Camping with Toddlers - Part 1

I have a LOT of things to blog about this week so this blog will be updated frequently. First on the list, our first camping trip with the toddlers. And Oh, what a trip it was. We decided to go to Oak Mountain State Park since it's the closest campground to home and we only had one night, AND we had toddlers who had never camped before and weren't really sure how this whole trip would turn out. I feel like Oak Mountain is a cheaters campground. It's not really in the "mountains," I had a feeling it would be crowded. Well, just as I suspected, it was VERY crowded. There were hardly any campsites to choose from when we arrived Saturday morning. We did get a nice lot right next to the water which made me a little happier but there was a hiking trail that walked literally right next to our tent and we were right next to the public "beach." So... no privacy. Oh well. It wasn't all that bad. So here's the story:
First thing we started setting up camp.

Haynes helped his daddy set up the tent.

 

 I knew the combination of sleeping and tent would be challenging for my children. Their only experiences with tents have been PLAY tents. They have no concept of sleeping in a tent and when you go camping, that's pretty much all the tent is used for. So I let them play in the tent for a while to get it out of their system, while we started the fire and began to roast hotdogs for lunch.

Haynes closed his eyes and screamed every time smoke blew his way. He didn't like getting too close to the campfire because it burned his eyes. I'm certain his opinion of fires will change soon enough. 

 

After lunch, we headed in the tent to set up beds before it got dark. This was viewed as another opportunity for two toddlers to bounce about the tent.

 After trying to convince them to settle and take a short nap with us, we gave up and decided to go for a hike. The kids, would have rather stayed in the tent and played. Haynes complained most of the hike about wanting to do something else but I tried my best to get him to just enjoy the hike.  Ha. Yeah right.

Looking in critter holes in trees for hiding creatures.

We looked for critters, had a hunt for the prettiest leaf, and looked at the water. It was a short hike and we decided to head back to camp to hang around the fire.

 

Reading "Curious George Goes Camping" by our campfire.

George roasted marshmallows, so we decided to roast some too.

 

And they were yum, yum...

 

...but sticky!!!

 

...so Brookelynn decided to try eating her marshmallow without her hands. Hehehe. She is such a priss pot.

Stay Tuned. More camping fun to come...