First of all let me start off by saying that I am not a camper, in fact bugs scare me and I don’t love swimming in a lake where I can’t see the bottom (I prefer pools) but after having my first child I decided that I wanted us to be a camping family. In a world where we’re always so busy and surrounded by technology, I think it’s very important to step back and just breathe in some fresh air and spend some quality family time together. Plus, it’s a cheaper way to have a little vacation to look forward to.

This camping trip was also extremely special because we left our wild child 2 year old at home and only brought our 4 year old with us. At first, I was really struggling with this decision but overall, I felt this was the best option for 2 reasons:
1. Our 4 year old has had her whole world turned upside down due to Covid-19. She stopped going to her wonderful preschool, she wasn’t able to see her family including all of her cousins and her dance classes were cancelled which she was so sad about so we wanted to do something special with her. This weekend away was all about her and she had an absolute blast with her Mom and Dad! Plus, she loves her younger sister but I think a break from each other was needed…sisters can love each other but man can they drive each other crazy.
2. I love our 2-year-old but she’s exhausting. She’s ALWAYS moving and has no fear, so you constantly have to be watching her all the time and to be honest, with work, Covid-19 and daily life stressors I also needed a break. I knew I wouldn’t have gotten that with her there so thankfully my Mom took her for the 3 nights, and I got a chance to recharge as well. I read, I swam and I just relaxed. Taking some time for you doesn’t make you a bad mom, in fact it helps you to be the best mom for your kiddos.

In the end we had the BEST time. Some of our meals were hits and some were misses. The first night it rained on us pretty hard, but the rest of the time was hot and sunny. We went fishing and didn’t catch any fish, but we made smores and did arts and crafts so overall it was perfection. Camping is messy and it doesn’t always go as planned, but I’ll never forget waking up at 6am and walking down to the water to eat breakfast with my first baby and just being in the moment with her.

That being said, these are some of the tips I’d give non camping parents:

1.       Get a bigger tent than you would normally need. We got a big tent that also had a zippered enclosure in case you wanted to sit outside at night and avoid the bugs. We ended up using 1 queen air mattress and then just put a bunch of blankets on the ground for Peanut which she thought was so neat! Which brings me to point #2:

2.       Bring blankets – lots and lots of blankets. I was SO cold during the first night that even I became a snuggly sleeper. At one point I even pushed on the air mattress so that I could sneak under my husband’s body to steal his body heat. No shame in the game.

3.       I would also suggest bringing those foam puzzle mats to put on the ground. I didn’t do that because I didn’t see the point when people on Pinterest said it was a great idea and boy was I wrong. They just would have given a little extra cushion on the ground and you wouldn’t have felt every root or pinecone when you walked around the tent.

4.       Bring a plastic container that has drawers in it to keep things organized. It was there that I put flashlights, bug spray, sunscreen, the first aid kit, utensils, rags, etc etc. It kept everything where it should be, and we kept it by the front entrance in case we needed it. It was nice to not have to look for things every time you needed them.

5.       Bring a clothesline. I got ours from the dollar tree and at first I was like we’ll just hang the towels on the backs of the chairs but the clothesline ended up being AWESOME. It dried things so much faster and it also gave us a bit of privacy from people walking past our campsite which was nice.

6.       Bring arts and crafts for your little one. They can only enjoy nature for so long before they get bored. I had bought some premade Melissa and Doug crafts such as a magic mirror and a magic wand and she loved it. I also brought a canvas and some paint, so she painted a beautiful little picture. I plan on printing off my favorite picture of her camping and putting it on the painting and hanging it in her room.

7.       Precook as much food as you can so that you basically just have to heat it up. I made pancakes, bacon, potatoes, chicken as well as banana bread for some of our meals and it was great. We only had a camping stove so I would recommend bringing stuff that you can cook on that. We tried to make nachos one time and although they looked great on Pinterest, it was a bit of a fail for us. Still tasty but harder to cook.

8.       Go with the flow. Camping won’t be perfect and that’s ok. What’s important is being together and appreciating everything nature has to offer. It was also really nice to disconnect for the world for the weekend 😊 Even if you’re not a camper just try it; you might really surprise yourself!