Camping is a time-intensive hobby, but throw in kids, and you’ve got the makings for a three-ring circus. The amount of time that goes into packing, preparing for all kinds of weather, remembering odds and ends to assist in meal prep and clean up and ensuring all sleeping materials are accounted for is enough to deter many from wanting to experience camping. The amount of smoke-filled laundry to wash upon returning isn’t the most fun either, but don’t get me wrong, it’s a blast! Honest.
Our family has come to enjoy the outdoor experience, and the girls have taken to entertaining themselves with rocks, sticks and their imaginations. I think part of the pleasure comes from being able to completely unplug from technology for a few days and not worry about much else except having a good time with family and friends. It’s refreshing and rejuvenates your soul.
This summer has been full of camping, and even though I am seven months pregnant, I am still enjoying it. Yes, we tent camp, but I made sure I had a two-inch memory foam rollout mat to sleep on before making the decision to camp all summer. It’s quite comfortable, and it came from my favorite store (Costco), so what’s not to love?
The thing about preparing for a camping trip is to get the process down to a science. Have a camping box ready to go with camping staples and a shelf in the garage with the camping gear. When the time comes to camp, collect perishable items and start throwing things in your camping box and cooler. You’ll be good to go. I’ve prepared a two-page checklist, and I hope it’s as helpful for you as it is for us. Remember the following Six Ground Rules below too. You can thank me later. 🙂
Six Ground Rules:
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- Don’t set your expectations high. Better yet, don’t have any.
- Your kids will get filthy; it means they’re having fun.
- Sleep is overrated, especially the first night. Don’t count on getting your beauty rest.
- Marshmallows make a big mess, but they’re entirely necessary.
- It’s never too early to crack a beer or your beverage of choice.
- You can never have too much firewood.
Note: Campgrounds fill up quickly, so if you want to go camping start thinking about booking those sites at the beginning of the year. Visit recreation.gov, and look for open weekends or your preferred weeks. On average, it costs around $25/night to book.
Below are brief descriptions of the campgrounds we visited and some of our memories from the summer. Enjoy!
Buffalo Campground in Roosevelt National Forest (Near Pine, CO)
This campground is smaller and more compact, but it’s also much closer to Denver than most. They have picnic tables, good tree coverage, vaulted toilets and drinking water. Dogs are allowed.
Our first attempt at camping this year was an epic fail. It was the weekend of June 21-23, and on June 21, the first day of summer, it snowed. It was a good thing we didn’t try to brave it much longer than we did. It was raining and hailing on our way to the site, and being the adventurous person I am, I talked Pat into continuing onward. He begrudgingly honored my wishes and kept driving. We arrived at the campsite, unpacked and setup, ate dinner under the canopy, roasted marshmallows over the stove’s burner, packed everything back up and left. It was likely the shortest camping trip ever. We got the full experience though of setting up, tearing down, eating and packing back up. Isn’t that what it’s all about anyway? 
Had the girls listened and stayed under the canopy, per our instructions, we may have made it, but what kid listens? They were soaked, and then the temperature dropped, so it wasn’t a good way to go into a night of 30 degree temperatures. Pat was no doubt ecstatic to be able to sleep in his own bed that night, and thank goodness our drive wasn’t crazy long.
Chambers Lake (Near Poudre Canyon)
We’ve been to this campground several times now, and we love it. It’s near water and has a lot of tree coverage, picnic tables, nearby hikes, a park for the kiddos, vaulted toilets and drinking water. The drive is pretty long, and should you leave on a Friday, be prepared for an obscene amount of traffic. Feel free to bring the dog(s) and anything you want to take out on the water.
We planned to leave at 2:30 p.m. and instead left at 3:30 p.m., adding another two hours to the commute. We had to forfeit our plans for bratwursts and stop at a Qdoba outside Fort Collins before heading up the Poudre Canyon, where there is nothing for miles. We arrived at our site just before nightfall and squeezed in s’mores. On Saturday, we passed the time at Chambers Lake skipping and throwing rocks, watching the girls run around and playing at the park. It’s a beautiful spot and worth the drive.
Glacier Basin Campground in Rocky Mountain National Park (Outside of Estes Park)
Glacier Basin is beautiful, of course. It’s a bit close quarters, and apparently we missed the memo on bringing the kids’ bikes/scooters. It’s a well-traveled campground, and to our dismay the campsites aren’t equipped with bear boxes, at least not all of them. There are actual bathrooms though versus the standard vaulted toilets, and there’s running water and a sink in which to wash your dishes. This site is pretty glamorous…almost didn’t feel like camping. 😉 They also have evening hour-long shows for the families and Sunday church services for non-denominational religions. While the campground allows dogs, Rocky Mountain National Park is not pet friendly. Dogs are not permitted on the trails or open areas, so it makes it difficult to do much site seeing, if you have dogs.
When camping with kids, it’s smart not to get your hopes up for any kind of hiking, unless you have hiking packs and the ability to carry them. Even then, don’t plan on perfection. Our four-year-old is actually pretty good at hiking, but our little Punkin’…forget it. Her legs apparently stop working after five minutes of walking, and the easiest way to move along is to suck it up and carry her. That kid weighs as much as a sack of potatoes. Not ideal.
