The night of the tent

The other day my husband called and told me that he won something as a raffle prize at a golf tournament he played in. He thought it would be fun for the girls to play with. "What was it?", I asked. He told me I would see when he got home. Sweet Pea was screaming with glee because daddy was bringing home something for her. Cocoa was screaming with glee because daddy was coming home. So when he made it through the door Sweet Pea was already looking for daddy's surprise. Cocoa just wanted him to pick her up. It didn't take long for him to unveil what appeared to be a tent. Yes, a camping tent. I thought to myself that we really don't need a tent. We don't go camping (OK maybe one day we will). But the girls were excited at this thing that was now being taken out of it's package and assembled in our family room. Their eyes were big and they were eager to see what it looked like. It was put together rather quickly and sure enough once the door was unzipped, they went right in. So seeing as though they would be well entertained, I took off for the grocery store. (It's nice to be able to go shopping alone once in awhile.) I thought by the time I got home that they would be ready for bed. Sure enough they were ready for bed, and the tent had been taken down. As I put away the groceries I asked my husband if the girls were already in bed. His answer now that I think of it should have tipped me off that something was up. He said, "Well, sort of." I then heard Cocoa talking upstairs. I finished putting away the groceries and went upstairs to put her back in bed. As I rounded the corner at the top of the stairs the light was on in the master bedroom. I pushed the door back to unveil the TENT. I gave a half a smile and asked what was going on. Sweet Pea said, "We're going to sleep in the tent mommy." OK....so I went downstairs to see why. My husband informed me that the girls wanted to sleep in the tent and he didn't think them sleeping downstairs was a good idea. He didn't want them to wake up in the middle of the night and get scared. So he put the tent upstairs. In the master bedroom. I guess he could have put it in the bonus room but that room is off limits to the girls right now (their toys are in there, more on that later). All I can say is that it wasn't easy trying to get them to sleep. They were too excited about this new experience. And it wasn't a good night sleep for me either. We had put blankets down on the bottom of the tent but during the night I just kept hearing the rustling sounds of their legs against the canvas/tarp like material. I also had put a night light in the room so it wouldn't be too dark and well it was too bright for me. I know they enjoyed themselves and they stayed in the tent all night (Cocoa generally goes wandering in the middle of the night). I really needed that cup of coffee the next morning. So much so that I even had a second cup. You know they even took their naps in it the next day. I did take it down last night though. I don't think I could have gone through another night of hearing them toss and turn on that material. Oh what joy it brings to see them have so much fun with something so simple as a tent.