Camping Planning

This past weekend we went camping for the first time in 2 years.  Last year, we planned to camp with our tent but as each reserved weekend approached, we checked the weather and saw oodles and oodles of rain so we cancelled.  This year, we had planned to camp several times this summer but Darryl's surgery date was pushed to the end of June which left us hoping for camping by the end of August.  Thankfully, it worked out!!  We've come a long way from our first camping days.  The first summer we camped for the very first time, we used a borrowed tent that was, well, old.  The second evening, it blew down in a gust of wind and was done for - we had to pack up and go home at midnight.  We purchased a new tent later that summer and enjoyed a great vacation Labor Day Weekend despite having our truck broken into and things stolen (I did get my camera back and that was really all that mattered!).  Darryl and I were laughing about the fact that the first few years we camped we were "glampers" in the sense that every morning we got up, went to the showers, and got ready for the day including him shaving and me blowing drying/curling my hair and putting on make-up.  This past weekend - somehow I ended up in the shower once without soap because it got left behind by my husband in his shower and the second time, it was only a quick rinse off in my bathing suit with the boys after swimming in the lake.  Yikes! 

I will toot my own horn and say that as of two years ago, I was one of the most organized, well planned campers around.  I had everything down to three bins - two that always stayed packed and one food bin.  I had lists and plans and knew exactly where everything was and could pack up the truck in about 20 minutes.  Throwing kids in the mix makes it a little more complicated though especially now that they are older and require more stuff HA! 

This is how I plan:

The first step is that I do a basic overview of the days we are going to be gone, what needs to be done, the recipes, activities and anything else special.  I tend to do this about 2-3 weeks before the trip because it allows me time to pull together any crafts or special activities, change items or look up directions to whatever is needed (or where ever we are going!)  I can almost guarantee that this list will change by at least 75% by the final packing!

About a week before our trip, my list turns into this three columns of sweetness.  By this point I've changed the meal plans to something more concrete so the first column is every single food/meal making item I need.  I put the items in bold that I need to purchase but then just list everything so I know what I need.  The second column is everything needed for activities/crafts for the kids.  Again, I use bold to show what I need to purchase.  The final column is my misc. column - I just list everything that doesn't fit the other two categories!  Again, this is not set in stone but it does give me something to go by when I start shopping.  One of my favorite things to do this time was to go to the Dollar Store first and look for items for camping - especially for the kids - like glow sticks, army figures, small trucks and cheap, cheap playdough. 

The final list!  This is my brain for the weekend to make sure we have it all!  I usually take time to type this up (using the previous lists as helpful guides) about 2-3 days before the trip so I can start gathering things.  This includes everything from food items to pack, craft items to pack and everything else including a folding chair for Darryl :-) See how "Shims" is circled . .. those were to help start the fire and guess what we forgot? YIKES!  We managed but we won't forget the bundle of shims next time!   Funny side story, we had everything packed and loaded - I went back into the house to check that everything was off and lock the doors.  Guess what was sitting in the dining room?  The bag full of mine and Darryl's clothes OOPS!  Good thing I went back inside! 

Truth be told, my packing this time was a little crazy.  As this was the first time with the pop-up we really learned that I need to pack differently and we need to return to the idea of bins for everything and not pack in bags thinking there is tons of room for stuff in the pop-up!  (There isn't!)  Which brings me to the last part of my planning -- it is making a list of what I need to change or ideas to make things easier.  Here's a few of the brainstorming ideas that Darryl and I talked about:

1) Pack less food :-)  We don't tend to camp in the middle of no where so we can (and usually do) go to the store every day just to get out somewhere.  Instead, just pack what we really need.  I plan on spending a little extra in the future and purchase individual packages of things like chips, cookies and cereal.  This way, we can open what we want and not have full bags of chips or full boxes of cereal open and getting stale all weekend. 
2) Use a large rubbermaid bin for the food - stuff doesn't get crushed and then, we just keep that bin in the truck all weekend which keeps it out of the way but easy to get to anytime we need a snack.  We also tend to like to keep the coolers in the truck too so if we take off for the day we have everything we need for an impromptu picnic
3) Plan a simple pre-prepped meal for the first night.  This time I had planned Hot Dogs/Brats but - by the time we got there, got the camper and camp set up and STILL needed to go get wood . . .well, it was already 6:30 and we were HUNGRY so we ended up heading to town and getting McDonald's.  Next time I plan to have something simple like tacos so we can put the meat in the crockpot as soon as we get there to heat up and be ready to eat when we are hungry!!
4) Have a bin in the camper for "stuff" - by "bin" I mean a small container where we can throw bug spray, keys, even a phone so it doesn't fall out of a pocket.  Several times Darryl said, "I don't know where to put stuff". 

