Napping in a tent.

It was such a treat to have warmer weather last week that one afternoon I decided that Elijah and I should enjoy the great outdoors during his nap time. This could have just been an excuse for me to lay in the sun while my child napped without feeling any guilt for being lazy, but I prefer to think of it as exposing Elijah to new experiences. Yeah, that's it . . .

Anyway, I brought out the tent and tunnel that I found on clearance at Target for $10 (regularly $60, go me) and made Elijah a pretty sweet little napping spot outside. He had a beautiful view of the pond, and umbrella in case it got too hot, a blanket and pillow on the floor of the tent, and a bevy of books to help him unwind and get in the napping mood.

Beautiful sunny blue skies!
A perfect day to be outside.

Grandpa checks out Eli's new digs.

Of course, for the first 10 minutes Elijah was mostly obsessed with crawling through the tunnel and tent, but eventually he quieted down and we read some stories. Then he decided he wanted to fall asleep in the tunnel and not the tent. I went with the flow on that, but after a few minutes he decided "tunnel too hot" and came back to the more shaded tent to snooze. Once he was zonked I made myself comfy outside of the tent in the sun with my swimsuit on, a good book, and a beverage. I don't know why I didn't set up this napping in the tent idea earlier in the summer. What a pleasant afternoon!

Those legs belong to a boy who's
not going to be napping anytime soon.

Mom's happy I'm finally reading books and not jumping around.

Success! He's finally asleep!