Hellobee

We recently went camping with Charlie (4 1/2) and Olive (2 1/2), and I’ll sum up the experience in Charlie’s own unprompted words, “When I’m a grown-up and I have kids, I’m going to take them camping!”

Even though this was my first time camping with the kids, I’ve been camping dozens of times in my life. Camping was an inexpensive family activity that all of us loved equally. It is one of my most treasured childhood memories, and one that I always hoped to recreate with my kids.

We spent one night at the Rudd Pond camping grounds in Taconic State Park about 2 hours north of Manhattan. I’d been to this exact camping site twice before, so I knew that it was the perfect place to introduce camping to the kids. (Campsite 24 is my favorite site because it’s the only one that’s semi-secluded. Most of the other sites have tent platforms and are very close to each other, so you have very little privacy.) Other features include a lake, picnic tables, hot showers, playground, beach with lifeguard, boat rentals, and a town just 5 minutes away.

We didn’t take the kids out on a boat this time, but Mr. Bee and I have done it in the past ourselves. Next time we’ll get a fishing license and take the kids fishing!

We immediately started cooking dinner when we arrived because we had been stuck in traffic for hours. We left right at naptime and both kids slept the entire way. Since they’re city kids who are not used to sitting in cars for long periods of time, it worked out perfectly. But you might want to have a quick meal that doesn’t require any cooking though, since everyone is usually hungry once you arrive at the campsite.

I cooked ribeye steaks in a cast iron pan directly on the fire for us with some sauteed bell peppers, broccoli and mushrooms. Meanwhile the kids cooked little smokies on their extendable marshmallow sticks.

I found the genius idea to put spices inside a pill box on Pinterest of course!

Charlie showing me the right way to eat his golden raspberries. Pictured on his plate you also see bread, cornichon, olives, and spam musubi.

They had so much fun collecting twigs for the fire and just exploring the campgrounds. They didn’t need any toys other than their bucket and shovel (which were the only toys we brought) to keep them entertained.

The kids roasted marshmallows and ate their first s’more!

Glowsticks at night provided just the right amount of lighting in the tent. Unfortunately because the kids slept 4 hours in the car on the drive up (Friday traffic) and they were so excited about camping, they didn’t get to sleep until midnight!

The next morning we made a hearty breakfast for the kids because food always tastes better in the great outdoors. I even tried my hand at making a cinnamon bun inside an orange on the campfire. I think it turned out great… but I was still doing Whole30 so I didn’t even get taste it (womp womp). The adults had eggs over easy with a tomato, avocado, and cilantro salad.

This particular campsite is great for kids because it has a playground and a beach. There is so much fish in the water just swimming around your feet!

Now that we have one camping trip under our belt, we’ll definitely be going again and again. The kids had the time of their lives!

Here are some of my tips for camping with kids, and just camping in general:

– choose a campsite that is close and kid-friendly. I’ve been camping in remote sites where we had to hike and build our own firepits. But I specifically chose this particular campsite was because it was close to home, had tons of amenities, and was very child-friendly. I thought they would do fine since we’ve traveled a lot, but I also only chose to stay one night since it was their first time.

– make a checklist and check it twice. (You can see my updated camping checklist here.) I always make checklists for any trip, and camping is no exception. But guess what I forgot this time around? The raincover for the tent because I couldn’t fit it back into the original bag after camping out in our living room. Luckily it didn’t rain and we had extra blankets to cover the tent, but that was a big thing to forget!

– talk to them about fire safety. We watched the kids the entire time, but we also warned them not to touch the fire or get too close to it. Having their own little chairs also helped because they stayed seated in them a safe distance from the fire.

– it may end up being much colder than you think. It was 20 degrees colder than the weather forecast I checked before we left. We had to snuggle together for warmth, but I don’t think the kids will even remember that. Prepare for a cold evening by bringing blankets/sleeping bags that are warm enough, and jackets/cold weather clothes for the whole family even if you think it’ll be warm. In fact you can dress little ones in snowsuits to keep them warm at night!

– plan for rain. The last time I went camping before I had kids, it started raining as soon as we arrived at the campsite and it rained all night long. Our cheap tent started to leak so we ended up sleeping in the car. So make sure you have a tent that can withstand the rain. We also rented a minivan that could have easily slept all four of us if it came down to it!

– do a trial camping run in your living room or backyard. I did this with Charlie (Olive is too much of a wildcard), and he loved it. It got him even more excited about the trip, plus it gave me practice setting up our new tent.

– prewash and prechop all your veggies and fruit so you have less work to do at the campsite. Prepare as much as you can at home ahead of time… it’ll make camping so much easier.

– buy the 2.5 gallon bottle of water with the spout on it (or bring one if you have one). Your hands constantly get dirty when camping so you need a washing station, and you need fresh water for cooking and drinking.

– there are tons of variations of the s’more including campfire cones and banana boats. We made cinnamon buns in oranges, but you can also make chocolate cake, muffins… almost any baked good!

– for breakfast I typically cook pancakes, eggs/bacon/sausage and breakfast burritos. Lunches are hot dogs, burgers or barbecue. Dinner I almost always cook a steak, but when camping with friends we’ve made tin foil dinners where you provide a variety of chopped vegetables, everyone can select which ones they want, add some meat, and toss the tin foil ball into the campfire. I also love roasting corn, potatoes and sweet potatoes.

– if you don’t want to cook, bring food that’s already prepared! Chili and pasta sauces are perfect for dinner. Sandwiches are easy peasy for lunch. Kids love fruit and you can cut up some veggies. You can have yogurt, cereal, bagels and cream cheese, or muffins for breakfast.

– these marshmallow roasting sticks worked out really great because they can extend very long so the kids didn’t have to get so close to the fire.

– bring your own firestarters and firewood/charcoal/hickory chips because you may not be able to rely on wood at the camp site, or the wood may be difficult to light. I brought a big bag of hickory chips to start the fire and to give our food that extra yummy flavor. When we ran out of firewood, we raided the other fire pits for logs (the campsite was almost empty so we found plenty of wood).

– if you have the space, freeze gallon jugs of water and place them in your cooler — it’ll keep your food cold, you can drink it, and you won’t have to buy a bag of ice.

– set up a mat outside the tent. You constantly have to take your shoes off and on before entering the tent, and you need a clean place to stand on.

– get a small tent for play. We really don’t have the storage space for an extra tent, but a small tent just for the kids would have been awesome. They kept wanting to get in and out of the tent which would not only track dirt into it, but let in mosquitoes as well. A separate little tent for them would have allowed them to play in it to their heart’s desire.

– other things to do for kids – collect twigs for tinder, go on a nature walk, make leaf crafts, do a scavenger hunt, paint rocks, play with outdoor toys like shovels, buckets, ropes, magnifying glasses, binoculars, and frisbees. Glow sticks are always a blast (we got these extra long ones), and they are a great night light.

– if you have a small infant, you might consider bringing a pack n play, a tarp/shower curtain/picnic blanket/bumbo so they have a place to sit, and a travel high chair that folds up or the kind like the Fisher Price Booster Seat that you can strap onto the picnic bench.

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Camping with young children did require quite a bit of planning since it was our first time, but it was by no means difficult. I highly recommend camping with your youngest of children. A friend of mine once said,” The best memories are made while camping!” And I have to agree!