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A little while later, they pulled into the campsite and parked the car.
Grandpa turned in his seat and asked, “Are you ready for a new adventure, kids?”
“Yes!” they both cheered and practically flew out of the car. As Max helped Grandpa set up the tent, Josie and Grandma unloaded the car. Max and Grandpa had unrolled the tarp to place underneath the tent.
“Why do we put this under the tent?” Max asked Grandpa.
Grandpa ruffled Max’s hair, “Well, Max, the tarp helps keep the tent dry. If the ground is wet, the tarp will stop the water from coming into the tent and soaking into the sleeping bags.”
Max nodded in understanding and started to put the tent rods together while Grandpa unrolled the tent and staked it down.
Josie laughed as she and Grandma finished up. They had begun to set up chairs around the campfire pit, but Josie had stopped to watch Max as he struggled to thread the tent pole through the tent’s pole casings. Somehow the pole had come apart in the fabric and Max couldn’t get it back together again. Grandma pushed Josie’s baseball cap over her eyes as she walked by.
“Stop gawking, Josie-Jo,” she teased, “And come help us finish up the tent.”
Together, Grandma and Max were able to get the tent pole back together and threaded through. With Josie and Grandpa working on the other tent pole, they were able to pop the tent up quickly. Grandpa stayed outside and checked the stakes while Max and Josie went inside the tent with Grandma to unroll the sleeping bags and arrange their things. After he checked the tent stakes, Grandpa snuck away quietly.
Max spread out his favorite orange plaid blanket on top of his sleeping bag, and Josie plumped up her pillow and set her backpack at the foot of her sleeping bag.
As he finished spreading out his blanket, Max looked up, “Hey Grandpa... wait, where did he go?” Max wondered.
“Why don’t you kids go out and see,” Grandma answered with a twinkle in her eye and nod towards the entrance of the tent.