Christian-Parent.com

Posts Tagged ‘camping’

by Ben Anton

A staycation is a vacation that you take without really going anywhere. You can stay close to home, like your neighborhood park, the campsite on the outskirts of your hometown, or even your backyard. A staycation emphasizes what is most important about vacations – time with your family and friends. You don’t need to go anywhere special to enjoy each other’s company.

Why Now?

For the most part, staycations are growing because of the ever-rising fuel prices and the general economic downturn. A bigger percentage of a household’s income is going toward paying for the higher priced gas people need to get back and forth to work and school. Additionally, increasing food prices mean more income is needed to buy food every month. Planning a vacation is hard work already, but trying to figure out where the money will come from to pay the gas (in addition to the regular travel expenses) to get there can be even harder. This is why staycations are becoming even more popular.

A staycation is a vacation spent either at home or very near to home as a means to take a holiday without spending a large amount on travel. By eliminating the need to travel a great distance, most vacation costs can be cut dramatically. Without the stress of trying to figure out how to pay for the staycation, families will find that they enjoy a much needed respite that much more.

Below are some great ideas for easy staycations you and your family can take this summer to cut down on fuel, food, and equipment costs.

• Camp in Your Own Backyard. Plan a weekend camping trip with your kids in your backyard. Set-up your tents, pack up some coolers, throw together your camping gear, and maybe even set-up a simple fire pit or purchase a small enclosure for a fire pit and enjoy the outdoors at home. By turning off your phones and saying no to the TV and internet, you and your kids can experience the outdoors and the great weather this summer with very little cost.

• Find a Local Campsite. Ask your chamber of commerce about camping areas in your city or just outside your city limits. This is a great way to experience how tourists to your town may see your city while traveling through. This is also a great way to get outdoors and meet other people who may be sharing your camping area.

• Take in Your Local Attractions. While you are talking with the chamber of commerce, ask them about fun things to do on the weekend in your area. So many of us know very little about the interesting and exciting things available to us in our own city.

It might be a few more years before you can afford to take that road trip across the country. But, that doesn’t mean that you won’t be able to spend some great quality time with your family and even with your friends. Go on an adventure, even if it is one in your own backyard, and see what there is to see. No matter what else happens this summer, you will be able to head into the fall months knowing that you had a great staycation, where your family was able to just be together and to enjoy themselves. There can be nothing greater in the world.

Ben Anton lives in Portland, OR and writes for DLK. We invite you to find out more about discount camping equipment like durable LED lanterns and flashlights available through DiscountLightsAndKnives.com.

Article Source: http://greatarticlesformoms.com

by Rachel Paxton

Have fun camping with toddlers? Is it possible? If you’re looking to get away and have a relaxed, stress-free vacation, then you probably don’t want to take your toddlers with you. If, on the other hand, you want to get away and spend some quality time with your family, then these tips may help you keep your active toddlers safe and entertained.

You probably already know if your toddler is a good little traveller. We have twin 2-1/2-year-old boys. One likes to ride in the car and will nod off when he’s tired. The other one has disliked riding in the car since he was a baby. He will under no circumstances sleep in the car (maybe for five minutes by accident). When he decides he’s done riding in the car (every fifteen minutes or so) he cries and whines incessantly until daddy threatens to pull the car over.

If you have a toddler that doesn’t like to travel, don’t torture yourselves with a long car ride. It just isn’t worth it. Three hours is about our limit. If we stop when we’re about half way there and let the boys run around and play for a few minutes they do a lot better. Make sure to bring plenty of snacks in the car. Daddy’s no-food-in-the-car rule was dismissed quickly when we started taking two toddlers on road trips. If you need a quick lunch Lunchables are great. One Lunchable is enough food for two hungry toddlers.

Something else you need to think about when you camp is where your toddlers are going to sleep. If they’re used to sleeping places other than their beds you’ll probably be fine. Our boys have always slept in their cribs and don’t know anything else. Our first camping trip was a disaster.

The boys were 18 months old and we tried to get them to lay down with us on an air mattress in a tent. It took hours to get them settled down at night with a lot of crying involved. They didn’t nap at all for two days and then we endured six hours home in the car. I have heard others tell of similar experiences with this aged child. If you’re not sure how your child will do you might want to wait until he or she is a little older.

Our camping trips this year have gone much better. The boys are still sleeping in their cribs at home, but we recently bought an RV. My husband slept with one boy in one bed, and I slept with the other boy in a different bed. They still went to bed much later than normal (after dark) and refused to take a nap, but there was no crying and they had a lot of fun. Two days is all they can handle with that little sleep, but they did great. We have gone on two two-day trips this summer and they slept very well (although I can’t say we did).

If you are tent camping, you might try a portable crib/play pen. I wish we had tried this last summer, I think it may have helped.

Once you get the sleeping thing down, there are some other things to consider when you take your toddler camping.

Make sure there aren’t too many hazards where you will be camping. You might not want to camp right next to a lake, river, etc., anywhere that would be too tempting for your toddler when you’re not looking. When you are camping you can’t take your eyes off of them for even one second or something could happen to them. It happens that fast! On our first camping trip this year one of our boys tripped and bonked his head on the camper steps, and then the same day stepped off the edge of a swimming pool into the deep end! And I was standing right there both times.

On the other hand, you do want to go somewhere where there are fun things for your toddler to see and experience. Rivers and lakes are great places to visit with your toddler. They love to throw rocks in the water! We drove up to a scenic mountain area where there was still snow and the boys had a great time throwing snowballs at us. There were also many waterfalls to look at. The campground where we stayed had a lot of easy walking trails that were great for exploring with the boys. We wish we had brought a wagon with us. They would have loved being pulled around in it.

Another thing that we found a necessity when taking two toddlers camping was to bring other family members with us. The boys got to enjoy camping with two grandmas, two grandpas, and an aunt and uncle. It is a great opportunity to spend time with your extended family, and they love spending time with their grandchildren, niece, nephew, etc. This is big help for mom and dad and takes some of the pressure off.

Hopefully I haven’t discouraged you from taking your toddler camping. We are glad we did this year. It was a great experience for our boys. You don’t need to bring a lot of toys with you, they will have fun exploring with you and experiencing new things. Have fun, they grow fast! Oh, and don’t forget your camera!

Rachel Paxton is a freelance writer and mom of four. For resources for the Christian family, including parenting, toddler and preschool activities, homeschooling, family traditions, and more, visit http://www.Christian-Parent.com