9 replies to this topic

[Herbwifemama]

I'm not sure this is exactly the right place for this topic, but it seems to fit, and though it's happening during our "summer vacation" we are a homeschooling family, and as homeschoolers, we know you learn by living, so making that stretch, our summer camping trip is homeschooling. There!

Anyway, I want to be a "camping family". However, the extent of my camping experience is a weeklong cabin in the woods for our honeymoon (shared with tons of bats, eek!), and an overnight trip with our daughter when she was, oh, 2 or so? She got to be a pest cause she was bored. I didn't bring anything for her to do, cause I thought going hiking, and cooking over an open fire, and the excitement of tent living would be enough for her. I was wrong.

Anyway, I've got a few books on hold at the library, but there's nothing like talking to people with experience. So, what are your tips for a newbie who wants to take her kids camping.

We're going to be camping here: http://www.turkeyrunstatepark.com/ And getting a primitive site, going horseback riding (dd is WILD about horses right now!), and swimming, lots of hiking (we have an Ergo for the baby, use it all the time!)

One thing I can see happening (as I sit in my hot humid attic holding a sweaty baby through a nap) is that I'll need to nurse the baby down for naps, probably in the tent, where it will be hot, and sweaty, and not much breeze- any way to keep the tent cool?

Any tips at all would be useful, as we've never traveled with one so young.

[gofish]

Turkey Run is great place to camp. Some of the trails can be very steep.
I have never camped with a baby but I would lock the door and camp in the back yard first. Give yourself and the kids some practice.



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[carr]

My babies went camping for the first time as infants ... but we took a Coleman pop up rather than do our usual primitive camping.

I've never known of anyway to make a hot tent cooler if there is no electricity or breezes blowing ... I would love to hear some of those tricks ... the only thing I know to make a hot tent cooler is to camp in spring and fall rather than the heat of the summer, or to camp in the mountains near the river .... that'll get ya' pulling for the covers at night!!! If there are primitive sites on the river, get there as early as possible because they will get snatched up first and fast ... a day ahead of the rush is best!!

You're smart to take things to entertain your babies ... just being outdoors helps, but they are still babies and need to be distracted from boredom when it strikes!!

Plan for crawdad digs, digging for worms, fishing, searching for the perfect rocks and driftwood .. take some paints to decorate!! my now grown girls still have favorite rocks they picked up on our annual camping trips ... take a tree/plant book with you from the library and help your oldest identify some of the areas native plants!! Take some paper, glue/tape, scissors,crayons and yarn. Prepunch holes in paper for book styles. Then collect things from your nature walk for her to glue into her book ... don't try to do it all in one sitting ... just pull out a page to do at a time ... find out what kind of leaf you have, glue it to the page, label it with crayons!! page one done!!! Take a good family photo while you are there and add it to the cover when you get home with the title "The Herb Family Camping Trip ... Turkey Run 2011" .. or whatever suits your fancy.

All of her distractions can be packed in one backpack just for her!! Including a favorite sleep toy, pillow or blankie!! Just make sure it's not to heavy for her to carry.

Take her bike if possible ... jump rope, small shovel and bucket, battery powered radio or her favorite cd for quiet time. For the most part, my girls had cousins to play with ...

Oh yeah ... Watch out for the raccoons!!! Lock your food in your vehicle at night. Aluminum foil, tupperware lids, trash bags hung out away from the tree, trash cans with lids ... none of these will stop our nocturnal friends ... don't lose your food the first night .. trust me ... lock it up!!!

Oh, and if you do catch some crawdads for tomorrow's fishing trip, don't leave them swimming in a bowl in the creek for tomorrow's fishing trip!!!!! see note on Raccoons!!!! I'm just sayin' .. been there, done that ... had to listen to the girls cry for an hour and still hear them lament about all their hard work become raccoon food!!

Have a fun and safe trip ...

[Vic303]

12v fans are your friend for summer camping! I assume you are essentially car camping, and not hiking in somewhere with the baby and kids...

For example...DH posted this on another forum we frequent...it is one of our setups for car camping.

Vicky, myself and the monkeys spent the weekend, (most of it) away at a cub scout camp out in east Texas.

Since we like our comforts and since the idea of spending two nights in a hot tent with sweaty children wasn't high on our priority list we brought a solution to our problem.

I took the battery box that we use to drive our radios in the event of a power outage and tied in two 12 volt fans that I had got to put in the tornado shelter.





