Family Camping Trip 2016

If you’ve been a long-time reader of HBXO, you’ll know that hubs took me canoe camping back a few years ago (you can read all about it here) + it was a really fun, new experience for me.

I grew up camping with my family, and as Aaron would call it “car camping”, which is driving into a provincial park and setting up a tent on a lot (surrounded by other families and people camping!). Some of my most favourite childhood memories are family camping trips and I know that hubs and I definitely want to keep that tradition alive with our little family. I’m already stressed thinking about camping with 3-4 kids in tow…

As much as I adore both types of camping, I was definitely one hundred percent not interested in canoe camping with a one year old. I’m just not prepared for canoe camping with littles…the canoe trip itself would stress me out harrrrd.

With that being said, I was nervous about how this camping trip would unfold as camping in general can be a lot of work…and then you add a baby into the mix, yikes.

ANYWAY.

We went car camping with my sister and her little family over the August long weekend and it was seriously fun! We were so late in making these plans that we decided to camp super close to the city (it was only a 45 minute drive for us from Toronto. My sis and her fam drove from Ottawa, so they had a longer trek!) but it was so nice to get out of the hustle and bustle of the city.

And GBB did incredible for his first camping experience (not that I was surprised at all, he is a baby genius afterall).

It was so nice to watch George and his cousin Aria play together. Aria is at such a fun age (2.5) and calls George “Gorge!” and I died of cuteness everytime she would call his name…which was constantly. She would literally stand outside our tent saying in her cute little voice ” Goooorge! Gooooorge! Gorge. Gorge. Gorge? Gooooorge!”, it was ridiculously adorable. Aria also says my name and it sounds like “Howwy” and again, dying from cuteness overload. My sister tells me that she calls every blonde woman “Howwy” and every boy “Gorge” since that trip! Ha, toddlers are hilarious. GBB spent a lot of the weekend watching his cousin + playing catch with her. And hulk-smashing all the toys, obviously. Oh, and trying to shove all the rocks and leaves he could find in his mouth.

My most favourite part of camping is the food. Obviously. I ate my fair share of s’mores and just thinking about them makes my mouth water. There is nothing quite like s’mores when you’re camping; they taste extra delicious!!

SO.

Today, I thought I would share a few tips, tricks, and must haves for camping with little ones because let’s be real, they require so. much. stuff.

And you can definitely go crazy packing alllll the things (um, totally speaking from experience over here…you just never know if you’ll need the snot sucker/seven kajilion toy cars/every blanket you own).

ANYWAY.

1. My number one piece advice is pack everything you would normally need for your kiddo + double it! Camping is messy + damp. Ugh, I hate that word. Hubs would disagree with me on this and totally thinks bringing only the necessities are what the adventure of camping is all about. A sentiment that I love but stresses my mama heart out like, woah.
2. And these items are pretty handy to have:
   Play yard: We used my sister’s Summer Infant Play yard (it was awesome) but I would’ve totally brought my 4Moms Breeze (any excuse I have to use this ingenious product, I will!!) if we were camping solo. It is so handy to have an area to keep your little one contained for a bit…especially when you’re trying to pitch your tent, make a fire, go to the bathroom, do anything that requires two hands. I liked this play yard because it was close to the ground, the shape was cool + allowed for more movement for the kiddos, and it was pretty easy to set up.
   Snacks: Well, this is a flippin given. I packed a boatload of cheerios (two boxes to be exact…haha, you never know…), crackers, those dang snappea crisps that are insanely addictive, shredded cheese and berries. Can you tell what my child likes to gobble up? Yep, he is super into carbs (just like his mama). Any and all upsets are easily handled with this snack catcher filled to the brim with cheerios…atleast for a few minutes while you try and find that seventh roll of toilet paper you shoved in the back of the truck…amiright?
   Ergo: Um, duh. The Ergo 360 is still at the top of my must haves! GBB napped in the ergo while camping and fell asleep while we walked around the park at night.
   High Chair or Stroller or BOTH: Luckily my sister brought her IKEA high chair with her because we were both able to swap out the kiddies at meal times. I brought along my stroller + used it as a feeding area too when needed. As you know how obsessed I am with my stroller, I was so glad I brought it with me because it was the best for carting all our stuff to the beach (so much stuff!) + holding our drinks too ;)
   Mosquito net or Repellent: Hubs brought some citronella candles and luckily that did the job + I also brought a lot of baby socks to keep his toes and feet from being mosquito dinner. Before we left, we purchased this organic mosquito repellent oil incase we needed it (please read the instructions before you use this on yourself + your baby!). I liked that this oil didn’t have a ton of weird fragrance chemical balogne but it is very potent and needs to be applied according to the instructions. Pinterest also has some brilliant mosquito net hacks; I like this one here. I created a board on my Pinterest with some camping ideas here, if you’re interested!
3. Don’t be too crazy about your baby(ies) regular schedule. You’re in a completely different environment surrounded by a lot of cool new sights and sounds + if your little is similar to my bear cub, they will want to explore everything and this sometimes messes up the routine. And although routine is incredibly important for our kids, I think flexibility is just as important. Not only for them but for our sanity as well. Before we left, I made a pact with myself (aka pumped myself up for this trip + set low expectations, haha) that I would let the routine slide and 100% follow George’s cues and go with the flow. And seeing as I am totally not a planner + control freak…this was easy. HAHA. Not. But you know what? He was tired at pretty much the same times during the day + because he is a champion Ergo napper, I was able to walk + rock him to sleep for his naps! Nighttime wasn’t too stressful for us either as GBB fell asleep nursing while I was sitting around the campfire; it was incredible. I was able to transfer him to our tiny tent + air mattress easily and come back out and eat my body weight in s’mores hang with the adults!
4. Be okay with the fact that you’re going to forget something. And that camping is not luxurious. Your baby is going to eat dirt, no matter how hard you try to discourage it. But that’s kinda the fun of being outdoors + disconnected from the usual grind of life, right? Definitely pack wipes + hand sanitizer but don’t go buck on it either. Camping is all about being messy, making memories, and having sand everywhere. Like, what is seriously with that?
5. Have FUN! Obviously you knew I was going to add that to my list because, truth. We had such a pleasurable experience camping with George and I know once we add more littles to our circus, it will only get crazier + I will look back fondly on this specific camping experience and daydream about the ease of it all. Camping can totally test your patience + especially when you’re kinda damp and have pesky mosquito bites on your ankles (the worst place for bites!), and you spill the entire pasta sauce that your darling husband just made all over the tailgate and have to eat hotdogs (again) for a meal, it is important to have fun…and apologize profusely for the food volcano that fell in slow motion (that you can’t help clean up because, baby).

I’m so glad we were able to take GBB camping + although I didn’t take as may pictures as I’d like, it was a great family adventure!

Do you go camping with your family? Let me know in the comments below!

And as always, thanks for reading. You’re all the very best!

XO