5 Family Camping Tips

We love camping. SO many memories made. Bonding with the family and being completely disconnected from social media and electronics is a breath of fresh air for the mind, body and soul. Cabin camping has been our favorite right now, since our littles are so little. We do however tent camp. It's hard. Yet, it's so worth it. So, to make it a bit easier the most important things to us are:

1.  Be organized. I have a bin of bedding just for camping, with blankets and pillows for each person. 
2. Prep food in advance. I usually make a menu. Then grocery shop just for that menu and think of snacks that are healthy and easy. Like nut bars and fruits. That's it. I know camp food is fun, like potato chips and such. BUT, if you stay with the list and nothing extra, it's just easier and more affordable and less wasteful. I usually precut everything for meals and bag it all separately, that way I don't feel like all I'm doing is meals. It's just so much easier this way. 
3. Kids clothes. Each kid gets their own duffle bag. I'll link my absolute favorite one right now for my boys. an outfit per day, then prep for all weather. I pack pants, even in summer, hat, swim gear, socks, water shoes, sandals and sneakers. 
4. Sleeping. We absolutely love cots for the boys. They're off the ground, so the boys will stay warm at night and I'm not worried about then getting wet in case water gets in (we camped in Florida one time and it poured buckets one day, even got water in the tent). 
5.  Cooking. We always bring a portable stove. That way I can boil water for my morning coffee... pretty much cook all our meals. We also brought a tiny portable grill. And I'm so glad we did because the camp ground had a "fir band" this dry season we're having in Oregon right now. I was planning to make burgers and ribs over fire, so this tiny little grill saved the day. Again, be prepared.  
6. *********I know you guys all know to grab mosquito spray... but, you know what, grab mosquito spray, candles, essential oils, mosquito repellent stick... you name it, grab it, then stick it in all your hiking backpack, baskets, tents. Yes, I forgot mosquito spray! I had essential oils and we kept them away a bit. I only grabbed the essential - essential oils, so all lavender essential oil did was help ease our itching. we were eaten alive. sigh

I'm going to link what we love and need when we are camping below to amazon. 

I love that this one comes with all the attachments.

I want this for our next caping trip! I bring my glass one, but this one is just too perfect.

I'm loving these mugs!

Kids cots. These are nice for the littles, my nine year old has a bigger one, I'll link it as well.

And, these are what I'm longing for:

We love these marshmellow sticks. or Hotdog sticks, or whatever you cook on a stick.

We absolutly love hammocks! We have this one in blue:

And, I love this kids one.

We have a four person tent now, and need to upgrade. I've been looking a few up on Youtube and other bloggers. I found a few that I like. we want a cabin like tent this time too.

I love how stable these chairs are for kids

My husbnad wants one of these coolers for his birthday... You guys, these must be the best because the man does extensive research on things he wants and needs and asks for.

I love that these are stainless steel and not aluminum.

Guys, I hate mosquitos..

I love these duffle bags! the older two have them in blue and tan colors. They love how "manly" (My older son told me) they look.

Favorite baby carrier. I have a two year old and we love this carrier.

I love this backpack cooler. We use it allt he time.

Don't Forget this vinyl table cloth!