Problem solved!

The folks in the tents around us were more than a little jealous. Especially when I was spending part of Saturday afternoon napping in a lounge chair with one of the fans blowing on me.

Semper Fi

[Herbwifemama]

Yes, it will be car camping- a primitive site just means that we'll be tent camping and walking to a public bathroom, instead of having our own cabin. And we don't have an RV, but there will be electrical hookup- though we didn't use it last time.

[Cat]

Electrical hookup = fan!!!

We took a trip to turkey Run when our firstborn was 18 months old, but we stayed in the Inn. DH was more concerned for Mom's sanity, I think! LOL

Be sure you look at the trails on the map before walking them, and be ready to turn around and go back the way you came if you need to. Some of the trails near the "canyons" are really slippery after a rain, and last time we tried them, there wasn't much to help you feel comfortable walking them with kids. No railing, slippery trail = scary. Maybe they have improved them since we walked them. And there's a place to climb with a ladder, too... DH took the little one up each time, but it was scary for the older child, even with Mom right behind.

Maps: http://www.turkeyrun...rails/index.htm

If you hike in the later morning or afternoon, the trails have dried off some and aren't as slippery from morning dew. And it's almost always cool.

Be sure to take something to cover yourself in case you need to nurse on the trail. They do have a few benches here & there.

We love Turkey Run... it's a beautiful place! The Shades are more primitive. McCormick's Creek was ok, but we think it had less to do.

We *LOVE* Spring Mill... that was our "cave trip", where we rode into the caves at the park in the boats (small fee) and later traveled down to Mammoth Caves. DS took a small flashlight with him and still remembers the face of the very surprised bat looking back at him from a cleft in the ceiling!! (I always let the kids carry one in a cave, just in case, and it helped them feel safer). They also have the mill, the houses, and the summertime primitive craftsmen presentations.

More later...

[Poohbear]

It's been a long time since we've gone camping. The girls and I love it, but hubby not so much. But here are some things we did... My girls had some little "bug" keepers. They were little plastic cages that had a built in magnifying glass. We spent hours catching bugs and watching them. They'd put grass, leaves, twigs, etc. for the bugs to climb on. I think they still sell these at Wal-Mart pretty cheap. If not, you could take some jars with air holes punched in the lids. You could take some insect books and let the older one try to identify the bugs.

Made home made ice cream in zip lock bags. Very quick and very easy! All you need is one 1 gal. size and one snack size zip lock bag per person, a packet of powdered ice cream mix, heavy cream, rock salt and ice. Put about 2 heaping Tbl. rock salt in the gal zip lock bag (this can be done ahead at home). Mix the ice cream mix and cream together. I also did this ahead at home and kept it in the cooler until ready to use. Fill the snack size zip lock about 3/4 full with ice cream mixture, make sure it is zipped good! Drop into the gal. bag with rock salt and fill with about 3 cups of ice and shake, shake, shake! In about 15-20 minutes you have frozen ice cream! Be sure to rinse the ice cream baggie with a little water before you open or salt water will get in when you open to eat.

Where we camped there was no pool, so we took our own. Mind you it was one of those teeny tiny blow up pools. Before blowing it up, it was about the size of a rain poncho! I think we put about 12-15 gal. of water in it and it was good for the week. It was so small that if both kids were in it they had to sit Indian style. We threw in some tub toys and of course their Barbies had to swim too! When it got hot they would get in and splash around for awhile to cool off. Water guns are fun too! These little pools are easy to dump and deflate. You'd also need a small tarp to set it on so the rough ground doesn't puncture it.

I also brought glow stick necklaces. The kids loved them at night and it helped me keep up with them in the dark! If they started to wander off a bit I could see them and wrangle them back in. These are also great for the beach! My kids like to walk the beach at night and look for crabs. If a wave knocks them down and they drop their flashlight I can still see and grab them, even under the water. I LOVE these! I prefer the glow sticks with a lanyard. They are much brighter than the little tubes that connect on both ends.

Hope this helps some...

[Jori]

I think a few of the trails had to be closed due to all of the rain we've been hit with this spring. But I would think they should be opened up or opening up soon. Again check the map and the rangers station.

[Herbwifemama]

We're going in August, so buggy and muggy, but hopefully not soggy.

[Nichole]

I know this is an old post, but how did your camping trip go? I love Turkey Run! We go every year or so. They have great kayaking and canoeing on Sugar Creek and the trails are great!