Some of my fondest memories come from time spent camping with my family. Growing up, my family went camping every Summer. It wasn’t just my parents, brothers and me, but our entire family! My uncles, aunts, cousins, family friends, grandparents and other extended family relations would all embark on an epic camping trip each year.
My memories of our family camping trips remain vivid. I recall my parents, youthful and strong, pitching the tent as we played. We all slept in our sleeping bags on the hard ground. The adults always seemed so prepared too! The grown-ups brought all the camping gear one could ever imagine — from portable stoves, cookware, plates, cutlery, water jugs for filled with water for drinking and water jugs filled with water for washing and brushing teeth. They had flashlights, bug zappers, and all the necessities for a few days of outdoor living.
We’d go fishing, have canoe races, swim and play on the beach. At night, we’d gather around the campfire and tell stories. My Dad was always the one who would scare all the kids. I also remember gazing into the dark skies and being in awe of all the billions of stars. I pondered about life on other planets and seeing all the stars made me aware of just how tiny we humans are in comparison to the vastness of the universe.
Now that my siblings, cousins, family friends and I are all grown up and have kids of our own, it’s our turn to take our children camping and create new memories.
Let me tell you, I am not the camper I used to be!
The Bugs!
I don’t ever recall being so annoyed with flies and mosquitoes when I was a kid! As an adult, I can’t stand them buzzing in my tent or hovering as we are about to feed the kids supper at the picnic table on our campsite. Thank goodness for a good tent and netted dining area!
Princess and the Pea!
Sleeping on the hard ground in a sleeping bag was something we used to get super excited about when we were kids! Don’t laugh, but now my weary back needs an air mattress and a comfy sleeping bag! Hubby, Little One and I go camping every year, and this is the first year we’ve used an air mattress. In previous years, my back has always paid the price for sleeping on the hard ground. I know, I know…Princess and the Pea?
Despite my aversion to flies and mosquitoes, and waking up with a sore back, there are so many things I LOVE about camping! I love waking up in the morning to fresh morning air. I love teaching our six year old about flora and fauna. I love seeing the look of wonder in my child’s eyes and the fact that she knows to leave Mother Earth just as we found her (no leaving behind anything and being good to our forests and lakes). I love being outdoors and active with Little One and going on adventures. I love a good campfire and camp food (especially if it involves freshly caught fish)! Plus, who doesn’t love S’mores and stories by the campfire?
More to come!
In my next post, I’m going to share how Hubby, Little One and I use our Woods Canada camping gear for our family camping excursions! Stay tuned!
Before I let you go, I think you should enter this AWESOME Woods Canada giveaway! Perfect for your next family camping adventure!
I love camping too but we’ve never gone in such a large group! It looks like a lot of fun!
My husband and I loved camping but then our busy lives got in the way and we haven’t done it for about 10 years. We both miss it, some of our best memories were crawling out of the tent in the morning to the stillness and fresh crisp air. We now have grandchildren 5 and 4; this coming weekend we are introducing them to camping. I sure hope they love it because it will give us the motivation to get back into it. Dusting off the equipment.
I use to go camping with my sister and brother in law up somewhere around Mindemoya we went every in the early 70’s through the 80’s. Fantastic memories camping with family. gah…I don’t enjoy the bugs either, never noticed them as a kid though. Now I am living in Alberta, but these pictures bring back a lot of fantastic memories.
WOW your party was PACKED! Haha. It looks like you all had an amazing time, I love the pics! And omgosh, does that Filipino BBQ ever look delicious. I can totally relate with not remembering mosquitoes and bugs being such a bother as child, but now I find them insanely annoying. It’s definitely the buzzing…ahh.
Haha! Mrs. White, we used to go on big camping trips with all our aunts, uncles and cousins when we were kids. Now that we’re the parents, we want to recreate memories and make new ones for our kids. It was pretty crazy with that many people though! 🙂