d be forever grateful…I’ve not been able to validate it). Heck we need to reconnect even if he’s just been to grandma’s for the weekend.

You’ll constantly be at odds like this as your girls grow. It won’t be easy, but it will be an awesome adventure to watch. That’s why you have such wonderful network of friends, to get you through these rough patches.

feather

those pictures are amazing! that’s the kind of thing my family would think of doing, but would never actually do it. it’s just so cool that you did it.

Clare B

This was as close to proper camping as I ever got as a kid and I used to love it. So much fun and always nice to be able to go back inside in the morning. Glad you had a good night with your family.

angie reese

awwww indeed reconnecting is good priceless.

Bev Landgren

Wonderful for you – I have been thinking about you all this week, knowing this would be a big week for all of you. What a great way to top it off.

Great pictures to remember by!

PhotoPuddle

That looks like so much fun. What a great way to reconnect.

Rosie Fluegel

This is the sweetest thing I’ve read all week long.

Cherry

What a beautiful way to spend a Friday night and to document the moments. Wishing you all many more happy reconnections, Cherry XXX

Sandy Addison

I am so glad this was a positive experience for your family as camping for some can tend to be less so. But from a veteran camper hang in there even when you have awful trips as the connection with nature for the kids is priceless. Last time we went camping the boys made a Kookaburra trap to try and stop the birds from stealing our dinner while it was cooking. Amazing what creativity it inspires.