Bring On The Adventure

Two things - one I recommend and one I can't believe my parents did.
1. I cherish this little memory of arriving at a campsite and helping Daddy get our roasting sticks.
2. My brother and I always had our own mini fires - right beside the fire pit we would burn these mini tinder fires for hours. Little pyromaniacs. I guess my mom was too busy with my baby sister to care and Dad was a bigger pyro....

we love camping. two games that we keep in our camper are: http://www.amazon.com/Wham-O-Mini-Frisbee-indoor-outdoor/dp/B000OWL0X0 and http://www.amazon.com/Kan-Jam-Llc-KanJam-Ultimate/dp/B00NP9PN32. Both the Frisbee golf and the Kan Jam do not take up much room, are great for on the road, great for those fabulous beach adventures, and also for the back yard too. walking tacos are a great, quick, and easy lunch. just pack some small bags of doritos, cook up some taco seasoned meat prior to your adventure, and have the fixins on hand. eat them right out of the bag. yum. enjoy the adventure...i can't wait to see the blog post when you return. xo

Aw, I love reading everyone's camping memories. Stirred up mine. We did a lot of camping when I was a kid (in a truck camper) & that's actually how we went to Disney World.

We also camp on the beach, but at night would drive to the parking lot where we had our tradition of Dad making stromboli and playing 500 Rummy. Yea, I was playing that when I was like 6 years old!

Hmmm..tips? I was thinking for that group, maybe glow sticks or a mini flashlights for everyone would be good? If you are staying in a campground where you will be using their shower facilities I recommend flip flops, those towels with elastic to stay on, and a little plastic carrier for your shampoo/soap (Just like in college). Usually the whole shower area gets wet, so you don't want dry clothes around and def want to protect your feet from floors!

I'm not sure how it would work, but I do a lot of cast iron cooking now...thinking there must be some awesome cast iron recipes for an open fire?!

I can't wait to see your trip documentation!

Seems everyone has a lot of fun ideas. My only advice is this: Make a chore chart. When everyone knows what days they do what, camping will be more fun for all. Even for you. You do not want to get stuck with all the chores (and there are lots of them) while everyone else is off having fun. My Mom did this for us 6 kids and I did it for my 4. And it made chores fun because we did it together and it was part of the camping experience rather than an interruption.

I highly recommend Geocaching! Go to geocaching.com for more info, but essentially it is using a GPS (you can use your iPhone) to track down a hidden 'treasure' while on a hike. Buy a few small dollar store items such as bouncy balls, jacks, keychains, plastic animals, hair clips, etc. When you find the geocache and open the box there will be similar items inside. If your kids like an item in the found box, you replace it with one of the treasures that you brought. The kids love this. On a bigger note, the thrill of the hunt was always so much fun for my girls. When they were older we let them navigate us through the forest. We now remember a lot of our camping trips by the geocaches we did. It was so great on so many levels.

Three things: batteries (and even more batteries), plenty of chargers, and TABLETS. Invest in some cheap tablets that you won't be terribly upset if they get damaged or lost and make sure everyone has their own headphones. These come in handy when they start getting on each other's nerves and need some separate space. Especially helpful when they are crowded onto an RV and can't get immediate physical space separate from others. Download some games ahead of time. Also, hand out cameras! If you have any old cameras or buy some one-time use ones so that the kids can record their own memories and you get the extra benefit of having a record of the vacation from their own personal view. Kids will amaze you with their own unique perspective of a trip. You might just inspire them in the process to be memory keepers too!

Hey Ali,

I've never traveled in an RV before but I do come from a HUGE family (6 kids and gozillion cousins) and we've taken many road trips together.

The advice I have is to take a lot of breaks. Nobody ever likes being cooped up for long periods of time. Let em get out and go. Stop a lot. Change scenery.

Also, when I travel with different families (ex. my aunts&uncles and theirs kids and their kids) we like to schedule certain times to do things together but then have open time where people can be together in their own little families or decide to hang out together or just get alone time. This is great because then people have their own time if they want it.

Hope this helps. I realize you have a blended-type family and I'm speaking about aunts and cousins but I think there are basic similarities that can correspond to your situation.

Have fun! I'm doing a road trip along the Washington and Oregon coast next week. I can't wait! Any advice on good parks to stop at would be great. There is so much along the coast it's hard to decide where to stop. Ecola looks good. Washburne looked like fun as well (read your post about it).

Thanks,
Jen

Sing-a-longs were fun on the boy scout camping trips we went on - are there a few songs everyone knows or can learn before the trip? Guessing games - taking turns letting each person have the group guess their favorite ________. Telephone is silly and fun - whispering a long sentence down the line of all 7 of you to see what the outcome is when the last person to hear states the "new" sentence.

I agree with the scavenger hunt idea. I've done that several times for my three kids, and they loved it! I always mix in some easier and harder things to find, to make sure it keeps them occupied, but not too frustrated. I have done 1st, 2nd, and 3rd prizes, usually small things they can use on the trip - pad of paper and markers, bingo card game, etc.

