Camping with My Kids- The Good, the Bad and the Ugly

This past weekend my husband and I took our kids camping with 8 other families. We have three boys that are 7,5 and 2.5 years old and we knew it would be a busy trip. The evening we arrived we got the tent put up and cooked our dinner in the nick of time. A thunder storm came through and we sat in our car until it passed about an hour and a half later.

But the storm was a typical storm and once it passed we were ready to make a fire and roast marshmallows for smores.

The evening was relaxed and enjoyable.
As the night wore on and the clock hit 10pm my middle son went into the tent to bed. As the clock hit 11 my youngest and oldest kids went in to sleep.

I stayed up for a while longer and then went to hit the sack. Unfortunately I did not sleep much because there were too many sounds outside the tent and my kids were rustling their sleeping bags all night. But the sleeplessness was worth it because my kids were experiencing the outdoors.

The next two days were filled with cooking on a small grill, fishing and crabbing, swimming and outdoor games with the other kids, like kick ball, squirt guns, and track ball.

The kids loved running around with the other kids, both kids they knew well and kids they were just getting to know.

It was the first time our family had ventured out of the backyard to take the kids camping. It was a great experience we will plan to do every Summer.

The Good

Camping teaches kids how to do many things as there are opportunities to help pitch the tent, prepare and cook the food (or set the table), and either go hiking and learn about a compass and directions and following signs, or learning to fish or crab.

And my kids embraced everyone one of those things. There was never a moment my kids complained or wanted to watch tv. They were living in the moment and ready to see what the next opportunity would be.

Our family was able to spend time together under the stars and outside, without the interruptions of electrics (phones, tv, computers, etc.). And we were able to spend time with friends while our kids played nearby. It was a time of bonding with our kids, our friends and for our kids to bond with their young friends.

My husband and I are not master outdoors men and we do not really fish or crab, but because we went with friends, our kids were able to experience so many more things because other families that do fish and crab allowed all of the kids opportunities to crab and fish. So everyone was able to use their skills to teach all of the kids that wanted to learn.

The Bad

Sleeping in a tent can be a challenge if you are a light sleeper and I am. Next time I will bring ear plugs and better set up for the sleeping arrangements.

The Ugly

Saturday late afternoon, we realized the skies were getting darker. We checked around and found out that a storm was heading our direction from the West. We began putting things away as the thunder began to near. My husband had taken our youngest son and gone to the store before we knew a storm was approaching.

As the skies covered the sun and the wind began to lightly pick up and the rain started, I got in my tent with my other 2 boys. I checked with my brother whose tent was next to us to see if we should get in his car or not. He said he was getting in his tent for now.

Just as we got in our tents, the rain really started to come down and suddenly strong winds were pushing the front of our tent down onto me and my kids. I was a bit in shock and knew I better get to a vehicle. I tried for a full minute to unzip the tent but the force of the wind on the front of the tent made it difficult to get out of the tent. We finally did get the zipper open and ran to our friends camper.

The winds and rain continued to come down and the kids were all crying and screaming. My brother and most of the guys we were with were outside trying to tie down more stuff. Suddenly some of the tents began collapsing and all the guys ran to try and help a friend whose tent collapsed. And all of the sudden we see another tent fly by us. It was truly insane and chaotic.

I see my brother and the other guys running to jump into the run away tent before it hit the lake.

The storm last another minutes after that and left a swamp land and some minor destruction at our camp ground. It was a mess and a big downer that much of the stuff in our tents were wet from the force of the winds pushing the front of our tents down and letting rain in.

We decided to head home later that day because everything was wet and we are going on another trip in 3 days so we have lots to do anyways.

The storm produced wind gusts up to 60 mph in our camp site and it was incredible. We learned many things for future camping trips that will help us if we ever experience a similar storm (although I doubt it). It stunk that we left a night early, but it was also nice to sleep in our own bed.

Even with a terrible and scary storm, camping was a great experience for my family and we will cherish those memories and what we learned for a lifetime.

If you can get over the heat, possible bugs, a little dirt, you should pack up your kids and hit a nearby campground. We went to a camping resort where there was swimming pools, putt-putt and other things to do. I think while our kids are young this type of environment is great to introduce camping to them. As they get older we can venture to a camp ground with less amenities and more hiking and trails.