Camping Adventure and Two Hacks…

This past weekend I loaded up the car with camping gear and the two littles, and we set off on an adventure. I didn’t tell them where we were going, aside from saying we were camping.

And yes, camping with a 5 year old girl and 7 year old boy, alone, presents some challenges, especially since I decided to take the way-too-big tent rather than the small one.

But we survived. 

And had fun.

They loved the water…until a cold breeze came in. 

What helped the weekend go well? Aside from just having fun with them, here’s a couple hacks that I’ll probably never go camping without again:

Ice: rather than just using one of typical store-bought bags, I separated it into gallon zip-lock bags. It cools better because you can place it in different areas of the cooler, PLUS you can open them and actually use the ice. Came in quite handy for the second hack. 

Coffee: I really didn’t want to brew at the campsite or haul the peculator or stove-top coffee pot. (Did I mention we only took my little Hyundai Accent?). So the night prior to leaving, I started a container of cold-brew coffee that fit into the small cooler and made homemade creamer (sweetened condensed milk, half & half, a little dark chocolate sauce (without HFCS, thankyouverymuch) a little vanilla extract, and a little coconut extract. (Also, did I mention we only took the smallest cooler?). All I needed to do to have coffee is get some ice, add some creamer, and strain some cold brew into the cup…instant and more importantly, awesome. 

This past weekend I loaded up the car with camping gear and the two littles, and we set off on an adventure. I didn’t tell them where we were going, aside from saying we were camping. And yes, camping with a 5 year old girl and 7 year old boy, alone, presents some challenges, especially…