Our Camping Trip & 3 Helpful Hints For Camping With Littles

One of our goals for this summer was to bring the boys camping. So Friday afternoon we headed to a campground that is a little over an hour away. It is one that Dan's family had gone to for most of his childhood and we love the swimming/ beach area there. I wasn't sure how taking a 1.5 year old camping would go. I was expecting it to be fun, but not necessarily relaxing. But I was so pleasantly surprised at how relaxing the whole weekend was!

The boys were happy playing with sticks and rocks (no toys necessary). We did some swimming, and lots of campfires. The campground had a small playground area that the boys loved as well. My mom, sister, niece and nephew came up for the day to swim on Sunday which was also a ton of fun!

If I had to pick a favorite memory from the weekend it would be staying up and sitting around a campfire with Dan after we got the kids to bed. We had so much fun just talking, laughing, and planning for the future together. It felt like a little date both nights, and I loved having the alone time with him and no other distractions.

Roasting his own hot dog over the campfire

He was convinced he was helping daddy ;)

The mountains around the pond are beautiful!

His little froggy friend

We had a lot of fun cooking meals over the campfire

My nephew soaking up some sun

Doesn't she have the most beautiful smile?

This VERY excited expression brought to you because he saw someone driving a 4 wheeler. :)

I thought that since I wasn't sure what to expect with taking little ones camping in a tent (mostly Eliott because Logan has been before) I would add a few helpful hints for camping with toddlers to the post. Here are a few ideas that I found useful when camping with littles....

1. Try to get a site that is relatively close to the restrooms. This is especially helpful with little ones that have already been potty trained, but my pregnant self appreciated not having to walk too far for the bathrooms as well. Logan was having so much fun that he would often wait until the last minute to run for the bathroom. He had quite the dance going a couple of times trying to make it in time, and thankfully they were right near our campsite.
2. Set up a diaper changing station outside of the tent. I had mine on one end of our picnic table most of the time (see the 2nd picture from the top), but the back of the van would have worked well too. I loved not having to take Eli inside the tent during the day to do diaper changes. The table was at a perfect level for changes, and I used a pack and play mattress for a changing pad that I could move as needed. I had pre-packed a dollar store organizer with diapers, swim diapers, and wipes so everything that I would need was easily accessible.
3. Pack clothes in a large Rubbermaid container. I packed all of the clothes for Eliott, Logan, and I in one Rubbermaid, as well as some extra towels. It was easier to stack things on top of in the van than it would have been to have three separate bags. It would also be fine to leave outside of the tent as an extra kids table because it is sealed up and wouldn't matter if it had been rained on.