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A Family Outing: What to Take When Camping With a Preschooler

9 August, 2015 1 Comment

Note: This blog post contains affiliate links.

As a child, I went camping with my family numerous times. We even spent an entire summer camping one year, traveling from state to state. And although for years now I’ve lived in a city or suburb, a good chunk of my childhood took place in small towns of Ontario, Canada. I used to play in the woods -sometimes with my brothers, sometimes with my friends, and sometimes by myself. That was normal, and it was amazing.

I want my son to have some of those same memories: digging in the dirt, watching bugs crawl over tree bark, a rabbit gnawing at some plants, tossing rocks in a creek…good times.

Over the last few years, Hubby and I have talked off and on about going camping at some point, but with his work schedule, our camping trip just hadn’t happened yet. This Father’s Day I bought this six-person tent for a great price, so we finally decided we were going to take the leap and go camping.

For a couple of weeks before the trip, I researched online and compiled a list of things to pack and take with us camping, especially with a kid (or kids). Listed in no particular order, we brought:

3 pillows
3 sleeping bags
2 air mattresses
air pump
car charger power converter (for the pump)
portable chargers for our phones
tent and stakes
mallet
tarps
trash bags
paper towels
toilet paper
hand and face sanitizing wipes
dish soap
hand soap
toiletries
bug repellant (spray and wrist bands)
rainwear
hats & sunglasses
variety of clothes and shoes, including hoodies and pants for the evenings
sunblock
citronella candle
propane lantern
laundry detergent
quarters
folding event chairs
utensils (including spatulas, etc.)
dish towels
empty Ziploc bags
GSI Outdoors Pinnacle Camper 2-4 Person Cookset (This was awesome!)
GSI Outdoors Collapsible Java Drip for our coffee (I’ll talk more about this in another blog post.)
Coleman Triton Series propane camping stove
6 cans of propane (we didn’t need this many)
potty seat for Little J (We love our OXO seat. I’ll write more about this in another post.)
slip-on diapers and wipes
allergy medication for adults
fever-reducing medication and an antihistamine appropriate for Little J (Since these need to be kept cool, I initially put them in a small bottle cooler with an ice pack until we purchased a bag of ice for the big cooler.)
flashlights
headlamps
2 plastic/vinyl table cloths

I also packed dry food like a box of pre-seasoned quinoa, several packages of dry soup, peanut butter, whole wheat bread, graham crackers, marshmallows, etc. I normally try to make healthy choices with what we eat, but I also didn’t want to make our first family camping trip difficult…so overall, yeah, we ate a lot of processed food.

When we were close to the campgrounds, we stopped at a grocery store and bought:

hot dogs
bread
firewood (You’re not supposed to bring firewood from state to state, because you could be bringing foreign pests with it.)
butter
eggs
milk
fruit
veggies
water (two large jugs)
ice for the cooler
chocolate (for the s’mores!)

If we were going straight from our house to the campgrounds, I may have bought some of these ahead of time (I did mean to get the bread ahead of time but forgot), but we were stopping at a theme park on our way. I didn’t know how hot the car was going to get, so I thought it would be better to stock the cooler with perishables when we were almost to the campgrounds.

Next time we go camping, if we go straight from our house to our campsite, I think I may make pancake batter ahead of time and freeze it in large Ziploc bags.

We did buy a new bag of ice every day. It was about a 15-trip from our campgrounds to a Wal-Mart, so that wasn’t too bad. The drive there and back was actually a great way to get Little J to fall asleep and actually nap! I’d wait in the car while Little J slept and Hubby ran inside for the ice.

Things we should have packed:

rope
more trash bags (Three was barely enough.)
more refill bags for the OXO potty seat. (We used a paper towel shoved into the bottom of a plastic grocery store bag, but that didn’t work as well as the actual bags they make for the seat. We had some leakage problems with the grocery store bags.)
Our bikes, including Little J’s, for riding around the campgrounds

We nearly filled up the back of the SUV, and we used our cargo carrier. Yes, it was a lot of stuff, but we ended up using everything or nearly everything. I would enjoy bare bones, backpack camping, but probably not with the 3-year old.

When we got to our site, we kept all the food in the back of the vehicle, and we hung the trash bag up from a tree branch stub. Next time we’ll use a rope, just to make sure we get the trash up out of reach of any potential furry visitors to our camp.

So that’s about it for the preparation. I’ll follow up with posts about where we camped and some of the equipment that we used.

life

A Family Outing: The National Aquarium (Baltimore)

20 June, 2015 2 Comments

Hello, blog! I missed you.

Want to visit the National Aquarium? To start with I want to point out that the National Aquarium is in Baltimore, not DC. I’ve run across quite a few people who were unaware of this. There USED TO BE a national aquarium in DC, but it closed in 2013 for renovations, and many of the exhibits were moved to Baltimore, which isn’t much further away.

Big J, Little J and I visited the aquarium a couple of months ago, but I’m just now getting around to posting about our visit. I’ve been so busy with work. My new job is going very well, but before I was considered a “qualified” instructor who could teach on her own, I had to personalize more than 30 master lesson plans (each lesson plan ranges from 1 lecture to 11 lectures) and pass two performance evaluations. Normally, new instructors will have three performance evaluations, but because of my previous teaching experience and skill, my department head decided I didn’t need the middle one…woohoo! Anyway, I’m now qualified, so I’m not bringing work home at night and on the weekends quite as much. I have time to blog!

So back to the aquarium… We visited a couple of weeks before the infamous Baltimore riots, but from what I understand, things are back to usual in the Inner Harbor, and the aquarium wasn’t damaged.

