Our camping trip

Ryan got a long weekend this week so we decided to escape reality and runaway to the woods of Arkansas with our kids. It was a little last minute but we pulled it together and made it work. 

People have told me time and time again how brave we were to take the girls camping. I never once thought of how brave it was, it wasn't hard at all! Something about being outside in the fresh air makes my girls calm, it was the easiest 3 days ever. 

We did a lot of biking, exploring, hiking, and playing in water. 

EmmaLee loved playing with the flashlight in the tent once it got dark and AddiLyn slept like a rock both nights. 

The only problem we had was the second night Emma had a meltdown in the middle of the night, she woke up scared because she forgot where she was. So Ryan sat in the car with her until she calmed down. Not a huge deal. 

I didn't go camping with my family a whole lot as a kid, but the few times we did go I felt so close to my family and so happy. I want our kids to have lots of fun memories they can look back on and hopefully remember how much they love being together as a family. Camping brings us close, so Ryan and I plan to do it a lot as a family.

Camping List

I'm kind of a list person. I love everything about lists. And I made a really good camping list so I want to record it for next time we go camping, and I can add more the more we go and learn. Anything paper gets destroyed at my house in a matter of minutes so I'm recording it on here, safe from little toddler hands :) 

AddiLyn:

Bedding - laundry basket or little tent

                Blankets

Bumbo

Clothes: - warm Jammie's 

-onsies

-jacket

-socks, hat, gloves

-diapers/wipes/desitin

- binky and binky strap

-swim suit

-moby wrap/ carrier

EmmaLee:

Bedding - pillow/blankets/teddy bear

-toothbrush/toothpaste/brush

-warm pjs 

-pants/shorts/shirts

-socks/shoes

-swim suit/towel

- jacket/hat

- toys (bucket and shovel, little things like that)

-diapers/wipes/panties

-books/crayons/paper for calm down time

-sippy 

Ryan and my stuff

Miscellaneous:

-tent

-sleeping bags/pillows/extra blankets

-bikes/bike trailer

-umbrella

-frisbee

-playpen with fitted sheet to go on top

-book

-sunglasses/sunscreen

-camera

-bug spray/bear spray/Ryan's bear grills stuff

-air mattress if there's room 

-Plastic garbage bags

-skewers 

- flashlight

-camping stove

-matches/lighter

-soap/wash rags

-aloe Vera

-Benadryl 

-first aid kit

-camping chairs

-pots/pans

-cooler/ice

-toilet paper/paper towels

- food safety bag and rope

-

Food ideas we used (what worked and what didn't)

Breakfasts: oatmeal with fruit. Worked great, just brought a bunch of apples and oatmeal. Cooked them both over Ryan's cooking stove with some cinnamon and a little brown sugar. Super tasty and easy. (too humid to start fires in the morning) 

Also thought about bringing things from home, like premade oat bran muffins. 

Lunches: PB&J. Easy. Did that for all lunches.

Dinners: Tin foil dinners, precooked meat. Worked great.

Pigs in a blanket with veggies(veggies were wrapped in tin foil at home and then cooked over fire in tin foil). Got non-nitrate hot dogs and wheat dough and cooked them over the fire. Didn't agree with Emma's tummy. Not my favorite meal.the veggies worked great though! Probably won't do this again.

Snacks:

Carrots/apples/trail mix/granola bars/ crackers. Crackers were messy. 

-pots/pans

-paper plates, cups and utensils