I just bought a tick kit and I’m mad I have to and I am full of insectly loathing.
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This is 110% my child too. The more tired she gets, the faster and more reckless she is.
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Sorted some of the camping gear. Everything that belongs in the pre-small child era is up on a high shelf. The leaky air mattress has been identified and the debate over its final fate is on.
ETA: Hit send too fast. The newly ordered gear is trickling in. No time until next weekend to do a tent setup test. Hypothetically it is a one-person job.
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The cutest thing!!
Ahhh we have it in teal and she LOVES it 
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(Makes notes to get 2)
One of my fave early minimalist bloggers (who is at times grating but other times exactly what I want a blogger to be) just posted about camping with three kids! Love the equipment list she included.
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Belated follow up: music camp went well, though the tenting part was rough enough that I was ready for a real bed after 6 days (honestly after 5–that last night was pure dread).
We did one practice run, which went well enough that the toddler was excited to go again. I decided I would never again set everything up and take it down in 14 hours.
This tent is amaze. It says you need two people to set it up, but that is lies. Goes up in a few minutes with one adult, in 60 seconds with two. It’s expensive, though—I did not realize how much until just now.
The lanterns were borderline useless, as we were begging for blessed dusk to finally go to bed well after (toddler) bedtime each night. Toddler and adult went to bed at the same time.
Napping in the tent by day did not happen at all, even with good shade. I would have napped. The toddler chose violence.
Tent walls are thin and the wails of an angry toddler who is not allowed to get up for the day at 4am are piercing. Other adults awakened thusly will either a) feel bad for you, b) be thankful it’s not them, or c) both.
Six nights of camping is best done with a pump that can bump up the air mattress without taking it out of the tent. Thankfully someone let me use a p good hand pump. (Adds to list.)
Don’t camp on a slope, even if it has the best afternoon shade (because the toddler won’t nap there anyway). You will slowly slide down the mattress and will have to retrieve said toddler from the vicinity of your knees multiple times per night.
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Music camp, 3yo edition:
-we did zero practice since last year—she still did fine and was excited about it so she seemed to have some memory of at least the idea of it
-forgot to purchase a portable pump, but borrowed one to do a couple of re-poofs
-one tent nap actually occurred in six days of camping and it was an epic 3.5 hour long one, post 3rd meltdown of the week
-no putting the tent on a slope, much improved
-only one very short-lived overnight cry that I think was after a bad dream—the juvenile coyotes were more disruptive on multiple nights than the juvenile human
-the child-sized sleeping bag and lantern were actually used by the child, and she was able to power through (or fall asleep during) more evening activities, so that was nice
-the guy wires on the tent and rain fly are adjustable, OMG, that was unknown last year and massively reduced the tripping hazard around the tent
-speaking of rain fly, it held up super well during intermittent downpours
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My dad replaced some of the guy lines on their gear with retroreflective paracord and we liked it so much that Spouse emulated it. This only works if it’s tied in, not stitched in, obviously (though you can add tags/stickers, etc). All this helps with tripping or walking into guy lines but only if you’re looking, obviously.
For reference, retroreflective is the special materials that seem to light up when you shine a flashlight/headlight in them, because they reflect light back to the source.
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Reviving this thread for the summer!
Okay, we’re killing it on the 2-3 night trips and have a 6 night trip booked end of July (we’ll extend it if there are cancellations but we end on a long weekend). We’ll keep an eye on backpacking sites those nights too.
So… food. I know what I eat. But I only have like 3 days of food plans my kids will eat. Also if anyone (cough @Star ) has been to the two rivers store post covid, ideas of what they have will be helpful
Things we’ve tried with success
Breakfasts
Oatmeal
Dry cereal/granola
Fruit and then pouches when those run out
Yogurt
Eggs
Scrambled tofu
Lunches
Chips
Sandwiches - lunch meat, cheese, tuna
Mac and cheese
Eggs
Chips and salsa
Cookies
Dried fruit
Dinners
Hot dogs
Instant mashed potatoes
Pasta and tomato sauce
Instant cheesy rice
Corn on the cob
Fresh or frozen meat is good night one maybe 2
Breads> success than minute rice, but I think that will improve by night 3 or 4. It also wasn’t fully rejected, just not fully accepted
I think tin foil dinners will be accepted - could I dehydrate and rehydrate those things? Can I dehydrate veggies and chicken/beef then curry them on site? Bisquick pizza will presumably be tolerated but maybe not. Pita pizza would be.
Adult only successes
Canned hummus/baba ganoush
Pouch Indian food (haven’t found any mild enough)
Thai or peanut sauce rice noodles
We eat 2 lunches plus snacks so we need a lot more. We can repeat some of these.
Failures
Ramen
Fresh food is limited both by ice being annoying to replace and by cooler space. We’ll be adult walking distance to a store (we’re booked at Mew lake) but a pretty big drive to any other store. Plus the more non perishables we introduce, the easier backpacking and canoeing will be.