Things to know: Tickets to the aquarium aren’t cheap. If you live in the area and plan on going a few times a year, I recommend looking into a membership. Ticket also sell out, and the aquarium has a timed entry system, so I’d buy tickets ahead of time online. Currently, tickets for kids 3-11 are $24.95, and tickets for kids/adults 12-64 are $39.95. Senior tickets are $3 off the regular admission price. As you can see, the aquarium can be a little expensive!

You also need to factor in parking. There are parking garages and lots all over the Inner Harbor, and the prices vary wildly too. I would expect to pay anywhere from $15-25 in parking for your aquarium visit, but it’s possible you could find a cheaper rate, depending on the season and day of the week. We chose the aquarium’s official parking partner, Lockwood Place, because of its proximity. It’s about half a block away from the aquarium. The parking garage offers a small discount (I believe it was $2 or $3 for us) to aquarium visitors. You need to take your parking ticket with you and get it validated at the aquarium, after you park.

Once you get inside the aquarium, it’s important to note that strollers aren’t allowed. I did see one stroller, but it had a handicap tag fixed to it. The aquarium is designed in a way that people stand on conveyor belts that move you up and in between the tanks. I’ve read elsewhere that the aquarium offers a limited number of baby carriers, but I’ve never needed to take advantage of this. There is a stroller check when you first come in.

This was actually our second time at the aquarium. The first time we visited, Little J was Baby J…only about two months old. I had a baby carrier with already, so we just checked the stroller downstairs, and I carried him through the exhibits. This time, I just let him walk around, since he’s a “big boy” (almost 3).

There is a small cafe, but we haven’t had issues bringing in a few snacks and water.

About the aquarium: It’s awesome! Okay, I have to admit that Hubby is not impressed, but I really don’t understand why. I love the layout. It’s a tall building, and you just keep going up and up and up, and looking down into the tanks. The view is fantastic. Then when you get to the top, you can take a spiraling ramp all the way down, and the ramp is surrounded by a circular shark tank that is stories high. How is that not cool??

Little J LOVED it. I thought he would get tired, but he didn’t. I guess it’s really not too much walking for a little guy. Just a couple of weeks after our last visit, a new interactive exhibit was opened, so I’m planning on going back later this year. I think Little J would love to pet a crab!

I think the pictures speak for themselves, but the architecture and set up of this place is amazing. If you’re in the area and have a chance, I recommend visiting the National Aquarium!

What is your favorite aquarium to visit? Have you been to the National Aquarium?

Compensated Pink

life

A Craigslist Hunt: The Sandbox

19 April, 2015 No Comments

Sandbox Fun

Lately I’ve been all about Craigslist. Now that Little J is getting older, summer is coming, and we finally have a big, fenced-in backyard, I’ve been on the hunt for outside toys. Since Little J is an only child, I really wanted toys that he could happily play with by himself. We used to live about 15 minutes from the beach, and whenever we went, Little J would just sit and play for hours in the sand. So now that we live at least 45 minutes from the closest beach, a sandbox seemed like the perfect summer toy!

Oh, I should mention that I briefly flip-flopped between getting a sandbox and a sand table, but I ultimately I decided Little J would love to actually sit in the sand while playing.

I considered buying a sandbox brand new, but I wasn’t thrilled with the prices. I get that it’s an investment that you can be used by several children over several years…but I just wasn’t happy paying $50-90 for what is essentially a shallow plastic tub.

I found this sandbox for just under $30 at Kmart, but from the photos it looks a little smaller than what I wanted. I also considered building a wood sandbox, but I’m already planning on building raised planters for my garden and really don’t want to take on another project.

Using a plastic kiddie pool is another option, but a sandbox lid is a must to keep out the ickies and neighborhood animals. The blog Mama To Three Chicks has a great post about making a washable fabric lid for a kiddie pool sandbox. I also read another blogger’s post (and I wish I could remember where exactly I read it, to give the blogger credit!) who used two different sized plastic kiddie pools for a sandbox. The smaller pool was the sandbox and the larger kiddie pool was placed over top as a cover. When not being used as a cover, the larger pool can be filled with water. Then your kiddo can have a sandbox and a pool to play in at the same time.

The only issue I was having with the kiddie pool option is the scarcity of plastic pools! All the pools I’ve seen in stores are inflatable. I’m guessing it’s because it’s cheaper for companies to make inflatable pools. Anyway, I have had a couple of leads on stores that are selling the plastic kiddie pools, but driving around this area and visiting multiple stores to find a $10-15 plastic pool just isn’t how I want to spend my time.

In the meantime, I’ve noticed used plastic sandboxes with lids regularly going for $15-25 on Craigslist. As long as they’re in good condition, it seemed like buying one used was the most sensible option for me.

This time of year, used sandboxes are getting listed on Craigslist almost every single day. I’ve seen prices from free all the way up to $50, depending on the brand, model, and condition of the sandbox. Sounds great, right? Buuuut they go fast. I mean, really fast. I can email someone 30 mins after their posted, and the sandbox is already gone. The only ones that stick around are overpriced.

So I set up an email alert for “sandbox,” and decided on the model I wanted (Step 2 Naturally Playful sandbox), how much I was willing to pay, and how far away I was willing to drive to pick it up. Within two weeks, I had Little J’s “new” sandbox!

I filled it with five bags of play sand from Home Depot, and Little J played for hours straight. The sandbox is plenty big enough for him to use for several years. Including the price of the new play sand, Little J’s “new” sandbox cost just under $50. If I’d bought the same one brand new plus the sand, it would have been about $113. I’d call this Craigslist hunt a success!

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