Family Camping Checklist

It's the last weekend of summer, grab your family and this Camping Checklist and enjoy these fleeting moments of freedom and great weather before our mundane West Coast rains sets in and the routines of back to school pick up.

This summer we embarked on our first ever camping adventure as a family! Surprisingly with three children, five and under, it went considerably well, so well that we want to do it all over again...and again! (I've always loved camping, I can thank my Mom and Dad for that, my husband however he was the one who needed some winning over... mission accomplished!)

The week prior to us leaving we joked that this trip could be the end of our marriage (not really), but it was super stressful! Leading up to it Sevio was working a ton plus had deadlines to make with his online courses, and I had my hands full with the kids and what felt like a gagillion appointments. I did all the packing and organizing the day before we left, it was awful, but, out of it I can share with you an easy checklist to get you started off right to a great family weekend away.

I'm typically a Type-A minimalist packer (is that a thing?), everything has its rightful place and there's no need truckin' around more than you need to... thus why I create lists. Everything goes into a category and then I pack accordingly trying to make everything that should be together, be together, in the most concise way... it's one of my "cute" quirks being so OCD in my packing ways.

Once loaded up, and people this is another good reason to be organized, we still had room to spare... which is something amazing when you have to climb in and out of a vehicle multiple times for pee and food breaks with three little people! Anyways, back on point, we loaded up and left with the rising sun on the first boat to the mainland. Our first pit stop was Abbotsford to fuel up, then Hope for caffeine (mom fuel), then Merritt for lunch (where it was snowing ash from the crazy forest fires), and arrived in Kamloops, our final destination by mid day to set up camp. The kids were amazing, I actually don't think there were any meltdowns that whole trip.

We stayed right along the Thompson River, it wasn't anything fancy, it wasn't remote, or have any special amenities, but it was all we needed and we got a great flat grassy site that had a big tree to give us shade, and we were about 30 feet from a mini beach access. The kids had fun unloading the van and "helping" daddy set up the tent. We borrowed an 8 man tent for this trip and it was amazing how spacious it was for our crew of five.

We were there for a soccer tournament that Sevio was playing in, so we watched a lot of soccer in two days, played at the beach, and just hung out with the other players and their families. On our last afternoon at the campsite a bunch of the guys had preplanned making a DIY waterslide along the banks of the river. It was a great last moment to end on, the kids had a blast sliding down this man made slide built into the sandy bank lined with a huge plastic sheet fed by a water pump one of the guys had brought... that was truly camping at its finest!

Don't forget to download your free Family Camping Checklist Printable and have fun adventuring!