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Thursday, August 22, 2013

Our Camping Staycation


Growing up I read books and watched shows where the families go camping together.  Usually the kids complain that they didn't want to be stuck in a tent with their parents or whatever, but for some reason that never dissuaded me.  I always desperately wanted to go.  We just weren't the outdoorsy type so it never happened.  

Now that I have kids of my own, I thought "I simply must take my kids camping one day.  It'll be so much fun!"  


At least I was smart enough to have trial runs.


We started by practicing sleeping in a tent.  We tried in the sun room, in the family, wherever it just didn't work.  My kids decided they wanted to sleep in the tent outside last year.  You guessed it another fail.  We lasted until about 10:00...then still awake we ended up back inside AGAIN.


This year we decided to try again.  I was weary, but you know the definition of insanity...try the same thing expecting different results...  Yeah, I'm insane.  But the results were actually DIFFERENT.  We slept the whole night in the tent.  And I learned a few lessons from it:



  • The kids sleep better if you let them play in the tent while setting it up, but then don't actually get in it until bed time.  (We went inside and watched Rugrats Go Wild til bedtime.  How Wilderness Chick of me right?)
  • Get EVERYTHING you need into the tent before you all get into it.  This way you can stick together. The second you get out to get something else the kids will freak out and you will be sleeping in your bed again.  (This includes sheets, sleeping bags, extra blankets, hoodies, socks, books, water, and any snuggies that are also sleeping in the tent.)
  • Reading camping books in the tent is super fun. We read Curious George Goes Camping, Fred and Ted Go Camping, and Amelia Bedelia Goes Camping
  • Bring a flashlight for reading.  Unless you are 10 feet from your house using up your cell phone battery because you used the flashlight app to read the books is probably not a good idea.
  • Scenes from the Walking Dead video game may flash through your mind.  Try to ignore them because zombies can do nothing to a bad@ss supermom like you.
  • This is NOTHING like camping outside.  What in the world do people eat for breakfast in a tent?  I thought we could use the grill like a campfire in the morning and throw eggs and peppers in tin foil and on the "campfire."  (I saw that on a camping website somewhere.) Um where exactly do we keep these eggs until the morning?  Okay so we scratched that.  My daughter and I made homemade whole wheat raisin bread last week.  We figured  perfect we can keep that in a cooler or something overnight so we brought that out.  But in the morning we realized the butter was in the house in the refrigerator.  ARE YOU SUPPOSED TO KEEP A FRIDGE IN THE TENT OR SOMETHING??? I DON'T GET IT!
What tips or tricks do you have for me?  Please comment!  I need all the help I can get!   :)

8 comments:

  1. This is so awesome!I don;t think I will ever be brave enough to take my kids camping for real, but I may just have to try this one day!

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    1. I'm definitely starting to wonder if I'm brave enough (and I thought I was pretty brave-even earning myself the nickname of g.i. Jane amongst some) but you should definitely try it this way. It has the fun of camping with the conveniences of civilization.

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  2. Thank you for sharing and for the advice. I really appreciate it. I love your blog and am now following you on twitter.

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  3. LOL Valeria...This camping story is way too funny!!!!!!1 BTW: I have never camped out in a tent...I am always scared of some bear or something invading....lol...Maybe I should try camping out at home.

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    1. I totally get that. Camping at home is definitely a fun alternative. And I actually didn't mention the funniest part which is that the kids ended our staycation with a Christmas music dance party. Interesting timing...

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  4. I love that you actually do different things with your kids. I've never been camping but I have always wanted to go.. Like your family, my family is not the outdoorsy type either but I want to do adventurist things with my kids. I think it would have been a good idea if you guys would have used the grill and made smores that night before watching the rugrats movie. & used it in the morning as well! Go inside and get all of the stuff you need then come out and cook, set up a nice table outside and eat up. Knowing me I'd probably have everyone get dressed and come back out for breakfast outside. That would be really nice and ALMOST like camping :)

    -Miya

    Miyaloves.blogspot.com

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  5. Smores are a great idea. What could be camp-ier (yup made up a word)? Good breakfast idea too. It IS nice to have a fridge close by I must say :)

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  6. Smores are a great idea. What could be camp-ier (yup made up a word)? Good breakfast idea too. It IS nice to have a fridge close by I must say :)

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