So what do you do with a 4-year-old and a 14-month-old in the middle of nowhere? First, you enjoy the fact that you are truly alone. No kidding, not a soul other than our little family was camping in the whole place. The 45-degree-temp at 9:00 a.m. may have had something to do with that…
Finer Things about our camping trip:
Daddy and the 4-year-old boy can set up the tents by themselves.
…while the baby and the Mommy bring stuff out of the van. It’s so important to teach kids responsibility! Look how proud she is to help:
Putting sticks in bags is important, too… 
A beautiful morning walk, one of many. We saw 4 deer, lots of mushrooms, and lots of deer tracks. Children can be expected to walk one mile for every year of age. That doesn’t mean they won’t stop for every bug, leaf and mushroom, but they can do it. Lovey Girl always amazes me with how far she wants to walk “all by herself”!
Kids don’t need big toys to have fun…and the sand does come out of the pants/shoes/shirts/underwear/diaper. (Mommy made the mistake of saying to Lovey Girl, “The sand is steep, like a slide!” Thus ensued playground time.)
My son is so creative. This is what he did for most of his time around the campsite:
He’s digging holes. He explains that they are traps for deer. When the deer come in our campground, they’ll trip in the holes, and “if they fall hard enough, they’ll get dead and we can eat them for meat in the morning.” We’re always thinking food and frugality in this family! 
Sister can play in the dirt that brother digs up, too.
Kids who love playing in the sand and water, and the sun being just warm enough to make it happen.
Volunteering to be the dry parent who warms up the cold kids while my husband went in the frigid water with our nerves-of-steel children!
My favorite: eating ice cream around the campfire in our fuzzy PJs, winter hats and sweatshirts! We thought we were going to be so cool, making ice cream while we were camping in the hot summer weather, but instead we felt ironic eating it when we could see our breath!
And the Finest Thing of all? The kindness and generosity of strangers. No photos here, since our two camera batteries had both long since run out. Funny…I guess we had a battery theme going, because when we got all packed up and ready to hit to road for home, the van spit out a “click-click-click” instead of turning over. Dead battery.
Remember the whole “appreciating being alone” thing? Not so helpful when you need a jump.
On the beach, already a 15-minute hike from our campsite, you can see ONE house. One. The walk out of the woods to the nearest anything would have been a couple miles, at least. We took the chance with the beach, and the answer to our prayers came in the form of kind, generous people, who not only were home and willing to let us use their phone to call for a tow truck, but they then offered to jump our van instead.
Definitely a Finer Thing.
I’m sending them some brownies.
We had a chance to offer up our suffering, minuscule inconvenience that it was, for those who were suffering even more. We were given the opportunity to practice humility and accept the service of others. And most importantly, we made it out of the woods!
See our beautiful sunset photos here.
Read about our healthi(er) camping menu here.
I’m linked into:
- Finer Things Friday at The Finer Things in Life
- Friday Foto Finish at Candid Carrie
- Show and Tell Friday at There is No Place Like Home
Hosted by Cecily and Chris- A Beautiful Life at The Inspired Room
If you missed the last Monday Mission, click here.
Kitchen Stewardship is dedicated to balancing God’s gifts of time, health, earth and money. If you feel called to such a mission, read more at Mission, Method, and Mary and Martha Moments.
Hungry for more? Related posts:
What a wonderful time had by all. Looks like y’all had a lot of fun.
My Show N Tell is posted. Hope you can have time to stop by.
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I’m glad you included this today. I went and read about the food you prepared. Great idea to get most of it ready ahead of time.
Yes, I’ve camped before but it has been awhile. Honey Bear is suggesting we do this again after he retires because it is cheaper than motels and money will be an issue. So, I am studying up on the whole thing again. Learning about things to pack, meals to plan, etc. Just getting some ideas.
Mama Bear
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Katie Reply:
September 5th, 2009 at 12:25 am
“Mama Bear”, I’m glad you stopped by! I’m actually pondering an eBook for the beginning of next summer about camping tips. I was mapping it out the whole time we were out in the woods! I have lots of ideas especially for families with young children, since that’s a rather unique challenge when camping. Best of luck as you learn the routine again!
Katie
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kids seem to have fun no matter what. Here’s my photo story. happy Friday!
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What great memories you’re making! Your children are adorable…
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I loved the deer traps. And I’m glad that you made it out of the woods safe and sound.
If you’d like to stop by my blog I’m at Cake Crumbs.
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Looks like a great break- away.
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Total proof that it’s worth the effort (huge effort!) to take kids camping. We haven’t been camping for 7 years. Our oldest is 6. Must make that a priority next year!
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Hi. I have a blog at http://www.picturecamping.com where I feature people’s posts about camping, and I would like to send my readers your way. Of course I would give you credit for quotes and would link back to your site.
Thanks for considering this,
Jean B. in SC
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Well..I for one am verklempt.
I remember these beautiful days like yesterday…camping. Amazed at what the kids do and say. And don’t do and say. Their take n “survival”…picking berries, chopping wood,making nests…Counting on strangers. Greater humanity. Surviving. helping. Being apart of the whole.
It continues to surround you. It makes us…us.
Eat each minute up with a spoon. It’s that precious!
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What a great post! I agree with Amy-it’s time to take our kids out-I’ve always been worried that they would not have much to do with just us and the dirt-but I guess dirt and a few shovels are all they need!
Looks like a fun time.
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“Kitchen Stewardship: Finer Things Friday: Family Camping Trip” | Picture Camping... // Sep 12, 2009 at 11:55 pm
[...] fail” posts can be, my favorite posts will always be those like this one, which showcase a successful, enjoyable family tent camping trip for all concerned. Poke around Katie’s site, too– she has interesting camping recipes [...]