The girls are perfectly content entertaining themselves though, and Punkin’ can sit and color for awhile. She has some mad focusing skills. I enjoy the break in just sitting and watching them too, but sometimes those mad focusing skills are so great she forgets where to go potty, so the mama moment of serenity quickly ends. As a parent, life is always busy, but camping gives you the opportunity to catch your breath, so soak it in for as long as it lasts.
Cow Creek South (White River National Forest)
This is a great spot if you enjoy the water and want a place to play with your water toys. It’s still great, even if you don’t have fancy toys. The sites are spread out with plenty of room for multiple tents. Be prepared to pay $6/day/extra vehicle. There are vaulted toilets, but we didn’t see anywhere to fill up water jugs, so bring plenty because it’s hot! Also, there isn’t any shade because you’re on the banks of a reservoir. There are picnic tables, but I’d bring two canopies, if possible. Dogs are allowed, and if your dog likes water he/she will be in heaven. The biggest downside is I-70 traffic in either direction.
Well, it hit me on this trip…the pregnancy that is. Hey, it only took six months. It started when we had to pull over on I-70 for Punkin’ to pee, so obviously I had to go too. Pat was mortified because he was sure I mooned every passerby. My bladder is the size of a pea anymore. We also spent all day in the sun on Saturday, and by late afternoon you couldn’t have paid me to move my butt off the chair. I was useless, and I watched my friend Daphne tidy up the site and help keep my children in line, while I sat. Like any good friend though, she said I could pay her back when she got pregars again.
This trip was fun too because the girls each had a playmate. When camping, it’s easier if you have other kids in the group to entertain your little ones, but it’s obviously not necessary. Bubbles are always fun, and hey, water guns would’ve been a good addition to this trip. A lesson in s’more stick/kabob skewer safety is never a bad idea either. Pookie almost had her eye poked out, but it was thankfully just a bruise below the bottom lashes. She didn’t even cry.
We’ve got one more camping trip this summer; I guess September is considered fall, right? I am hoping I can make this mid-September trip with our friends because at the moment I feel very large. I honestly don’t know where this baby will go, as I fear I’ve run out of room. This last trip is at Golden Gate Canyon State Park, which is approximately one hour away. We’ll see how it all unfolds. Stay tuned.
I’d love to hear about your camping go-tos and must-haves. Please submit a comment.
Favorite Meals (Mix n’ Match):
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- Burgers and salad
- Bratwursts and salad
- Trucker Meal (Wrap raw ground beef, raw/frozen veggies, salt and pepper in foil, and throw it over the fire.) Use your best guess as to when it’s done, and dig in.
- Birch Benders Paleo Pancake Mix (All you need to add is water.)
- Jimmy Dean Breakfast Sausages (They’re already cooked, so really you’re simply heating them up.)
- Peanut Butter and Jelly Sandwiches
- Sargento Balanced Breaks Snack Packs
- Fruit
- Eggs
- String Cheese
You know what’s difficult? Three kids, that’s what. Pat and I embraced one like champions, and two kids wasn’t much different. We felt, and maybe even looked like, superheroes. Well, God is now up there laughing at us because He has finally given us a taste of humble pie. After the night we had last night (more to follow), I told Pat, “I don’t think God will give us a fourth; I think He knows this is as much as we can handle.” Pat quickly disagreed, as he believes the Man Upstairs has a more vicious sense of humor than I do. I guess we’ll see in time. We will always be open to life, and natural family planning has worked as planned thus far, so we shall see how our future unfolds. In the meantime though, we’re navigating three, and the hardest part has been the older two. The drama queen and the opinionated, obnoxious, strong willed four-and-a-half-year-old girl who argues with everything are enough to put me over the edge. Add our newest bundle of joy (i.e., Peanut) to the mix, and we’ve got a three-ring circus. He is the most precious, snuggly, gassy guy who enjoys crying more than his sisters did and sleeping less too. We didn’t realize how lucky we were to have two babies come home from the hospital literally sleeping through the night. Both our girls were great babies, so it was our turn to experience the other kind of kiddo. Right?
While he really is precious (when he’s not losing it), he is a boy. He farts, grunts, burps (more like belches), snores, goes through diapers at an alarming rate and wakes up every few hours throughout the night. We have been using gripe water and gas drops like nobody’s business, and let me just tell you about the invention called the Windi. Our Aunt Katie now wants to know if it comes in an adult size for a gag gift, after I handed one off to my sister-in-law at her baby shower. I haven’t looked into it, but if it doesn’t then Fridababy has a new market they should consider targeting. This nifty little contraption is made by the same group who invented the NoseFrida (aka, snot sucker), and it’s pretty much a kazoo for the butt. The instructions warn you to be prepared for a messy experience, so now I’ve warned you too. The gist…you lube up and insert a one inch piece into your little one’s gassy backside, and if you hear what can best be described as a whistle, then you’re doing something right. It was rather frightening at first, but it helped out our Peanut and allowed us to sleep longer that night. 
A couple days ago I exchanged emails with the mortgage lender supporting my current real estate listing, and somehow my kids came up. She told me I should bring them to the closing at the end of the month because she needed a toddler fix. After telling her I had a two- and four-year-old and that such a situation would be utter chaos, she responded, “Sounds like Heaven to me! My kids are all grown and [there are] no grand babies.” All I could think was, “Man! She is bat shit crazy!” 
