Nanny to Mommy

1. A Tent. So the first thing you are going to need is a tent. My husband bought this Coleman Sundome 4-person Tent because it was a good size for our family. I was the only one in our family before this trip that had been tent camping. My husband grew up going "camping" at their family's little lake cabin. That is not the same. I have been camping before where my mom used a tarp instead of a tent and I vowed I would never do that again. If you need to buy a tent, here are the top-selling brands to choose from depending on the kind of tent that your family needs.

2. Grizzly Cooler. This thing is amazing. It kept everything we needed cold for the entire duration of our trip. I would suggest planning better and checking out camp fire food ideas because hot dogs got old after the second day. Yes, these coolers are a little pricey, but worth every penny.

3. Sleeping Bags and Air Mattresses. I told my husband I would not lay down on the ground without an air mattress. He thought I was being a little ridiculous, but agreed to it. Then when we set up our tent at the camp site and he felt the ground, he was glad we bought them.

4. Dry Wood, Fire Starters, or both. My husband has grown up going to the lake his entire life. So starting a fire should be second nature for him. He knew it rained before we headed down there. Someone left wood by the fire place and my husband said he didn't want to waste it. Ugh. I have been camping where we didn't bring dry wood and it rained, so we had nothing to keep us warm. Thank fully that time, the people next to us were leaving and gave us their dry wood. This time, however, we had to drive back into town to grab some fire starters because we used up all we brought trying to get the wood to light.


5. Infant Carrier. If you are going to be doing a lot of hiking and you have a little one like we do, I suggest some kind of infant carrier. I am in love with my Lillebaby AirFlow, but there are tons of others ones available to choose from so you can be sure to find the right one for you and your family.

6. A Perculator. If you are a coffee drinker like me, then you are going to need a way to get your cup o' joe on. I received a presse by bobble a while back to provide an online review. I almost forgot I had it and then remembered last minute. It was such a life saver!


7. A Wagon. We bought this all-terrain, collapsible wagon originally for Florida. We liked it because it had wider wheels, so we thought it would help us go over the sand better. It could also fold compact enough to fit in my Nissan Rouge. It was great to bring camping because it helped us carry everything from our car to the camp site. The one we chose wasn't too off the beaten path, but there was a little bit of a walk.

8. A First Aid Kit. I have my In A Pikle bag that has band aides in it, but when we are hiking I also carry a separate travel first aid kit. My daughter fell hard while we were hiking the second day and I was so grateful that we were prepared.

9. Power banks. Since we stayed at a camp site that didn't have electricity because we didn't want to stay near RVs, we had to make sure our phones didn't die. Amazon has a ton to choose from, we have collected ours over the years and just made sure they were full before we left.

10. S'mores stuff! This was so much fun to do with the kids and it was a nice little activity to wind down the day.