The WAL

Continued from yesterday. 

11. Be able to put batteries in all of the flashlights twice, not including the ones you start with.

This is probably a little excessive for anything less than a week, but kids love flashlights. Batteries drain faster than you expect, even in LEDs.

12. You’re going to miss most of the good pictures. Be happy with the ones you get.

13. Language is no barrier to kids who want to play.

When camping, my kids routinely play with kids from La Belle Province whose English is considerably less than my French. The lack of a common language doesn’t seem to bother any of them at all. Given the freedom to roam, kids gravitate to each other. Not so much a rule as a law of nature.

14. A sleeping bag designed to hold one adult will hold one adult and two small children in a pinch, but don’t expect to be comfortable. And not just during a thunderstorm.

15. There’s always one more mosquito/bite/scratch/bug to catch/wave to smash.

16. Take advantage of programs.

Presqu’ile in particular, and Ontario Parks in general, tend to offer interperative programs both natural and historical. Field trips on tap. We don’t do all of them, but usually hit at least one per day when we’re camping and sometimes on day trips, too.

17. Take pillows. Trust me.

18. Always have a backup plan.

Rain, E-coli, a daughter squirts herself in the eye with mosquito repellant, a son finds the only zebra mussel in the entire region to slice his knee open on. Things happen. Know a little of what’s available in the surrounding community.

Enjoy, and happy camping.

Last month, my wife and I took our three offspring (8, 6, 4) camping for nearly a week at Presqu’ile Provincial Park just south of Brighton, Ontario (a place I can’t say enough good things about - great beach, hiking trails, friendly staff, nature centre, and tons of kid-friendly interpretive programs, natural and historical - if you’re thinking about a camping trip next year, I highly recommend the park). It was our second major camping trip - we did one last year, a day shorter. From these, and a couple of overnights or weekends, I’ve learned a number of things about camping with small, and not so small, children. I intend to apply them on our trip next week to Bon Echo park and thought I’d share.

1. There’s always room for one more bottle of mosquito repellant.

2. Don’t forget the after-bite and calamine.

3. Sunscreen in a spritzer is an amazing invention.

4. Per child, double the number of pairs of underwear you think you need. Add two more.

Accidents happen. Mud happens. Sand happens. Many things happen.

5. Bathing won’t help for long. They’ll be dirty and they’ll stink.

It’s a kid thing. I seem to remember my parents commenting on it when we were kids.

6. Patience. They’re not sleeping enough. Neither are you.

7. There’s no need to eat crap and they’re less picky because they’re always starving.

But be careful. Pizza cooked over an open fire, while delicious, can dry out before the cheese melts if you’re not careful.

8. Make the food fun.

Things on a stick usually go over well and you’d be surprised what you can cook on a stick aside from hot dogs and marshmallows.

9. Sing campfire songs. They love it.

By the time I got to the flea on the feather on the wing on the chick in the egg in the nest on the twig on the branch on the limb on the bough on the tree in the hole in the ground, and the green grass grew all around, all around… they were hysterical.

10. They won’t take their shoes off at least half of the time. The tent will get dirty inside.

Dirt and sand are irritating, but easy to deal with when you’re packing up. I draw the line at mud, though.

The rest tomorrow.