Camping at Blue Springs State Park -or- How To Take A Camping Trip In Less Than 24 Hours

We are crazy. I know we are crazy because we went camping last weekend. With a potty-trained-ish toddler, and a seven week old baby. And three other kids. And two tired parents. C-R-A-Z-Y. But fun!



Here's my advise for your less-than-24-hour camping experience--in 10 easy tips.

Tip #1) Wait to start packing until after lunch. (Any earlier, and you might make a list of what to bring, which is counter-productive for a short trip.)

#2) Have your kids help pack. (This is very important. It ensures that neither the father nor the mother has a clear idea of what they are taking on the trip. This is crutial for tip #5)

#3) Bring a baby. (Enough said. However, if possible, bringing a baby that is a heavy spitter-upper is even better. Only bring 5 bibs.)

#4) Bring a nearly potty trained toddler. (4 extra undies should do the trick. And 2 emergency diapers. Yep.)

#5) Do not bring bug spray. (If you had that you might stay longer, and that is not the goal.)

#6) Arrive at the campsite at dinner time. (That way you will hustle more when you set up camp, and be extra hungry for dinner.)

#7) Do not bring water. And...

#8) Bring lots of sugary drinks. (This is very important for getting the most out of tip #4. Sugar is said to move the bowels...so that will help you keep your camping trip short.)

#9) Go when the weather is nice and warm. (Or slightly hot. It will help motivate you when it's time to pack up.)

#10) Choose a campsite that is less than an hour from home. (By far my best tip.)


SO--even though I followed all my own tips, we still had a great time--that is, after I made an emergency run for bug spray.

Peter, Zack, and I stayed in the tent most of the evening while the guys made dinner.



The big kids were totally entertained by the many grasshoppers they found. They took tons of pictures of them.



There's at least 4 in this picture. I think they had rounded up 7 or so by the end of dinner?



Still was doing some bug swatting even with the spray...



We had a good night...truly amazing with such a tent-full of kids. Here's a good-morning picture.





This is my favorite picture of all...Tim using Grandpa's cookware. A million thanks, Grandpa, for setting us up. Tim is my dream husband--cooking breakfast over the campfire. And good-looking to boot.



They weren't sour dough pancakes, but they were Gluten Free and tasty.





Peter obliged us by sleeping through breakfast. (that's a picture of him sleeping in his cradle in the tent.)



The kids had a good time with their hatchets out in the woods. (I know...scary. But with 5 boys, what am I going to do?) We may have come home with poison ivy...the jury's still out on that.



Tim took the boys to swim in the fresh spring--68 degrees year round! Brrrr... Peter and I stayed home and napped.







It was a great first trip with 5 kids for us. I think if we wait another month we'll have a good shot at a really pleasant time. Really made me miss you, Mom and Dad, and Grandma and Grandpa. Thanks for all the precious memories of camping growing up.

Our Fall Break

After talking about it for over a year, we finally screwed up our courage, and took the Fam camping! In a tent! Out of town! And it was GREAT! (Are we BRAVE, or WHAT?)



We pulled into Conecuh National Park last Sunday afternoon with just enough time to get camp set up before daylight was used up.



We had almost everything we could want for camping: lanterns, canoe, fishing poles and gear, cooking necessities, a borrowed air mattress...and a 4-man tent. We were a bit worried that the 4-man-er wouldn't cut it for our family, so we hit Wal-mart on our way out of town to pick up a bargain tent:



...we were SO glad we had it.

We had so much fun. Here's some shots of what we did.

William did the most fishing...



and even caught one...



It was a good call to NOT keep it, since it was our only catch.

Trevor did a lot of looking for bugs...


and taking pictures of bugs...


Samuel enjoyed picking flowers...


They all enjoyed hiking...


and taking breaks from hiking...




We DIDN'T swim...

Tim taught the boys to canoe...they loved canoeing.


After some practice on the end of a rope, he let them go across the pond on their own...


And, yes, I know that Sam doesn't have his life jacket on all the way. I'm sure if there was a sound bite with this picture, you would hear me hollering, "Samuel, put that life jacket on!"...which he did. No one drowned. :) or was eaten.

They liked fishing from the canoe...


Okay, I see that Sam doesn't have his life jacket on here, either. Well, we may not get the parents-of-the-year award, but that's okay. We had fun, and, again, no one was drowned or eaten.

And, on this line of thought, it comes to my mind another fun thing that we did...

We gave all the boys their VERY....OWN....


POCKET KNIFE!!!


The boys were THRILLED...and we only had minor cuts here and there. Trevor said, "I can not believe you would give a knife to a Kindergartener!" I really can't either. I guess that's part of being the baby of the family.

Let's see...what else? Of course, we roasted marshmallows, and made S'mores with white chocolate chips, since regular chocolate is not a friend of ours, anymore. (Trevor has adverse reactions to it, like irritability).





I took about 300 pictures...


Everything was so beautiful!


Oh, yes...and the boys spent hours looking for frogs...




...and even caught some...




There are several more pictures on our Flickr account, and if you click on any of these pictures, it should send you right there.

Hooray for camping!