Camping with Kids: Part II

Thorpe Style Camping 101

There are two kinds of people.  Camping people and motel people.  And you know which one you are. 

Then there are two kinds of campers…tent campers and well, those of us who don’t tent camp.  When Mama retired, she bought the Cougar, a 5^th wheel camper, to have to spend time with the girls.  So far, we have taken it to the beach, the lake and the race track.

One of our favorite camp grounds around here is Cottonhill over near Fort Gaines.  The girls have made friends over there and we normally see some of the local “camping people”.  Wink wink, we know who we are!

CottonHill sunset

                                                     
We take the bikes, the boat, the tube, lots of chairs and an shade tent.  It use to take Forevah to get set up.  Now, Scott backs up the camper while I line him up to the hook ups.  Maddie helps him level while I start taking out all the stuff and getting set up outside.
Green carpet. Check. Table for cooking supplies. Check. Big Cooler. Check. And on it goes.  The other two girls help with the unloading and tablecloths.  Within about 30 to 45 minutes we are chilling at the lake. 

We’ve been camping since before HC3 was born.  So we’ve had toddlers, infants and now…teens.  Sooo, if you are camping with kids and preteens, What do you take? And how much?

 

I try to plan a menu and we actually do some light cooking.  But it really helps to pre-cook or in my case overcook to prepare for meals.  I have an electric skillet, a griddle, an electric burner, a small toaster, a coffee pot and a Coleman camping grill.  This means we have a pretty large extension cord and a plug strip.  **Note:  Plug your extension cord directly into the electric hookup.  Learned this one the hard way…kept blowing the breaker when using the plug on the outside of the camper.

Meals for Camping week:

1.     Taco’s:  You can’t mess this up.  Brown and season your ground meat of choice.  All the other fixings are easy.  This go round we are trying the Doritos taco bags.  Check out pinterest, but basically open a bag of Fritos or Doritos add meat, lettuce, sour cream, cheese and a fork.  Portable and easy to eat outside.  Awesome

2.     Spaghetti:  Make a wash pot full prior to your camping trip.  Freeze in a big ice cream bucket.  Reheat in your electric skillet.  Add a prepackaged salad and voila!  Easy dinner the kids will eat.  And who cares if they make a mess?  They eat outside and can wash off in the lake!

3.     Hot dogs/Hamburgers…you got to grill at least once.  And by far this is a favorite.  To make the trip easier go ahead and pat out those burgers and freeze between wax paper.  Makes it much easier to use the amount you need.  You will be amazed at how many friends you accumulate when you camp and cook!

Fun note: Take some wire hangers or buy the nice camping forks from Wally world.  Let the kids cook those hot dogs over the fire.

 

4.     Boston Butt:  Crock pot it once you get there or cook ahead.  I like to cook ahead, have for one meal then freeze for the camping trip.  Add buns and some cut up veggies.  Great lunch for hungry swimmers!

 

5.     Big Breakfast Sunday:  This means I’m cooking.  Grits in a pot on the electric burner.  Bacon in the electric skillet, pancakes on the griddle.  To keep things hot, we use a tortillas warmer.  They sell them at wal-mart and you’ll want more than one.  Breakfast is an easy meal to make self-service Holiday Inn style.  Big kids and cook their own pancakes or waffles and an adult can help the little ones.

6.     Tin Foil:  You can cook about anything in tinfoil over your campfire.  So take a big roll of heavy duty!

Other items to take are homemade baked muffins for breakfast, lots of pre cut vegetables for self serve snacks, fruit, homemade cookies or brownies for after tubing.

Now for the fun stuff with little kids:

 1.      Bicycles are instant fun, even their trikes…just don’t forget helmets. Like the Thorpe kids will have their helmets on, right.

2.      Bubbles, sidewalk chalk and other cheapo entertainment type toys. We have a toy box, an old paper box, with sand toys, wiffle ball sets, etc.

3.      For rest or down time, a few coloring books and crayons.

4.      Try to camp near the playground.

5.      Life vest. Life vest. Life vest. If you are doing water sports make sure you have vests specific for children and their weight.           

 

As you and your family camp, you will figure out what works for y’all.  You might be the all fend for yourself and eat a sandwich type.  Or maybe your family prefers the back to nature hike and eat granola.  Or maybe you become the campground gourmet that smells up the campground and ticks off all of us who aren’t!!

Either way, get a tent or starter camper and hit the road.  I can’t believe we have been camping for 10 plus years.  We have great memories and have had some wonderful times with our girls.  Now get out there, get your gear or camper ready.  It is spring break and time to hit the lake or beach with your family.