Reality check here from someone who raised four children (all in college now in sunny CA) on the Oregon Coast.... it rains during "Spring" Break. It is cold during "Spring" Break on the Oregon Coast. But you know this. Don't know whether you are going north or south on the coast from Eugene, but if the weather Gods don't cooperate....you are welcome to use our INDOOR pool and hot tub and INDOOR tennis courts, and some golf driving range slots are covered at Salishan. If it gets really bad, like a rockin' storm, we have 4 empty bedrooms with toys, games, books (saving for grandchildren someday)....... and a wine cellar for you and Aaron. Here's to sunny days for your Spring Break RV Adventure. Bring on the sunshine!

Ali, we are towards the end of a 5-week camping adventure in an RV, and just left the Florida Keys today. Just John and I and our two dogs. I don't have much advice about camping with kids. As far as you and Aaron, extra patience as you navigate driving and parking -- (no drive thrus) and make sure you get some quiet time together. Keep meals really simple (foil packet meals are great!). http://kathypassmore.com/blog to read about our adventures. You guys will have so much fun.

Many RVing years under my belt with kids. If there are no hook-ups, water is golden. BBQ (not much clean-up) & use paper EVERYTHING: Fewer dishes means more water for showers...speaking of which, usually only 6-8 gallons of hot water. So, water on: get wet, water off. Soap-up/shampoo and rinse FAST! If the fridge is on propane, be very careful to park the RV LEVEL - if it's not, the fridge will break (1st ugly lesson learned on our motor home the hard way). Toilets use special paper - Walmart, Target, Camping World, places like that have it. DO NOT use regular TP or wipes. And as someone mentioned above, make sure there is a generator or things will get ugly. Just a few things that came to my mind upon seeing your post. Have a great time!!

Here's a trick to see if your regular toilet paper is suitable for RV use. Take a glass of water, add a piece of toilet paper, wait, if it dissolves you're good to go if not buy a different brand. RV toilet paper is horrible. Kids will use oodles of it and it's very expensive as well. It's not needed to buy that thin expensive stuff, if you do the RV test and your paper is ok then there is no need to buy another brand,

Bikes are the best if you can manage the space. My kids are on their bikes all the time when we're camping. Great way to burn off the energy from sitting in the truck.

Try to plan your stops around playgrounds. 30 minutes at a playground can do wonders.

My son likes to have lots of time at the campground, and less time on planned excursions. He often makes friends and just wants to hang out and play. Lots of unscheduled time works well for us.

I also bring bedtime music on my iPod to play while they're going to sleep. Good way to change to tone and bring the energy level down.

Sloppy Joes are a favorite camping food. Just make the chili before and all you need are buns. Great for rainy, cozy days. BBQ is great too. Plan all your meals ahead of time and make anything you can ahead too.

Have fun! We still have loads of snow here but I'm excited for summer camping season to start.

Ali, I have done almost all my camping with kids as a scout leader -- boys and girls. I am a big proponent of take nothing but pictures, leave nothing but footprints, but that's not always possible, especially with little kids like Anna. I recommend you look around Pinterest for some Scout ideas. You'll find craft and camping ideas. Meanwhile a couple of my favorites:
1. Let the kids cook. Potatoes can be baked in tin foil as can fish with vegetables, even meat in an open fire -- easy, fun, kids love it -- they wrap their food in tin foil with some spices, put it by the fire, carefully open it later (like 45 minutes) and miraculously it's cooked. You can cook a cake in a Dutch oven -- they also love that -- some charcoal on top and on the
bottom, lots of fun, kids have accomplished something.
Girls could cook with you once; boys could cook with Aaron once; mixes families, cooperation, etc., could be planned ahead. OR Girls could cook or serve, boys clean one night; Boys cook or serve, girls cook or serve next night. We did this with patrols, people were nicer to each other knowing they'd have to clean up each others' messes!

2. Photo sensitive paper (I forget exactly what it's called) if you're expecting sunny weather. Then the kids collect things, put it on the paper, set the paper in the sun, go on a hike, come back after a couple of hours (whatever the label says) and the objects have "developed" the paper. It is SO cool! It has a science lesson with it but you could skip that if you want (or add it if you want :) ). I always had an educational element to everything we did.

3. People have mentioned scavenger hunts, we would hunt for tracks of native animals. One winter camping trip we found where a deer had been during the snowfall. The girls absolutely loved it! We also identified different trees and plants. you and Aaron could make notebooks for each kid or buy small ones if you want and have them sketch plants and trees they find, bark and leaves.

4. Simon is definitely old enough for compass work and if you go geocaching, all the kids will be learning compass work so night time reading could involve maps, history of the parks, the area, the Oregon coast. When I went to Goshen with the Boy Scouts for two weeks, the theme was Pirates so I went to the library and got several books about pirates -- especially female pirates, many of whom were Irish so I told them one was my great, great, grandmother, which of course they believed! But something I didn't count on was it also gave them an opportunity to talk about their fears about being away from home! They talked about the gross food the pirates ate -- meat with maggots -- and the boys had so much fun laughing and being gross! Me again with teachable moments.