Anyway - we are learning as we go that's for sure.  We are tentatively hoping and praying to be able to camp one more time this fall because the boys love it so much but even if we don't we ARE planning to camp often next summer and look forward to perfecting our planning.

A Two Wheeler

Our boys love their training wheels.  We've tried and tried to get them to want to take those training wheels off but to no avail!  Out of the blue a week ago Josh said he wanted to ride a bike without training wheels.  Since the boys each have a regular size bike now, we took the training wheels off the teeny tiny bike and let the boys go! 

 I had to share this photo - our gigantic sunflower outside the garage door has opened!!  This brought huge excitement at our house.

 Nate riding on his new bike since he had outgrown the teeny bike.  Josh riding the teeny bike minus training wheels.

 Love that face of total concentration. 

 Nate is very determined to be as good, if not better, than his big brother. 

 (Side note - Josh found some rope and was pretending he was using a lasso . . .)

Nate working on staying up on two wheels!

Both boys are doing well with the lack of training wheels.  Josh even told us while camping that he was ready to have the training wheels off of his bigger bike now too.  I will say that we don't have those photos of the parent holding onto the back of a bike and then letting go because all I hear is "Let go of the bike I can do it on my own." hahahaha 

Homeschool Happenings - The First Day

Today, after a busy weekend of camping, is our first day of Kindergarten.  That is just crazy.  After lots of planning, changing plans and prepping plans it is time to get busy.  The boys are excited to learn to read, learn all about numbers, and have fun!  It seems odd that I don't have much to say today since it is our first day but I've shared what we are doing, the curriculum we are using and more in past posts so today is the "breathing room" post.  We are having "afternoon" Kindergarten as the munchkin will be going to afternoon preschool starting next week.  This will allow the boys time to play together and then allow me time to teach while he's gone and the princess is napping.  At least that is the plan :-)

So, next week I'm sure I"ll have lots to share!

Things My Kids Say (and sometimes my husband)

* Darryl and the boys were heading out to get his hair cut.  He was frantically looking for his phone and was pretty upset at himself for setting it down somewhere and having to look for it.  He finally brought me my phone and had me call his . .. which rang . . .in his pocket!! hahahaha I seriously was rolling on the floor laughing as he walked out the door saying, "What?  I have no idea why you are laughing." hahahaha

*Needless to say, my kids are at the ages where learning to obey is a tough, trying task.  They tend to want to do things "one more time" after we tell them something.  In one discussion recently, we were letting the boys know we would not be taking electronics with us while camping giving them the reasons why.  Josh piped up with, "Well, I'm supposed to obey Papa and he let me bring his Nabi (Ipad) camping in their yard and he let me play with it in the yard so that means I can since he is the most important person to obey."  Well, there ya have it folks, Josh DOES obey HA!  We then had to explain that these were our rules and when he's with us he has to follow our rules :-)

* Nate has a cold.  So, periodically I hear, "Mom."  I ask him what he wants and he says, "Nothing, I was just listening to see if my voice is right yet."  Couldn't he pick a different word? LOL

Testing out the Camper

For years we've wanted to purchase some sort of camper and who would have thought that the time one "fell in our laps" would be when Darryl was off work recovering from surgery.  We had a very very low budget but wanted something that was nice that we could use for years.  Well, that's hard to come by, let me tell you.  We had already resigned ourselves to not getting one until next year when maybe we could increase our budget slightly when a friend of ours heard we were looking.  Turns out her family purchased a pop-up quite a few years ago because she loves camping.  Now, though, her kids are grown and don't want to go and her husband is not a camper.  It hadn't been used in two years and she offered to sell it to us for the amount we had said we had to spend and she included everything in it.  That alone was incredible as it included things like an outdoor rug for under the camper canopy, a mini-fridge, cooking stuff, and more.  So it was really a "God thing" - he worked out the details, the financing and even how to get it to us (my parents!)

A few weeks ago I needed to set it up (to make sure I remembered everything my dad taught me two weeks before!) so that I could go through everything, reorganize it and also go through out camping stuff and make a list of what we need for camping.  Because we were setting it up, the boys wanted to "camp out". 

 Our camping "home".  It's fabulous (and over 20 years old!) and in near perfect condition.  The boys all have jobs that they do including the fact that Josh turns the crank to set the whole thing up!  We plan, Lord willing, to have this camper for a good 10 years.  By then the boys will be almost full grown and us old people will need to get a small camper that we don't have to set up HA!

