Logistics

I love lists!!!
I don't like logistics.
I have to be able to get a tent, a kitchen, and whatever else on a campsite I've never seen. I have no idea how big it is, what the ground is like, or anything. Looking at googlemaps, It has lots of trees. And it's basically an RV park. That's all I know.
How do I fit all 7 of us in a tent big enough for the summer?
Graph paper and lots of time.
I mapped out the smallest dimensions a campsite could be. I figured 25 feet by 18 feet. (An RV is at least 20-30 feet long and about 8 feet wide, but a few feet wider with slideouts. A very conservative estimate). I put the tent dimensions on the "campsite" I drew out, a block for each foot. It's pretty neat to see how it might look. Of course, most tents and campsites aren't perfect rectangles, but it does give a good visual idea.
After staying up till 3 am and working on this, I decided that we would get 2 tents: a 14x9 and a 9x7. The bigger one would house me, the husband with our large queen size airbed and the 3 boys on a full size airbed. The other tent would fit the girls on a full size airbed and have enough room for storage.
The husband decided that he wants a tent he can stand up in. He's 6'1". So now I have a different problem. The tent I had chosen for us was only 6 feet in the center. I spent all this time, and it wasn't going to work. But not all my work was in vain. I decided on a slightly bigger tent with a 7 foot head clearance. It gives us a bit more room, too.
The airbeds decision was a hard one to make too. I have to think about sleeping solutions for 7 people for 2 months. I spent hours on research and decided on getting a queen size frame airbed for me and the husband. It's like a double high bed with a removable mattress inside. It had good reviews, too. the kids are getting full size air mattresses. I couldn't decide on size, or cots, or just sleeping mats. They can sleep on the floor with just a blanket and be fine, so I'm not too worried about their overall comfort. I used my bed and my son's full size to see how they fit. I decided for the sake of inside space to get full size beds. they are a bit smaller than two twins side by side, but all together. So I thought that might be more comfortable. We will use our own bedding instead of sleeping bags. It gets hot and muggy in Southern MI, so we don't need sleeping bags. We will use our existing pillows and I will probably get two sheet sets for each bed.
That's it for now. I'll post in the next week about kitchen planning.

I have a plan

I've been wanting to get out of this town, out of this state, for awhile now. There was really no reason to leave, and nowhere hubby and I could could agree on to go. A dilemma of epic proportions, to say the least.
Until I woke  up with a plan. And immediately put it into action. Incredibly, hubby agreed with me!
So here's my plan, and it's pretty radical. We are going to live in a tent for the summer. Well, at least the months of June and July. We are going to stay at a private campground in Niles, MI, where our church is. The people I am longing for, and am terribly sorry I left them in the first place.  Well, we all make mistakes, but that's another post.
So the plan....we are moving out of our house at the end of May. We are putting all our belongings into storage here and driving our Durango with a rented trailer 12 hours away, a Durango filled with husband, me, and our 5 kids. What adventure!!!
Or are we just crazy? 
The plan came about a few weeks ago, but it is official, and I'm well into the  planning stages. We've been camping before, and both times were less than spectacular. But I'm a planner, I love to make lists, organize, and do tons of research. I will know my topic well by the end of May, and be ready for our life outdoors.
The camping we will be doing is not survivalist camping, not by a long shot. The campground has a small beach and a newly remodeled bath house with showers and flush toilets in a well lighted, private room. We will be close to shopping and other activities. We may even have a site with electric, if it works out that way.
The main purpose of this trip is to basically reset our minds and bodies. My kids are 11, 9, both girls, and the boys are 7, 5, and 4. The boys are addicted to  the computer and Wii, and would easily play all day if I let them. We have instituted an hour a day policy now, and they cry when their hour is up. I also want to focus on the kids more, without the interruption of TV, internet, phone, etc. It's to hard to say I'm going to do it. I have to remove these items from our lives to get better. It's a spreading sickness, a virus, a cancer, that is eating away at us, slowly but surely.
I also want to reconnect with my church family. Since we have lived here, our spiritual lives have bottomed out. We are full of good ideas  and talk, but truth be told, we have slid down that slippery slope of sin and I'm trying to claw my way back out, kids in tow. It's scary to wake up and see your kids arguing, shouting, hating each other. And it's even scarier to not even want to deal with it. This is what I'm facing and hoping to overcome with this drastic move.
I have about 12 weeks to get our stuff together. I'm not panicky yet. I know what we need, and I'm working on it, week  by week. I want to save as much money as I can, but still be comfortable.  I will not buy sleeping bags, we will use our own blankets and pillows (even though I may need to pick up extra sheets at Goodwill or Salvation Army).
I do need to get a tent, air mattresses, a camp stove, and tarps, rope, bungees, and various other misc. items. I will talk about all these as I get them. I am trying to do as much research as I can before buying the big ticket items, though I do have some things already picked out. I'm excited!!!
Stick around for further updates!