It's 2015 now and I'm looking forward to a new year camping. We already have several trips lined up and I'm looking at options for more. I'm hoping to take the 6 yr old and do some tent camping on the side too.
So for Christmas I did get a couple of camping related items: some new s'mores sticks and a beach canopy. As anyone who has camped with kids will tell you, one of the most important part of the camping experience for them is s'mores! Yes, I know there's a lot more to camping, but the kids always seem to love/remember the s'mores part.
So of course we have smore's sticks we carry around. My wife did a crafty project with the kids one day and they made their own. Basically you cut a big dowel up to use for handles. Then get a bunch of old wire hangers (not the coated kind of course; don't want that rubber melting into the marshmallows). Straighten them and cut them to appropriate lengths. Then find a drill bit about that size and drill holes in the end of the dowel handles but a little wood glue down in there and stuff the wire down in the handle. then they can paint or decorate the handles. I will say thicker wire works better and don't get them too long or they tend to get flimsier.
I tend to be an efficiency minded person. This works well with camping with so many people in a small fiberglass camper. If I can find a more efficient way to pack, organize, or do something, I will go for it. So while I do love the smore's sticks created by my children's hands, Packing the sticks is a bit interesting. (trying to make sure they don't get bent or fly around the camper while traveling, etc) So my wife found some extendable ones that pack down really small. Our's look like the picture to the right but you can find various ones on Amazon. We'll see how they hold up but I do love that they pack down so small. I can actually put these in a cabinet rather than trying to shove them under the bed on behind the front bunk. We also got a Coleman Beach Shade/Canopy. After our later trips to the beach with the little ones, I was wanting to get something more than the little umbrella we have now. I'll do a separate post and review on it when it warms up enough to pop it up.
Hope you have a great year filled with camping and travels!