 The boys had a blast (yes, they had been swimming before setting up the camper). 

 A view from the inside.

 Darryl with his brace :-)

 The boys moved in HA!  Sleeping bags, pillows, stuffed animals and flashlights.

Darryl tried out the bed with pillows, extra quilts and even more pillows . . .but we discovered he needs some cushions to sleep on so we'll be hauling the couch cushions with us when we camp HA! 

Food Friday - Fish Tacos

Fish Tacos
adapted from . .. .several recipes to create my own! (that doesn't happen often)

As you may or may not know, we love tacos in this house.  Yes, we love the good "old-fashioned" version but I've been venturing out and trying some different versions.  One of the best things about this meal is we ALL love them - Nate likes his with just cheese, ketchup and broken chips but at least we are all eating our own version of Tacos!  Several times when we've gone out to dinner I've gotten fish tacos and have loved them so I decided to try my own recipe.  I searched and searched and finally came up with a version I thought we would like and made it!  The meat guy at the grocery store helped me pick out the best fish for my tacos and even helped me get the right amount so I wouldn't have much - if any- left over.  

Ingredients/Directions for Fish
1 cup all purpose flour
2 tablespoons cornstartch
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 egg
1 cup chicken stock (or milk)
1 pound cod filets, cut into 2-3 ounce portions
oil for frying

To make the batter:  In a large bowl, combine flour, cornstarch, baking powder and salt.  Blend egg and chicken stock, then quickly stir into the flour mixture (don't worry about a few lumps.)

Heat oil in deep-fryer or deep frying pan to 375 degrees.  Dust fish pieces lightly with flour.  Dip into the batter and fry until crisp and golden brown.  Drain on paper towels

Ingredients/Directions for Topping
1/2 head of cabbage, sliced thin (I just bought a bag of cole slow mix)
1/2 cup Milk
1/2 cup Mayonnaise
1 teaspoon White vinegar
1 tablespoon sugar
1/4 teaspoons salt
1/4 teaspoons pepper

Taco Shells
Pico De Gallo
Lime Wedges

Mix the milk, mayo, white vinegar, sugar, salt and pepper together and pour over the cabbage.  Mix well - it should be wetter than normal "cole slaw".

To make tacos - lay a couple of pieces of fish on the taco shell, top with the Cole Slaw mix, a little Pico De Gallo and squeeze some lime juice on top.

 

Weekly Menu - The one that includes camping

This coming weekend we are going camping..  Have you ever noticed that when you are outside you eat more?  There is just something about being outside and sitting around a fire that just makes you want to eat HA!  Well, here's our eating plan for the next week :-)

I know I said last week that I would share our camping food in a separate post but I'm going to include it all here since it is pretty standard :-)

Friday - I debated on what to cook this first night but finally decided that we would have Hot Dogs and Brats roasted over the fire.  Yes, I pre-cook the brats at home so that we are just "roasting" them to get that great flavor.  I also made Potato Salad and Macaroni Salad to use for several meals and, of course, chips (and ketchup).  We'll have stuff for s'mores to have for a snack.

Saturday - Breakfast - I love this while camping - Bacon (makes the whole campground smell good!), eggs, toast, pop-tarts and cereal (the boys favorite things!).  Lunch will be a trip to our all time favorite pizza place - Bernie O's.  Then later for dinner we will do steak kabobs over the fire - I marinate a sirloin steak and we just put the pieces on hot dog sticks and roast them until they are done - fried zucchini and the salads mentioned above.  Again, we'll have s'more stuff but also at some point today we'll take a trip to the Ice Cream Stand and get a treat.

Sunday - Breakfast is always more simple the second day.  Cereal, Pop-Tarts, Donuts, and Bagels (for me!).  We'll be packing up after that and will stop at McDonald's on the way out - we can eat cheap!  Then for dinner, it will be left overs from camping and/or Mac and Cheese.

Monday - I'm not sure why I planned our school schedule this way but today is our first day of school.  So we will go out to dinner to celebrate.  I'm thinking even the Chinese place - it's cheap and the boys love it.

Tuesday - Philly Cheesesteaks, leftover salads from camping and chips.

Wednesday - Sausage Gravy and Biscuits, Eggs, and Fruit

Thursday - Chicken Fried Steak, Mashed Potatoes, Gravy, Corn and Rolls.

The amazing thing to me is that coming up next is Labor Day Weekend.  When did that happen and where did this fabulous summer go?