Campout Continued - Summer Tent Staycation

At Life inTents HQ, we have heard a few stories through the years of happy campers extending their campout experience, on purpose and on accident, by keeping their tent up in their backyard. No matter the reason, the overall experience appears to have the same theme: extended vibrant nature night-sounds, screen-free game time, laughs, and the occasional dance party.

One of our LiT customers is telling their tale...and it still isn't over! Meet Matt, Mary, Clem and Fred in an interview as provided by Mary.

We’d love to hear about your summer with a Life inTents tent in your backyard! There are no “right” answers—we’re much more interested in the funny, unexpected, imperfect and memorable moments that made the experience yours.

1. Take us back to the beginning. What made you decide to put up a tent in your backyard for the summer? We had just returned home from our annual 4th of July family pilgrimage to a beyond special place with beyond special friends and decided we weren't ready for the magic to end. We also learned the hard way a few rainy years ago that these tents are best left to dry fully in the sunshine and summer breeze rather than heaped wet in a pile of "we'll take care of that later" on our damp porch. Upside, I gained an appreciation for patina and a badge for tent restoration. 
2. What did you imagine you’d use it for—and what did you actually end up using it for? Our house is not air-conditioned, so we figured we'd sleep alfresco when it got unbearable inside. It's now mid-September and the tent is still up and we're loving the cool camping tents as autumn approaches.  
3. Who claimed the tent first? Primarily has been a Mama and the Boys impromptu sleepover zone... we're still holding out hope that Matt, a.k.a. Papa, will join us for a backyard tent night before the snow flies. 
4. Describe a typical summer day when the tent was up. You could find the boys playing cards or having an epic wrestling match on most mornings after we woke up. 
5. Was there a moment when it stopped feeling like “a tent in the backyard” and started feeling like another room—or even another world? Can't pinpoint a moment but can confirm that we're in no rush to take it down even though the weather is turning... very much feels like another room of the house and another opportunity to hang on to adventure and spontaneity. 
6. Tell us about one night, afternoon, conversation, game, nap, sleepover or rainy-day moment in the tent that you especially remember. My mom was visiting from Brooklyn and one night as we were going to bed (the boys and Matt were already asleep in bedrooms) I grabbed her arm and pulled her outside to listen to the wildly loud sounds of summer outside - crickets, cicadas, wind blowing through the woods... it felt so calm and also so alive! Then I pulled her along further so we could look at the stars which were vast and unreal. Then I playfully tugged her along to the tent and unzipped it and we went inside and I jokingly said let's have a sleepover! And....... we hopped up, raced back inside, got our pjs on and brushed teeth and met back at the tent and promptly zonked out. I looked over in the morning and laughed and texted my sisters a picture of our mom snoozing on a camping mattress under a cozy down duvet and said "can you imagine making OUR grandmother sleep in a tent?!" Love that mom jumped in and went with the flow and got to experience a night outside. The boys came and visited us when they woke up and were a little jealous. 
7. What accumulated inside over the summer? Blankets? Books? Snacks? Toys? Muddy footprints? Secret treasures? We want the real picture! Blankets, a bean bag chair, many flashlights and camping lanterns, lots of grass clippings, a 30-second dance party button (highly recommended). 
8. Did having the tent already set up change how spontaneous your family could be? Often and the most fun was that the kids never said anything but YES when we suggested a tent night. Tent sleepovers have not ceased being fun and exciting. 
9. Did you notice anything different about how your family connected when you were in the tent versus inside the house? Lots of giggles and just fun for the kids to rewire their autopilot Saturday morning cartoons brains - sometimes they'd get up and go straight to playing soccer outside the tent, or checking out our garden, or playing cards, telling jokes... 
10. What did the kids love most about it? The adventure of it, the spontaneity, the break from routines. And what did the grown-ups love that you perhaps hadn’t expected? Really have loved keeping the spirit of the Roxbury Ramble (4th of July tradition) alive all summer long - this is that annual camping trip, big-time fun, mountain top party with friends that we mentioned earlier. 
11. What was the least Instagram-perfect moment of the summer? We love the mishaps and reality, too. Woke up one rainy morning after the tent had been up for a couple of months and realized how wild our camping pod had become... grass and mud everywhere, tiny snails creeping around on a few window screens, grass clippings and clutter... had to whip everything into shape for a tent refresh. 
12. Did the tent become part of anyone else’s summer—friends, neighbors, cousins, grandparents? The tent became a post-dinner hang out venue and play zone multiple times in the summer when kids and adults wanted to check it out / hide from pesky mosquitos. Pretty special to hear epic giggle sessions eminating from the tent's screen windows. 
13. When it was finally time to take the tent down, how did everyone feel? When is it ever time to take the tent down?! I know we probably should soon AND I don't wanna! Also think we should give it another waterproofing treatment before it gets tucked away for next year. 
14. Finish this sentence: “The summer we had a tent in our backyard was the summer we…”  unknowingly celebrated our last Roxbury Ramble before our friends bravely decided to sell their mountaintop retreat and move on to the next adventure. Earlier this week we pulled the kids out of school for a day so we could go howl at the moon around the campfire and celebrate our friends who believed in making the magic happen for us all so many years ago. This summer was Roxbury Ramble XV. Matt's been to all XV, we met on my first Ramble in 2014 and we've been every summer since (save for one COVID cancelled year) with both boys. Our oldest was 2 months old when he became a Rambler and is now 8. Our youngest has been Rambling since he was in utero. And the fine founders of Life inTents even came along one particularly rainy Ramble. CORE MEMORIES HAVE BEEN MADE. 
15. And finally: what would you tell another family thinking about turning their own backyard into an anytime campout? What are you waiting for?! Do it! Make it cozy, make it fun, make every day an adventure with your people no matter where you are.