We’re off tonight to go camping with the boys. The last time we slept in a tent was at Assateague Island and Milo was only 6 months old (yikes! It’s been a while!) Both Dave and I camped and hiked all growing up. In fact, one summer I even worked as a wilderness counselor with an addiction rehabilitation program for teenagers, where I spent 6 of every 14 days literally sleeping under the stars (and making shoes of bark and leather, but that’s another story…)  Another summer I worked as a river guide in central Idaho, and not only camped out, but helped set up camp and cook for the slew of passengers as well! As newlyweds, Dave and I worked in Puerto Rico for a summer and all of our vacation time was spent camping on the beaches. Needless to say, we feel pretty comfortable in the outdoors…er, that is to say, we used to.

Living outside of the outdoor mecca (aka Utah) and welcoming one, then another little boys into our life has weakened our granola spirits! I am really happy in a nice hotel on the waterfront, where the boys can nap in the room while I lounge by the pool and read. Hmm, that sounds nice… I do miss the outdoors, though. And it is really important to me that my boys grow up feeling connected to nature and at home in the wilderness. Silly as it might sound, my life has been so fulfilled by my relationship to raw earth.

We’re definitely tip-toeing back into nature. We bought a new, HUGE tent a couple weeks ago to accomodate the four of us. I’m packing our camp BBQ, portable crib (yep, the tent is that huge), and a cooler of cold beverages (including some Jarritos to enjoy with our veggie quesadillas tonight.) My dad taught me to bring cheese for quesadillas for the first night of a backpacking trip, because the rest of the trip you’ll be wishing for some yummy cheese. We’re car camping, and only for one night, but quesadillas sound good anyway, and I’m pretty sure the kids will eat’m!

I’m hoping all goes well and we gain some camping-with-kids confidence. I’ll be posting photos on Instagram (I’m an #instaddict) with hashtag #campingwithkids , if you want to follow along. Do any of you camp with your young ones? I’d really love to hear what tips and tricks you have to make the experience wonderful. Share them in the comments, and we can all learn from each other!

Wish us luck, and have a great weekend!