5. So stories are very important! An excellent game is having one person start the story then the next person adding a sentence and going around the circle, every person adding a new sentence. I hope it would work with your crowd, not sure since I don't know the kids, but once they get the hang of it, it usually works out -- after you've talked about other stories.

6. Craft: leather bags in which they can put ONE thing they have picked up -- a stone because stones are magical and guard the entrance to the fairy world. You can usually pick up a kit at Michael's. There are also lots of things out there to do with parachute cord now. If the younger girls prefer they can make bracelets with their names on them. You can find a gazillion of these ideas on Pinterest scouting sites.

7. I love the washing dishes idea. The way girl scouts do it is for each kid to have a mesh bag into which their kit goes (plate, bowl, cup and flatware goes); leader has clothesline and hangs it between trees (carefully so as not to harm the bark on the tree -- Simon could hang it I think, he's pretty tall); the mesh bags hang by a string or clothes pin. Dawn in a dish pan with water to wash, 2nd dishpan to rinse (GSA makes you put a teaspoon of bleach, but you probably don't have to be so strict), into the mesh bag, hang it up until the next meal -- you and Aaron will need your own too. :) The advantage is that this also keeps the kids busy after each meal for a little bit of time and they can do your dishes as well.

8. It won't probably be cold, but another idea for a craft is to pick up some fleece and let each kid make their own little throw, or you could make it placemat. Bring a pair of scissors (or 2 or 3, however many people can handle scissors well), cut down the fleece long enough (at least 4" I'd say) every 2" about, on two sides -- so you have an even # of "flaps" then tie every 2 together in knots and voila, you have a cute placemat they can use at meals during the trip, or a throw while cuddled around the fire listening to stories, sharing stories, or reading in the RV before lights out! Or both! No sewing for the guys or the little ones but a cool thing for everyone and fleece comes in a gazillion patterns, including camo for hunting in the woods or your favorite movie, maybe even Harry Potter -- or horses!

9. I've done First Aid, Outdoor Cooking, Photography, Hiking, Astronomy, Sewing(!), Whatever the Local Animals one is called; the Local Flora; We even made up our own Badge because the girls came up with all these ideas for making jewelry out in the woods! The boys always have everything handed to them! :)

Whenever we take our girls camping we find glow stick games. Ring toss tends to be everyone's favorite.

- We love geocaching!!!! Takes us on adventures & places we wouldn't normally have stopped.
- my daughter builds fairy houses in a tree trunk when she gets bored. Using only found items....
- one of my favorite traditions is we write a brief letter to the next set of campers & leave it in the bear/raccoon box or stick it to the camp tag clip. We went on a trip 2x now & found letters waiting for us. It's fun to share what we did, our favorite hikes, worn others about camp critters & bugs, and just all around tell a small story for the next group. Best tradition!!!

I have great memories of doing this with my 4--they are all grown up now (youngest will graduate from high school this spring, oldest just had our first grandbaby!). My kids did the dishes at night in the RV (& actually had fun doing it because we had a dishwasher at home), but I would always read them a story while they worked. They loved it. Bring a small rug to put at the door to catch all the dirt from being tracked in, and a whisk broom & dust pan. I even did that when we tent-camped--makes life so much nicer (and I am not a clean freak! Just nice not to have sand/dirt all over the tiny floor). I brought a brownie or cookie mix (be sure you have the necessary pans) for dessert at night--my kids loved that too. We didn't make dessert often at home, but making it in that little oven was an adventure! I also brought simple art supplies--sometimes we even did travel journals and such (wonderful to have now). Just have a great time--nothing better than hanging out with your kids.

Everyone has their own opinion, but for us and our three kids, camping is a time to be UNplugged. No iPods, no tablets, no computers, no headphone, no iPad etc. It is a perfect opportunity to get in touch with nature and each other. And if that means getting on each other's nerves once in awhile- so be it. It is a chance to learn to get along WITHOUT all of those electronic distractions and devices that isolate people from each other. No problems with limiting "screen time" if it is zero. It may not be the easiest way, since it requires people to deal with each other and find ways to amuse and entertain without electronics, but camping is probably one of the best settings to give it a try. Although it may seem extreme to some, we don't even do electronics during the long car rides either. Our kids have fond memories of singing in the car, playing travel games, drawing and actually talking to each other.

I so loved reading all these ideas and memories. We haven't camped as a family, but love going to the mountains, so some great ideas. I don't have much camping advise, except to say that here in South Africa people cook anything on a fire. If you can get your hands on a Braaimaster or Jan Braai recipy book, you get recipies for everything, including making delicious puddings. There is a braaimaster competition also where teams compete over several weeks preparing various things on an open fire, spit or in cast iron pots etc. Kalahari.com might have these if you're interested at all.