A last minute camping trip

Win and Ru had an inset day on Monday, and we wanted to make sure that we did something together as a family. At about 1pm on Sunday afternoon, I half-jokingly said to Jared: “Why don’t we go camping tonight?”, not really expecting him to think that it was a great idea, but 4 hours later we had booked a pitch, packed our bags and were on our way. I aspire to become a family that ‘just goes camping’, but for now – we are absolutely not. We own a tent and very little else, but decided that we could wing it for a night. We chose a campsite close to Jared’s parents’ house, so that if disaster stuck we would have a cosy back up.

I often think that I would be quite an outdoorsy person, if Jared was more outdoorsy. He’s not, not outdoorsy, but he’d prefer to be sleeping in his own bed, and is more sunbathing on the sand, than swimming in the sea. After giving it some thought, I decided that in order for us to become a family that ‘just goes camping’ – we have to make sure that our camping experience is comfortable, and that we are fully prepared.

Over the last few months I’ve slowly been buying all of the items that we need – starting with a tent. I read a lot of bell tent reviews before deciding to purchase one, and everybody who owns one, raves about them. I’m so happy with ours. There is so much room for us all. I managed to find a second hand SoulPad 5 metre bell tent through ebay, which can be erected within minutes.

For this camping trip we just brought lots of duvets, a travel cot and four foam mats, but I will be upgrading to self inflating mattresses, once I decide which ones to buy. We just took snacks and ate out for breakfast at Billy Bob’s Parlour as a treat, so that we didn’t have to think about food for this trip. We were pleasantly surprised at how well all four boys went to sleep, and how long they slept for. They all woke up post 7am – even though the morning sky was lovely and bright.

Camping is such a cheap last minute getaway option for us, as finding suitable accommodation for a family of six can be difficult. There is something so special about waking up outdoors, and the boys love it. Stay tuned for more camping adventures, and perhaps by the end of the summer we will be a family that ‘just goes camping’!

E xx