Our Camping Trip!

This last month we took our kids camping! I know most people thought we were crazy but we had the such a great time, in spite of arriving to our campground only to see they closed the night before due to emergency sewage problems. So in trying to keep the adventurous attitude with our kids we set off to find a new place.

Kids were eager to get out of the car and thankfully we had already intended on eating pizza for dinner that we picked up before in a near by town so they were able to eat in the car while we searched for a new place to camp. The trick was that we needed a kid friendly site, not near any cliffs or water, and one large enough for our tent.


It was a short trip and we had been adding to our supply list over the last year. We realized we needed more sleeping bags and not just the cute kid sleeping bags that are super thin and more decorative than effective. So we bought seven matching sleeping bags a few months ago. I didn't realize how hard it would be to find different colored sleeping bags that were the same type. So we now own seven matching brown sleeping bags. I plan to iron on their names on each one to make it their own. Either way, they worked great!

One thing we did, which I totally loved and would love to claim as my own awesome idea, is tie yarn around our campsite to make clear boundaries for our littles that needed to be encouraged not to run off. It was a great visual for them and totally worked. I made sure to put it low enough that even our littlest guy would run right into it instead of under it if he tried to escape! :)

We also put a border around our fire. My other big concern. We had metal kabob skewers that we put into the ground and put the yarn inside the loops. It was another great visual for the kids. Super easy to take down and toss at the end of our trip. 

My biggest concern was watching the kids while we tried to set up the tent. Our new, very large, tent that we had never put up before. Knowing I had to keep an eye on them while they were super excited to explore our new space but also help my husband get it up and going was a worry for me. 

But thankfully the kids helped lay out the tarp and my husband was able to do most of the work by himself until it came time to prop it up. Then each of the kids loved running inside the tent as we held it up and put it in place. Over all it was a success and I had all the kids inside the baby jail tent. :)

Overall we had a wonderful time. The kids loved making smores by the fire and we found great tasting gluten-free graham crackers that the kids ate up quicker than the marshmellows. It was a sticky mess and I loved every minute of it.

Note to self: White shirts and camping aren't a good idea. But this picture is priceless to me. I love how her smore is stuck to her shirt as she was resting it there in between bites. LOL. 

We had dirty feet only minutes from being there. Totally okay but the kids were fascinated by how dirty their feet and hands were from playing in the dirt. :) On that note I will end this post. Just a few snap shots from our first camping trip with all five kiddos and just my husband and myself.  Looking forward to next year.