Eye Spy-- Camping Edition

For a little fun on our next camping trip, I created this EYE SPY/Group BINGO card with my digital scrapbooking supplies. I printed the card out onto cardstock and laminated it. Then the kids can keep track of what we see when we're camping. We'll work together as a family and see if we can get all the squares covered--or at least 4 in a row (I don't know if I really want to "see" a skunk!)

[The project was created by me using digital designs from Pattie Knox]

For some more fun nature/camping games, check out these Fundana Bandana boards! I love them! They are nature bingo boards printed on bandanas. So easy to pack and carry on a hike. I have the insect board and have several others on my "to get" list. I think I "need" to get that scat/tracks board --lol! That would totally gross the kids out if we went on a scat nature hike--so I just might do it! :)

A Camping We Went-- Part 3

The older kids did most of their hiking at night with the exception of one long hike while waiting for me to come back to camp after spending the night at home. I guess on that first night hike some mischievous raccoon decided to follow them and it kind of freaked oldest dd out. She didn't let that fear stop her though and went on another night hike the next evening. And what happened? Of course--they ran into another raccoon! She told me she didn't enjoy hiking at night. :)

I took this picture so that you'd think I actually went hiking. Does walking half-way down a trail count? DS wasn't too thrilled that I asked him to pose.

Aww---what good camping memories! I can't believe I've actually signed up to do it again! :)

A Camping We Went --Part 2

Here's the tent we called home for two days. It is a nice sized tent. We had lots of room to move around and it didn't feel cramped at all with 7 people and one pack-n-play. We brought a fan along just in case since it was in the high 90's. We didn't need to use it though because it cooled off enough at night---well actually I wouldn't know about that first night because at 9:30pm I decided it would be easier to sleep at home w/ the two youngest kids since I had an appointment at 10:00am the next morning. Yes, I left-----but I came back the next day :)

While DH and DS worked on the fire, we got dinner ready. As you can see, DD#3 was too hungry to actually cook her hot dog. :)

Come on fire! Burn! Eventually we had a good dinner fire going. We cooked our hot dogs over the fire and I warmed up pork & beans on the campstove.

Of course we couldn't end the day without making s'mores! Yummy!

A Camping We Went--and Survived! Part 1

After testing out the tent in our backyard for a couple of days, the next logical step was to go to our nearest state park. Thankfully, it was only 30min. away which provided me a level of comfort knowing that if it got too bad, I could get back home quickly. :)

You might not be able to tell what my girls are doing in the picture above, but they are coloring. On a whim I decided to purchase clipboards that hold paper and pencils for each of them. My plan was that they could do some nature drawing/journaling while out in nature. This was one of my best plans ever! LOL! It gave them something to keep them occupied while we needed to work, or when we were just plain tuckered out! It was especially good at keeping the 2yr. old busy. I purchased a Crayola Color Wonder Travel Tote for her. She loved it and I didn't need to worry about melted crayons or drawings on our tent. :)

Since one of the camping tips shared with me was "have a good attitude," I knew that to help me with that, I needed to be somewhat organized or else I'd feel overwhelmed. I purchased 3 blue Rubbermaid tubs (that way once stored in the garage/attic, we would know exactly which tubs were our camping tubs). One was packed with tent equipment/lanterns/tarps, another was packed with cooking pots, roasting sticks, dishes and campstove, and the last was packed with food that didn't need to go in the cooler.

Inside the tubs I had smaller items packed in snap-n-lock containers. I love these containers! I use them at home for my flour, sugar, and other dry-goods. This container in the photo above, had disposable rain ponchos, maglite replacement bulbs, maglites, a whistle, rubber bands, clothespins and some carabiners.

Now this pink snap-n-lock tote has three levels. Oh I love buy organizational stuff! I purchased this and the tote below at Target. The top had boxes of matches (one was being used when I took the photo), the second compartment had batteries for our laterns, and the third had misc. stuff.

The blue container held all our cooking utensils. The top had stuff like serving/mixing spoons, can-opener, measuring cups/spoons, cutting knives, cutting board and washcloths. The bottom had our plates and silverware. It worked out pretty well! The only thing I need to find is a utensil caddy to place on the picnic table while we are camping (you know those things you use at a picnic that has the separate compartments for holding plastic silverware). That way we aren't going in and out of that bottom compartment so much. The tote works great for transporting everything though.

Of course the best organizational thing I brought was the Pack 'n Play ! It kept dd#4 from getting into everything--lol! We used it as a play-pen during the day, and at night we moved it into our tent for her bed (but did she sleep in it---noooooo)

Camping Tips Part 1

The other day I wrote about how my family might be going on a real camping trip versus just camping out in our backyard (My DH is having some downtime on our backyard camping trip in the photo above). You can read the original post here. In that post I asked for some camping tips and I thought I'd share a few of the responses.

Kristin had a ton of advice (check the comments in the original post)

* Have the right attitude and mindset! She is so right---I need to go in thinking that this will be fun, this will be fun, this will be fun ;)

* Pack stuff in Rubbermaid containers. She specifically said kitchen supplies, but I think it could apply to other stuff too.

* Pick a place that has amenities (I did and it was called a hotel--lol!) Yeah, we're not going to be doing any primitive camping any time soon. I do think she has a point that a nice restroom is a must.

* Pack toliet paper. Thanks for the reminder. I probably would have forgot.

Eric also brought up some good points:

* Eat Poptarts, granola bars and easy stuff.

* Pack NyQuil to get the kids to sleep after the sugar-high.

* Don't camp near the restrooms.

Now Cia Huston Dreves blogged a whole post that is extremely thorough with great tips. Her post can be found here: Budget Camping-Super Summer Fun

Thank you all for helping me out! Now I'd love to hear some good camping stories---the good, the bad and the funny! And if you have any other camping tips, packing tips etc. still send them my way.

A Camping We Will Go

My husband surprised me the other day by coming home with a 10-man tent and some camping gear. He and the kids got it set up in the backyard to check it out. They decided to go ahead and have a camp-out in our backyard. I opted to stay in the house with the baby just to make it easier for them ;)

They had so much fun that they stayed in the tent for a second night---but voted to send the 2yr. old in the house with me :)

Now that they feel like they have some camping experience, they want to go to a real campground. I know it will be great memories, but I'm not quite jumping for joy at the thought of camping. I really like having my own bathroom and shower, my own room, a fridge and microwave...since growing up I've morphed into a high-quality hotel vacationer :) So this is where I need some advice. For experienced family campers, what are some tips, tricks, or things you wish you knew when you first went camping? How did you organize all your supplies? What supplies did you find you really need? What about meals? Any great recipes for camping? Advice? Can you tell I really need some help! LOL!