Blender Family Bits - Camp-on

     This past summer I got to meet one of my heroes.  Years ago when my husband I were getting together, we listened to Gary Smalley's 7 Keys to a Happy Marriage.  That was revolutionary to John and me.  We had both been in failed marriages and wanted to make sure this one lasted forever.  As we listened there was one thing that stuck.  Do something that will put your family under stress and you will bond the family.  His suggestion was to "Go Camping"!!
       Most of you would say very quickly, that's not stressful!  Well, when you have five children and two adults that are trying to form a union, it's stressful.  You never know what might happen while you're camping.

One of our first experiences was tent-camping at Fall Creek Falls.  It was fall and it was already starting to get cold.  Our youngest was three and oldest was twelve.  We had the big yellow tent with lots of little sleeping bags and two big ones.  Little did we know that there would be so many memories made from that one trip.  I don't remember all the details except the temperature went down to 36 degrees and we were not prepared with our sleeping bags.  Our youngest daughter bit into a candy and lost her first tooth.  And last but not least we learned that this was a great way to bond this family!  To this day we have so much fun reminiscing about our camping experiences.  
         If you know me, you might know that I'm adventurous but I'm not FOND of camping.  I don't like traipsing to the bathroom in the middle of the night.  I don't like going to get the water to cook with and I'm not too fond of showers in public bathrooms.  But I've done it and I've seen the benefits to our family.  

     For many years we enjoyed going out in the tent or the camper.  Little feet enjoyed biking and running etc.  We look back now and laugh at the times we were freezing at night.  Or so crowded in our camper that we could hear all the teeth grinding, sleep talking and snoring of everyone in the family.  But the key is we can laugh.  We look back and laugh at how we have made it.

     If you are a blended family or not what would you recommend to do to blend your family?  Sometimes stress is good.