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I have most definitely been for the ice cream, but that is all.
I do think they have - a Facebook page though? or something? I shall do some digging, please hold
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one of our favourite meals is butter chicken - brown and rinse very very well ground chicken.
put chicken in the dehydrator.
on the fruit roll up tray, get a jar of light / blue menu butter chicken sauce, pour it onto the tray.
Pick your veggies - I like red peppers, ymmv, dehydrate on a third tray.
At Camp, place all the above into a pot with water. Bring pot to boil, turn off, let sit - awhile? till all the moisture is soaked up?
serve. Often on flat bread/tortillas / with tortilla chips
Ground beef is the ‘safest’ food to dehydrate. ground chicken I’ve had good luck with, but I never store it long, it has a higher likelihood of going rancid
Ground beef you can pre-season while cooking, and dehydrate it seasoned.
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I use washed out inner milk bags (although a ziplock would also work) to put enough oatmeal for the family. In a snack sized zip lock, add favour - dehydrated berries, dehydrated apples, peaches, whatever fruit you choose. I add instant powdered milk, and a dollop of brown sugar.
Boil pot, pour contents in, cook oatmeal, serve.
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Have you tried or considered:
- shelf stable ultra pasteurized milk boxes?
- powdered (I like Nido since it’s NOT nonfat) milk or evap milk for cooking (eg oatmeal/cream of wheat, Mac and cheese) This adds extra calories with minimal weight. Also works as coffee creamer.
This may be a “Rich McGee” moment but you can get veg and chicken freeze dried. Last a while, contribute to emergency food stash. Also cheese powder (although not sure what you’d use it for except Mac and cheese, which comes with it’s own).
May be stretch for kids but canned tuna, salmon or chicken? Or pouches for backpacking (less container weight). They also come flavored… Ranch tuna + pasta is a meal.
My family enjoyed canned peas but I know not everyone does. But any canned veg you are fine with for later in the week?
Our last backpacking trip I made “unfried rice”. Found some meat+ veg backpacking meals, stretched with rice and soy sauce packets from takeout (also brought hot sauce packets for all meals). I think it was 2 pouches for 5 people and no one was hungry.
I also used dessert (chocolate) to bulk out dinner calories. My dad used to bring jellybeans or skittles to motivate us on hikes.
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Teach me your ways! I know I need to just bite the bullet and do this when we have time in the Fall.
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So many great ideas! And everyone’s food culture is a bit different so the ideas each add something.
We do Nestle everyday powdered milk, even on weekend trips. And depending on cost/if I’ve already dehydrated we might pick up freeze dried meat! Tuna is a staple for my kids. And we basically bring enough pouches/chips/cookies that kid calorie needs are met 
. Once we hit that 4/6 or 6/8 range there will be less babying food wise.
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So we book a site at least 24h in advance.
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Summary
This text will be hidden I find as much stuff on the above list as possible in the pantry and add in a grocery trip (can be enroute). We trade off kids and zones. G is in charge of stove/fuel/ garage stuff and tent/sleeping bag/sleep mats from the bedroom.
I pack for the kids and me and sometimes G clothes wise (kids asleep or with G). I pack the kitchen (2 shelves of camping stuff in kitchen plus food). B1 does his backpack of toys, I add extras for B2 and books that can get trashed.
So that’s 4 times 15 min plus a grocery trip.
We have a mini van so we just toss it in the car with abandon. Otherwise that’s another half hour.
On the drive we get treat drinks and dinner unless my A game was so strong I packed dinner. Whoever booked the site registered and the other one does pee stops for kids.
Kids help G with the tent and I do a bit but mostly on him because we are both leaders and not followers and war is bad. Also he insists on a tent he can stand in.
I sort out second dinner and B1 helps me get water. I set up the potty and scope outhouse location. G does fire while I do tent or cook. Kids undo tent set up and let in bugs.
AM. One of us gets up first with B2, has first breakfast, lays out stuff, gets tea in thermos for second parent. B1 and second parent wake. I go to the bathroom and do contacts and get dressed.
After second breakfast we clean up and dishes then go for a hike or to the beach and eat first lunch. Come back for second lunch or stay out.
Set up for the night, read, play with sticks, my turn at fire, eat more food do more dishes, put on pyjamas etc. Tea, fire, one of us can drink or get high.
Rinse and repeat. Except for menu adjustments adding kids was WAY easier than combining two leader adults with different systems. October 2019 remains our biggest fight ever . Like bigger than “if you don’t make up your mind about your place in our life then you don’t have one”.
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Hahaha this is so familiar.
At the beginning we both believed in collaborative efforts but in practice it devolved to war. I got sick of it and let him tetris the car on his own. If we do start on something new and bump heads, I step back and ask, “do you want to be in charge and make the decisions? Or do you want me to make decisions but then you have to listen.”
Sometimes it works.
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