Two weekends ago we took the kids on their very first camping trip about an hour and a half away to Smokemont Campground. We met up with my two best girlfriends from college and their families, which seriously made it the best trip ever. We borrowed an 8-person family tent from some other friends of ours. I can’t believe we haven’t invested in one sooner! We fit a queen-size air mattress in it and our rickety old pack and play for philippa, and still had plenty of room for the other kids to sleep on the floor plus keep all of our stuff inside. The best parts were:
seeing our children (9 now altogether, with 1 on the way!) play together, biking around and basically running a bit wild
phoebe’s first time tubing in the river
gluten-free s’mores around our campfire at night
Travis’ endless supply of french press
walking from one campsite to another to visit each other and chat
late night time with my two besties talking about life and homeschooling and all of our ailments now that we are in our 30s
sleeping with the fly off of the tent beneath an inky bowl full of stars, listening to the river + crickets
noah asking me if we could just go home or if we could get in the van and lock the doors
waking up warm and cozy, snuggling long in bed while brandon made me coffee
bacon + eggs (best part of car camping, besides air mattresses)
children with tousled heads and jammies playing in the morning light
We had no major incidents, which will probably give us a false sense of success and victory going into our next family camping trip. It was only one night, but it felt like a restful getaway and I’m hoping we can squeeze in another trip in the fall. I felt very inspired by my two girlfriends who have efficient setups and systems for their family camping trips.
everything He gives 