This weekend was our camping trip!

This is my second camping trip with the kids. Our first was two summers ago, in upstate New York. Montgaup Pond, NY was a beautiful location but it was 2.5 hours away. Because our site was right ON the pond – the view was striking.

This time our campsite is at a NJ state park, one hour away from our house. This is a much smaller park, with trails, a few playgrounds and a sandy lake. Our spot is not ON the lake (there are none) but I still like it. It’s bigger. Cleaner. Plentiful firewood. And has more shade which I appreciate.

Before we went camping…

On Saturday we had the last class for gymnastics where all the kids received their awards and said goodbye for the summer.

Right after the celebration, we drove home, packed the car, and drove to the campsite.

I packed well. The kids, however…were supposed to pack for themselves and L was missing shorts and R is still wearing his gymnastics outfit today. But they did bring swim suits 🙌 and towels 🙌

I was nervous last time when we went camping. This time I was definitely less nervous. I knew what to expect. The kids are two years older and more helpful in terms of setting up and stuff. I knew how to make a fire. How to put up the tent. How to ignite the portable gas stove.

The food was campy and we used the portable gas stove to make meals and boil water. We could have done it over the fire pit BUT I am not that skilled. Or patient.

We did Doritos bag tacos twice (make the ground chicken, open the small Dorito bag, place the meat into the bag, eat with your hands). A very easy meal.

Hot dogs once. Bacon and bagels for breakfast (I forgot eggs). Of course, we made s’mores. Also, Polish kielbasa and hummus. Some cherry tomatoes, a store- bought chicken salad. Yoghurts. Jellos. All very easy meals and snacks. We drank juice boxes, water and coffee. I should have brought some tea bags but I didn’t.

In terms of how we filled in the time at the camp ground… it took a while to set up. I read my book (Lucy Foley) while the kids played in the tent, then out of the tent, then in the tent again. They brought some stuff to do: Legos, paints, other toys. They stoked the fire and looked for firewood. Hide and seek, tag, “Humpty-dumpty” on a fallen tree nearby.

They did complain that they were bored- especially my daughter. I reminded her to find something to do. We did not bring iPads on this trip since I did not want to be tempted to give them the iPads. Instead, the kids roamed around, were bored but eventually figured it out.

Oh, there was also a lake (5 minute drive) and a playground (1 minute walk) from the camp site. The lake was small, sandy and had life guards. We went twice, once on Saturday and once on Sunday. The playground was small but it had other kids and provided a break from camping.

We did go out for supplies once: needed fresh ice for the cooler and I forgot body soap. L did suggest we take showers with dish soap but yeah… no. We went to Walmart and swung by the gas station.

I have had the worse sleep of my life in that tent. We shared a mattress and a comforter; the kids had their own pillows and I had mine. My son slept through the night and so did my daughter but, holy cow, she was so restless. She was sighing, and moving around, and speaking in her sleep. She claimed she was hot, then cold, then hot again. She also complained in the morning that R was “pressing his butt” into her all night long. 😂

We came back around 3pm and I had to get a real shower and a nap. We celebrated my husband for Father’s Day with a Chinese food takeout, some goodies and cards. Him and I finished the “Widow’s Bay” show which was very good.

Have a good week! I will touch base later in the week 🙂