What do we do when we camp?

People ask me all the time ... what do you do when your family goes camping?

  How do you stay busy when you camp?

Do your kids wear you out?  Are you tired? 

Why would you want to camp isn't it hard work?  

To me camping is so awesome and it is basically just like being at home.  

We play outside.  

We explore and we learn about the camp ground we are visiting.  

We play fun games.

We found a three pack of 'portable' games at Academy.  They are a huge hit!  The game pack came with ladder ball, corn hole and washers.  It was the best $$ we have spent in a long time!  It all breaks down and fits into a travel size box.  It is perfect for our competitive family!

We always have a football with us.  We love to toss the football and sometimes the kids decide to tackle each other.  They get so rough sometimes!

We fish.

And find shells!

We cool off with the water hose at the campsite.

We lay on a blanket in the shade because we all need rest time.

What is in that water bottle?  Butterflies!  Yes, he's napping with his butterfly collection!

So now you know we try to chase and capture butterflies.

We play in the sand at the beach.

We eat ice right out of the cooler.

I take way to many pictures as you can see, but that isn't much different than at home!

I even get silly and talk my people into jumping while I snap pictures of them!

We learn about the campfire and campfire safety.

And of course we cook and eat!

See the little grill attached to the trailer?  It is amazing and we use it and the campfire to warm our food.  We put a pot of beans and/or veggies on the grill to warm them up!  That is also where we cook our bacon and eggs.  We also have a stove top inside the camper, but we haven't used it yet.  We do use the fridge though and of course the large cooler holds tons of food and drinks.

We buy foods for the week just like we do normally, but the food we purchase we take camping.

This past camping trip we took hot dogs, sausage fold overs and beef fajitas for dinner foods.  Sandwich stuff for lunches, like turkey cheese and bread.  We take eggs and bacon for breakfast.  We also added powdered donuts and chips and dips for snacking.  All the foods are in the grocery budget, so we don't go overboard on our grocery budget just because we are camping.  We enjoy s'mores at night and then we put the kids to bed around sundown and Gary and I have our time by the campfire.

Like I said, it isn't much different than being at home.  We love to be outside and camping in new and fun places is so fun!  I am so happy my little family enjoys camping as much as I do!  

We are making some fun family memories for sure.

Do you and your family camp?  What kinds of fun things do you do?  What are some of your favorite camping meals?  

Gary and I are thinking of making our camping meals a bit more gourmet, so any fun food ideas you have would be appreciated!