Storrs Family Camping Hacks: Tips for Ladies, Babies, and Toddlers
We got back last week from camping* with the family, which was our most successful trip ever. There was family napping, good food, lots of relaxing in nature, and even a little bit of pinterest-inspired nature crafting. It was so good that even a double-vomit situation on the drive home couldn't derail it. Now that we've been camping with the kids in a variety of different settings, I think we've finally found a good groove. With that in mind, here is my working list of Storrs Family Camping Hacks:
- Fleece is key. Having a good night's sleep is really crucial to enjoying yourself at camp. Whether you are comfortable on the floor with a camp mat or want the full on air-mattress experience, put a layer of fleece UNDER your sleeping back to optimize warmth. Over is nice, but if it's cold at night, you will get chill coming from the ground/air in the mattress. If you can wrap like a burrito, consider it a bonus, but under is actually better than over since the air in your tent usually warms better than the ground underneath. You can buy a few yards downtown for cheep and just leave the edges raw. Doubles as a jacket if you are always cold like me and "in the 50s" actually means "I should have brought my snow gear..."
- Spring for a dutch oven. This is our latest discovery. With just a little finagling, you can use coals in the campfire to cook just about anything you would want to make in an oven or large stockpot—shepherds pie, cheesecake, stews/soups, and more.
- Prep and chop ahead. Pulling off meals beyond a box of mac and cheese or those camp packs is totally doable! You will probably have limited tools in your camp kitchen, but if you pre-chop and bring ingredients already measured out into exact quantities, then all you have to do is assemble and let it cook. It also saves space in the cooler and means less waste at the campsite.
- Micellar Cleansing Water. I have major issues keeping my skin clear, but camping is not really the place for a five-step facial routine that includes (basically) a hand-held sander. I go makeup free, but use this product and some cotton squares to take the dirt off at the end of the day. Four days without my usual routine this time, and my face actually didn't do too bad.
- Consider the children. Little babies are actually perfect for camping because you are probably used to holding them most of the time anyway or letting them lie down and look at stuff. Crawlers, however, are pretty rough. You either have to commit to keeping them in the backpack/ergo, figure out some kind of play area, or just lose the battle with cleanliness and dirt-in-the-mouth altogether. Once they can walk, you are pretty much in the clear if you give them a strong dose of "NO TOUCH" around the fire.
- Break some rules. It's hard to keep to your cry-it-out plan inside a tent. You won't have the usual gear, and the setting is unfamiliar, so give yourself permission to break some your usual house rules. If you have to nurse a few extra times in the night to keep things quiet or let the kids walk around with their food instead of insisting that they sit at the table, try not to sweat it. Kids can get back on track when you go home. Plus, they love special circumstances where they are allowed to break rules, and it's vacation for them too!
- Embrace the family nap. How often do you get to enjoy the glories of a daily napping routine? Bring along a book, have everyone nap together in the tent, or sneak out quietly once (ok, if) kids are down, to have a little adult conversation.
- Have a few back-pocket Waldorf activities. Fortunately for us 21st-centurions (not a word), there is Pinterest to teach us all about things to do in nature with children. Pack a few activities for those tricky times when dinner is going to be a half hour late or you need to stay entertained before everyone is ready to leave for the day's hike. Our best successes this time around were dino eggs and nature paintbrushes, but I have high hopes for leaf sewing and flower crowns in the future.
- Everyone pulls their weight. Now that our kiddos can walk, we got each of them their own backpack to carry water, snacks, a diaper, and a hat. True, they still spent most of the time on hikes either in the Kelty kid-carrying backpack or our trusty Bob stroller, but they still really liked having a bit of responsibility to pack up their gear in the morning.
- Find a good campsite. This is a rather obvious one, but a few things that we look for are relative proximity to the bathroom (but not too close for noise and smell reasons) and relative distance to other sites. We prefer a site that is outside of a ring, if there is one, and perhaps even on the end of a row. The site we had this year backed up to a sort of downward slope to the river valley below and was flanked by a trail on one side, which meant less people to worry about bothering. I have to heavily recommend Van Damme State Park because of the quarter-operated showers, and hiking paths that are (mostly) doable in an all-terrain type stroller.
I expect we will learn a ton more in the years to come and from friends along the way, but these few things have really enhanced our experience and made me hungry to keep this a yearly practice. Let us know if you want to join the fun! We always love camping in community, and I make a mean berry dump cake.
*I should explain that when I say "camping," what I mean is the kind where you drive up to your campsite, park, and pitch a tent. There are community bathrooms involved, although a certain child of ours actually really enjoyed the idea of going in the bushes...