Dear Mummy, we’re in the midst of festival season and our home has exploded with camping gear as the peak #GetOutside season is in full flow. My folks have camping equipment, sleeping bags, tents and utensils just clogging up the hallway until our next camping trip. Their thinking is why bother putting anything away when there will be another opportunity to get it out again in a week!

Not one to disregard an opportunity to sleep under canopy I jumped at the chance to get involved with
Wild Night Out which was held at the end of June. (No it isn’t a wild night out on the town Mummy!) We don’t need the excuse to spend a night in the wild and my folks are happy for me to sleep in my own little tent in the garden. I may only be five but I’m born for the outdoors, even admitting recently that I preferred sleeping in a tent as opposed to a house.

So armed with my sleeping bag, marshmallows and a new tent, (I think it was overkill to sleep in the mansion that is my family’s 8 man tent) I ventured on my own into the wilderness that is our garden. Even a big fluffy cat called Gizzy joined me, and I likened her to a big grizzly bear in my crazy imagination.

My folks helped me put up the tent in daylight hours, while I prepared my sleeping arrangements with my toys. This was super fun. I even had the foresight to order in giant marshmallows to make s’mores by the camp fire, AKA daddy’s BBQ. With a bedtime story and the light slowly drifting away behind the cherry tree in our garden, I bedded down for the night, the gentle hum from neighbours evening shenanigans in the background, then all was still.

I woke up once to go to the toilet and used the opportunity to gaze at the sky, even with the light pollution from the distance town centre I could make out the stars glistening within the dark blanket of night. Street lights cast shadows over the side of our house and I pictured neighbouring cats dancing on the fence.

Yawning and holding on to my daddy’s hand I returned to the two-man tent, I curled up beside my daddy and I fell asleep in his arms, when I wasn’t battling for control of the inflatable mattress! When I woke the following morning he was snoring beside me. We’d both fallen asleep outside on this mid summers evening and woke to the sound of wood pigeons cooing their morning song.

Watch our vlog and us setting up my new tent!

We enjoyed a nice slow breakfast on the grass and some reading in our onesies and sleeping bags which made waking up easier and not a phone in sight! We can’t quite believe that only a third of children in Britain spend more than an hour a day outdoors and that more than a third of children have never been camping! I loved sleeping in my new Eurohike tent, it was easy to set-up and pack away perfect for mini adventures ‘off the cuff’.

In an age where more and more Brits are becoming inactive and technology is a central part of life from an early age (children spend an average of 6 hours a day in front of a screen), it is more important than ever to get outside. Wild Night Out encourages everyone – families, first timers, seasoned explorers – to enjoy a night (and day) of wild adventure in 2018.

If you look up the campaign Wild Night Out you’ll find lots of information and inspiration. We’re sharing our #WildNightOut2018 on social media, and hope to have more overnight adventures during the summer holidays, so get your night goggles ready and your torches out to follow our adventures.

We’re super stoked to be family brand ambassadors with Millets and can’t wait to share our product reviews with you…so watch this space!

Love Bella x

Disclosure: We were sent a Eurohike tent to review, all opinions, laughter and photos are our own.