I have to admit when the ideawas first sprung on me, I was excited at first but then got a littlescared. I've been camping, let me saythat again. I've been"camping" before (this means there was a cabin involved andtherefore, not really camping). Thistime it was for real, for real, with a preschooler and a toddler to boot.
On the holidayweekend we through caution (and electricity) to the wind and set off for a lasthoorah at the beach before the weather completely changed us. It was awesome too. We couldn't have picked a better day. It was hot enough to make the beach a goodidea, but cool enough so you weren't sweating just sitting around looking atthe water. We embarked on an overnighttrip to Camp Henlopen in Delaware. Surprisingly, we were not the only ones with this idea. I was quite surprised at how full the beachwas, for October.
The boys had a greattime with some learning too. J, learnedthe power of the sea. Just minutes afterwe arrived, he got a first hand lesson on why you run from waves. It wasn't very bad, you know not an oh crap Ialmost lost my baby to the sea moment, but it was enough for him to keep hisdistance (which worked out for me, not quite ready to test my new swimmingskills in the deep blue).
J-dilla's reluctanceto re-enter the waves allowed me to focus my attention on Master M, whohappened to take longer to learn his lesson.After an afternoonof fun in the sun and building sand castles and moats, we head back to camp forthe night (of course there was a brief stint in civilization to have dinner),but we were back in time to make s'mores for dessert, and more learning - fire= hot.
It was a great trip,but the hardest part was not being able to charge my phone. Good thing I brought extra batteries. It's just too hard being disconnected.
The kids had a blastand were able to walk around on their own for the most part, withinreason. The toddler was tough because Icouldn't scare him with the threat of foxes (I know it's wrong, but it'seffective). One of the first things Idid after setting up camp was to mark boundaries for the boys. This will work for older kids. I forgot to bring ribbon for this so I usedthe red pull handle of a trash bag and tied them around trees to mark theboundaries. I explained that they werenot to pass the marked trees, this worked perfectly for Master M, but J wasstill too young to understand.
The best part of the trip waslearning how to pitch a tent and set up camp. I so should've earned a merit badge or something for this.
Here's what else Ilearned:1. Have more than one tent.
This may sound like a no brain-er, but, I'm just saying,it's important.You don't want to be cramped in a tent with no place to escape to but your car.2. Air mattresses are a good look. Sleeping on the ground SUCKS. Don't do it. I don't care how many blankets you lay down, or if you have a sleeping bag, it just sucks. In case, you're wondering, we did have an air mattress, there's no way I'm camping without one.3. Beer, wine, whiskey, choose your pleasure. I won't even embarrass myself or you by explaining this one.4. Know your limits. If you want to enjoy camping, then treat it like last minute shopping, your goal is to get in, get what you came for, and get out, if you stay any longer than you should, you'll be miserable.Have you beencamping? What things did you learn?