Memorial Day Weekend always makes me think about BBQ’s, cold beers, swimming, friends and camping trips! Now camping is not always my favorite thing, but I think if you have beautiful scenery, a group of fun family/friends, good food and drinks, then you are set for a fun weekend anywhere!
Sunset magazine came out with “The West’s Best Camping” featuring all of California and Hawaii (if I’m going to Hawaii, I am not camping ☺). I think that camping is one of those special family trips that kids will never forget, maybe mostly because they won’t have cell service. But nonetheless, it’s a chance for them to really enjoy quality family time and be active outdoors!
Some of my favorite places from this list are:
- Camp Edison, Shaver Lake, Northeast of Fresno
- D.L. Bliss State Park, Lake Tahoe
- Butano State Park, South of Pescadero
- Julia Pfeiffer Burns State Park, Big Sur
- Kirby Cove Campground, Mill Valley, CA
- New Brighton State Beach, Near Capitola
- Boat-In Camp, Lake Tahoe
So pull up your lawn chair, toast your s’more, and cheers to a great Memorial Day weekend together!
Things to Consider:
- Baby Backpacks: We have the Kelty Journey and love it. It’s comfortable for us to carry and for our 9 month old to sit in. I love that it has a backpack on it, and it’s detachable so that the other parent could carry if needed.
- Camping Toys: It might be fun to surprise the kids with some camping gear of their own to take in their backpack. A flashlight, binoculars, compass, animal caller, critter jar and a mini lantern would all be fun for the kids to play with.
Activities:
- Light the way at night by putting a glow stick in an empty water bottle or play “Glow in the Dark Ring toss” with them (you can even buy these at the dollar store).
- You can easily make a “Nature Hunt” picture checklist on your computer with different trees, animals, streams, lakes, etc. whatever you might see on a hike for your child to check off when they find it with a crayon or marker.
- Bring along your cornhole and horseshoe games or bring back good old relay races!
Food:
- For breakfast you can always bring along instant oatmeal, fruit, cereal and milk, and/or muffins, whatever your family likes to eat.
- One of my favorite ideas is to let the kids make their own trail mix for the hike or activity that day. Set out whatever snacks you want such as mini chocolate chips, dried fruit, mini peanut butter crackers, nuts, animal crackers, goldfish, pretzels, etc. Let them put it all together in a Ziploc and away you go!
- For dinner “Camping Quesadillas”. You can really put anything you want in them and make them different for every picky member of the family 🙂
- Who doesn’t love s’mores around a campfire? In addition to that essential camping dessert, I found these “Campfire Cones” to be a fun idea too: ice cream cones, banana, marshmallows, peanut butter and chocolate chips!
What is your favorite camping activity?
