We lasted 24 hours exactly! We made it through the night and that's what's important right? Ok, so here is where things went wrong. Why do I assume that the great outdoors is going to be this smorgasbord of fun to kids? Maybe it is for those that haven't had their brains changed by instant entertainment. I didn't think about the fact that there will be other campers there and well, I have 2 little ones that love to be loud. We left because we didn't want to disturb the other campers. It was pretty evident that naps were not happening and when there isn't a nap, there is trouble. And we had some. So, here's some tips that I learned. By the way, we had a lot of successes!~Water. 3 gallons of water was not enough for my family in a 24 hour period.
~Don't be under the impression that you will stay clean. It's not going to happen.
~Camp near the bathrooms unless you bring a port-a-potty. We were near the bathrooms and that was a success for us!
~Bring protection. Camping can be scary! In the middle of the night I heard something in the woods and Dh got out with the hammer and flashlight. Whatever it was went away(we think it was a deer) but I was scared the rest of the night.
~Bring foods that you can eat without having to start a fire. It didn't rain on us but I was thinking about how hard it would have been if it had.
~Bring games! We didn't bring but 2 games and that was definitely a bad decision. Bring games that can be played inside the tent in case it rains
~Bring whistles for the children(and you) for safety. (We did this)
~Bring trash bags so that you can take your trash to a dump station. We used our grocery bags but it would have been easier to put it in one big bag.
~Bring things that have multiuse. Cups can serve as bowls for a meal. A cast iron pan makes great oatmeal. We didn't have to bring a pot. A knife can serve as protection and you can use it to make skewers out of the limbs of trees.
~A clothes line would have been nice. We could have hung up the kids clothes when they got wet.
~Bring a Bible. We got to have a prayer time and that was precious.
Will we go again? It is very likely. I enjoyed so many things about it. I am sure we will start feeling the need to get out there. I hope that we can make some progress with Alex before we go again. We had a difficult time with him.
Here is Summer. This is the skirt I sewed for her. It is getting well loved. :)
2 comments:
I'm glad you are still camping! We are going to wait a year or so probably before we go camping as a whole family again, but my husband and I enjoy taking turns camping one night with just a few of our kids at a time. We find that it's good bonding time, vacation time, and training time for all of us.
Hey!! How are you? I have tried to get in touch with you but you haven't blogged in a while. Now that the kids are older I feel like we could get together a little easier. Where are you now? Will you email me? I would love to schedule something.
Post a Comment