Greenfield State Park- a new beginning

This is when you wonder......should I or shouldn't I bring my 5 year old camping (well he was almost 5). I decided to throw caution to the wind and bring the little man up to Greenfield, in an attempt to see if he liked camping. We had a few friends who had gear sooooo what we did was borrow a little 4 person tent (in reality 2 people comfortable), a few supplies and away we went.

I admit it I cheat, well a little. We reserved our site online and I decided to put our site next to the bathroom, fresh water and also the path headed down to the beach.  We only rented the campsite (105 on the map) for Saturday night, so we left home around noon. The site was very clean, spacious and overall had a table, camp fire ring and a spot for the tent with a parking spot.  We got up there in pretty fast time (eating lunch on the way). We checked in at 2 pm, set up our tent and then went for a hike.  I will say this, the campsite looks small on the page….. We took our time heading down the small dirt path that wound down the Andes. At least it felt like it, but Declan LOVED the woods. He had 21321 walking sticks, one for each step it seemed.  When we got to the bottom there was a lake with a small beach with a small building that you could rent canoes, kayaks and get food. Declan and I rented a canoe, against my better judgment. We had a ton of fun, and it’s a private lake (no jet ski’s). Two thumbs way up on this much fun.

That night we decided to have a small camp fire, with Declan smores (that means chocolate with crackers)I had a few small steaks…..(well more then a few but shhhh). It was so good on the open fire…god it was so good.  

The next day we walked a little more, packed up and headed home. Overall it was very quiet, clean and the people were nice. I see us coming back again.

Permanent Packing list for Camping

Before I set out for my first camping trip I searched all over the net for tips for camping with children and first timers. A lot of sites were meant for older children, camping with us were the boys, Declan is 5 and Shamus wasn’t even 1 yet. As we camped we made a little note of things we should bring on our next trip.

This is our permanent list. We add to it here and there. But these are things that mostly reside in our camping Rubbermaid buckets, we have two! We use one as a sink when camping! They are also big enough for a tub for the boys if needed. Also, we were always looking for a way to store our knives we took from home. I purchased a large pencil case at Target for like $1 and we use it to hold utensils and knives while camping and clothespins when we are storing stuff.

Sleeping
· 3 sleeping bags (shamus uses a portacrib)
· Portacrib
· Crib sheet
· Blanket (he has one he sleeps with)
· Sleeping mat (we use a daycare nap mat for Declan)
· Air mattress (we leave the pump thing in the car permanently)
· Pillows (3)
· Tent w/poles (thankfully our cabella one comes with a beautiful bag)
· Laterns

Kitchen
· Bugaboo camper cook set (love this)
· Spatula
· Knives
· Utensils
· Kids utensils (we have ‘em so we use ‘em)
· Table cloth
· Tablecloth clips (to keep it from blowing away)
· Dishtowels
· Sponge
· Dish detergent
· Water bottles (4-think reuseable)
· Propane tank
· Coleman’s propane burners (with ADAPTERS)
· Grill brush
· Foil
· Cutting board
· Measuring cups
· Wooden spoon
· Skewers (kabobs and marshmallow)
· Grill basket
· Cooking spray
· Cooking tongs
· Pot holders

Recreation
· Camping chairs (3)
· Beach cart (side note, this isn’t necessary, but we have one with sand toys. Helps when we go to beach, store toys at the site, and also holds our trashbag when we are cooking)
· Rafts
· Toys
· Beach toys
· Compass
· Card games
· Books (ok so it’s a kindle)
· Pen/paper

Clothing
· Bathing suits
· Sweatshirts
· Long sleeve shirts
· Towels
· Flip flops (for bathroom runs)
· Pajamas (especially feeties for the boys)
· Tooth brush/paste
· Deodorant
· Bar of soap
· Brush
· Hats
· Extra Socks
· Bathroom products (some places have showers)

Extra Gear
· Flashlights
· Lighter
· Paper (fire starter)
· Firewood
· Citronella candle
· Bug spray
· Hammer
· Ax
· Sunblock
· Multi tool
· Binoculars
· Camera
· Clothesline w/pins
· Trash bags (2 if you want to sort recycling)
· Dust pan/brush
· Extra batteries
· Baby backpack carrier
· Backpack
· Duct tape (solves everything)
· Cooler
· Toilet paper (seat covers if you can find ‘em girls!)

Grocery Items
· water
· condiments (ketchup/mustard/always a little butter to cook with)
· Plan your MENU! Make sure you grab mixing ingredients if you cook things like rice etc.