365 Days of Mommyness: Day 4 - Fall Camping 101

What an amazing time we had in the Adirondack Mountains. I’m so excited that we followed through on the plans because the weekend was a complete success. The days were sunny, the fall colors were out, and the scenery was spectacular. Not to mention that the company was pretty terrific too! In total we were four families, eight adults, seven children, and two babies. You would think that with so many kids that we would have some sort of minor incident to speak of. But, everything went smoothly. We even survived an almost below freezing night! The key was to be prepared!

And, we were all very prepared! All four families arrived at the campsite with their SUV’s filled to the brim with clothes, food and camping gear! We were all joking that we probably brought too much. But, as we were leaving the campsite, the were coolers empty, not one piece of clean clothes left in the bags, and all the sleeping bags and blankets packed, we were all glad we had brought so much.

So, here is my list of MUST DO, BRING, CAN’T LIVE WITHOUT ITEMS on a fall camping trip with small children.

MUST DO AND BRING:

1) Lots of clothes: Remember to bring lots and lots of changes of clothes. Between playing by a lake, hiking a muddy mountain, and a sandpit by the washrooms, all the kids had many opportunities to get really dirty!

2) Lots of layers: With temperatures that ranged from freezing to 20 degrees, it’s best to layer on the clothes and simply peel them off as the temperature gets warmer. My kids had a base layers, fleece joggers, and then a warm shell jacket (and in the case of the baby a fleece bunting bag).

3) Warm accessories: Bring hats, gloves and warm socks to keep their little extremities protected from the cold.

3) Lots of warm blankets: Warm blankets (fleece or wool) are a good idea whether it’s to stay warm by the campfire or as an extra layer while sleeping in the tents.

THINGS I COULDN’T LIVE WITHOUT:

Ø Hook on High Chair – These chairs make great portable high chairs and keep babies off the ground.

Ø Baby Carrier – The mommies and babies (5 months and 9 months old) went for a hike up Mount Cascade and Mount Porter (over 4000 feet and 7 hours total). Anything is possible with a good baby carrier. For a baby that can sit up, I would suggest a real hiking backpack. For those with smaller babies or for those that don’t want to invest in a hiking backpack, I love the Ergo Baby Carrier. The baby can sit on your front or your back and the design and straps are really comfy.

Ø Fleece: My kiddies spent most of their weekend wearing fleece from MEC. I love their stuff for the outdoors because it’s inexpensive and it’s durable, so can be handed down from kid to kid.

Ø Sleeping Bag: I would invest in a warm sleeping bag. MEC makes a great mummy sleeping bag for kids. As for the baby, I simply used a bunting snowsuit.

Here are some of the trip highlights!