Frugal Friday: Weekend Away

As our twins get older we begin to imagine ways to get away as a family without spending too much money.  For the first few years of their lives we stuck pretty close to home. We really only ventured out to fairly predictable locations and we usually took a ton of gear with us.  Now that they are growing up and are able to tolerate more of a break from their routine we want a family vacation that is super fun, educational and affordable.

Suneil and I both have fond childhood memories of camping and road-trips with our parents and siblings and we really wanted to recreate some of those memories with our own children.   Recently we invested in a camper-trailer to make camping a more convenient experience for us all.  When P and D turned two, our opportunity to fly with them for free was over, and since one set of their grandparents live in British Columbia the camper was seemed like a particularly good investment for us as we plan to drive out to BC once a year or so.  We have big dreams to take our minivan and camper all over North America with the kids, but this past weekend we took it out for the first time.

We had originally planned on using it for the first time one week later, but we just couldn't wait. For me, one of the biggest draws of a trailer like this was that once we had it all set up and stocked with all the necessities, we would be able to go away for a weekend with little more than a quickly packed suitcase and a few groceries.  This turned out to be exactly the case.  When I called Suneil at work with the idea that we should forego yard work and go camping for the weekend instead, he thought it was a great idea.  twenty-four hours later we were on the road with everything we needed!

We chose a provincial park about 1.5 hours away from home and the weekend cost us under $150.  That includes the camp fees, part of our season pass for the parks, and fuel for the van.  I didn't count groceries because we would have needed those anyway.

As you know, I am pretty particular about what my kids eat.  I avoid preservatives, artificial flavourings, excessive or unnatural sugars and colouring in their foods.  However going camping is a whole other situation.  Certain long-standing family traditions (from Suneil and I's childhoods) needed to be maintained.  Camp foods, for us, include hot dogs, marshmallows, smores, potato chips, and even fruit loops!  Some of these things went over better than others.  Buns were discarded and hot dogs devoured almost whole, but to my surprise they would not finish their fruit loops.  I guess some things really are just too sweet (not for me though! I can still down a bowl of fruit loops once in a while!).

Aside from a few minor issues, the weekend was a great success.  The first time hitching the trailer to the van was not 100% successful but after a few pull-overs to make adjustments and then a few more out of sheer paranoia we were finally on our way and made it to the campground without a hitch (well, figuratively if not literally haha).  By the end of the weekend we were all pretty exhausted but very happy with how it all turned out.  The kids had a blast playing in the dirt, exploring in the brush to find rocks and plants, and seeing wild animals including some crows who had built a nest in our campsite, a pheasant who liked to sleep in a tree beside our camper, and even a few garter snakes!

Our goal of beginning to create happy childhood memories of fun and adventurous family vacations has been reached, and we will continue to gather more and more this summer and in the years to come.

Here are a few fun pictures from our weekend!

Snuggling by the campfire

Mmmmm ... hotdogs

Their first s'mores ... finger licking good!