Family Vacation 2009: Adventures in Camping with Toddlers at Porcupine Bay Campground
Jul 18 '09
The Bottom Line Camping with toddlers is not only possible, it is also a lot of fun.
Our annual family camping trip took us once again to Porcupine Bay Campground on beautiful Lake Roosevelt here in Washington State. This is our third consecutive year at this campground, although I think next year we will go to Orcas Island in the San Juan Islands for a change of pace.
This year was special because it was our three grandchildren's first camping experience (the twin boys are almost three and our granddaughter is almost two).
Rule Number 1 - when camping with toddlers, plan ahead.
I went over the packing list again and again to make sure I had the right things to make their first camping trip an enjoyable experience. I was delighted when I found toddler-sized folding camping chairs, as an example. (They were equally delighted and had a grand time opening and closing these chairs while moving them around the campsite.) Toddler-sized chairs are a definite necessity. They not only enjoy the independence; it also keeps hot, sweaty toddlers from being constantly on your lap.
Next thing on my list was toddler-sized sleeping bags. Couldn't find those for a reasonable price, so I settled on youth sized ones. The bonus is these sleeping bags will work quite a few years to come, so a good investment.
Sand and water toys were also important. I got a set for each of them, knowing otherwise they would fight over the toys. They spent many hours both in the campsite and on the beach playing with their toys.
Life jackets are an absolute MUST even if they do not go in a boat. Accidents near water happen so quickly, it is simply not worth the risk. We set an immediate hard and fast rule that they had to have life jackets on when near the water, and we did not get any grumbling about it. In fact, they loved their life jackets.
I also got baby floatie rings (the kind with the feet holes in the middle for security) but they were not interested in going out into deeper water, even when held by an adult.
Sleeping Arrangements:
Four out of the five nights we had one of the babies parents present. I took a portacrib down for Jaelyn and planned to keep her in our tent. The twins would sleep in a separate tent with their parent. I purchased twin sized air mattresses for the twins (needn't have bothered for the most part as they simply climbed onto the queen size air mattress with their mom or dad). The remaining night I had all three of them in our tent; the twins on a twin size air mattress and Jaelyn in the portacrib. The only night they slept all the way through was the night they were with us.
While they did have warm blanket sleepers on, the boys were terrible about keeping blankets over them. At night it was fairly cold, and when they slept with their parents the parents ended up freezing as they simply would not keep covers on. Next time we will bring blanket sleepers that are a couple sizes too big so we can put something else on underneath and layer their clothing.
Eating Arrangements:
If possible, I would recommend a toddler-sized table be brought if a folding one can be located. It took us a day or so to realize that the chairs we had for the children fit perfectly at one of the benches on the adult picnic table. Before that the children tried to use coolers as tables, which resulted in spilled food.
Toddler-Friendly Food:
We tend to eat well while camping. We bring our cache cookers and this year we even had a new toy, a propane camping oven. With this little addition we were even able to have pizza for lunch one day. Other typical food items we cook include pasta, macaroni and cheese, roast pork, and of course hamburgers and hot dogs. (The grandkids were too young to eat hot dogs in the bun due to choking risk so we had to cut theirs up for them.)
For general kid-friendly eating, I recommend things they can eat with their fingers such as fried chicken, sandwiches, and other nutritious snacks. Tater tots and french fries cooked in a deep fat fryer pan were big hits as well.
We went through a significant amount of bottled water and juice as well.
Safety Concerns:
As already noted, life jackets are a must on the beach and near the water. I had a few stressful moments at campfire time as well, making sure the three kids had good ideas of appropriate campfire distance requirements. We had hot, sunny days for our vacation so sunscreen was a definite must.
Final Thoughts:
We camped for about ten days and had the kids the first five. They had a great time, and so did we. They loved the entire experience, and the campfire was a big hit. We made 'smores with chocolate graham crackers, chocolate, and marshmallows, and Jaelyn especially loved that treat.
Taking the grandkids with us camping is going to be an annual event from now on. Camping with toddlers is exhausting, but it was well worth it. We made some awesome memories.
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