We went camping last week: Two nights around the campfire, smores galore, every meal outdoors and a mountain of laundry at the end of it all.
We haven't had an annual camp trip BUT after this initial experience, we would love to make it a family tradition! It’s the perfect time; Thomas is 8, Johnny 5 and Matrona almost 2 years old. Kids love woods, fire and sleeping in a tent!
It is an amazing break from everyday life and we appreciated the little things a whole lot more after a few dirty days in the woods. LOL The kids loved camping – staying up late, marshmallows nightly, hiking, swimming, fishing, playing with a ball, glow sticks with friends in the dark – it’s kind of a dream world for kiddos. Right?
My favorite part was how they thrived those few days out in the woods without needing phones or iPads. Even though we had internet service, they were too busy with other things and they didn't even ask once about devices.
This also meant that we adults weren’t stuck to our phones checking and rechecking and surfing and swiping just because it has become a reflex for our right thumbs.
My son had so much fun with his friend. They played all day long and blew through loads of energy. At about 10pm, they went into their tent but didn't fall asleep until midnight. LOL.
HERE ARE THE FOODS WE ATE
Lets get on to the best part of camping: food!
We ate 5 full meals at the camp: 2 breakfasts, one lunch and 2 dinners.
Some veggies (corn on cob, sweet potatoes), also proteins (salmon and ribs) were cooked and this helps for the first dinner at the camp.
This can also be the hardest part of camping, especially when cooking for a group, even a small group. The food was simple but delicious, healthy and mostly everything was homemade with the exception of smores, chips, crackers, etc. Most of the camping recipes are on my blog already and I’ll link up the new ones as I post them in the future. I promise!!!
But here is the recipe for our favorite breakfast item, sourdough pancakes. I made them plain, and they were a hit for sure. We ate them with maple syrup, honey, and crème fraiche! Check out this video on how to cook in the woods from scratch.
What we learned from our first camping trip with kiddos:
6 mistakes:
First time packing is a challenge itself. It took 2 days for my husband and I to get ready. And I think we over packed, plus we didn't organize our stuff for easy excess. Too much or not enough is equally bad! This was our first mistake!
Keep food, drinks, beverages, and snacks in separate labeled coolers! Avoiding this simple mistake would have helped us to keep food colder and our ice to last longer. This would have prevented us from opening the coolers to locate everything instead of what was needed at the moment.
Second mistake, I should check their backpacks! I trusted my boys to pack their own clothes, because I didn't think it was very important to choose matching and nice outfits. They choose of course old comfy t-shirts and shorts. Which was not a bad thing, right? However, they did forget things: Johnny forgot his underwear and Thomas forgot his crocks.
Mistake #3: Having enough or even extra gas is a must! Having plenty of gas is quite important! My husband had to go to the campground store to get more, and the store was closed in the morning, so we ended up having breakfast cooked only half way through but thankfully we made coffee ahead of time!
Wine opener! Hello, how could I have made this mistake? Thankfully, there were plenty of people around, and I quickly found a solution! Also extra plastic containers for storage are a must too.
Research your campsite prior to arriving and avoid campsites worded as PRIMITIVE! What a surprise! I didn't expect to have our truck parked away from our tent location causing us to drag everything we needed to the campsite!
I hope you enjoyed to see all these pictures and video from our first camping trip, and if you like to make these incredible delicious pancakes for breakfast, check out this blog.
Super easy to make, I brough with me a sourdough starter, ripe and ready to go, no need to refrigerate it.
And I made them plain at campground, but feel free add any berries or fruit. Use good quality butter, and if you let butter get brown, this gives another layer of amazing flavor.
ANOTHER RECIPE WITH DUCK EGGS:
I hope you'll make this recipe soon. If you do, please tag me #innichka_chef on Instagram, Facebook, Patreon or Pinterest.
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