Outdoor Games

I have a love of big campsites.  We use the whole space of our site, we go camping to spend time outside.  To spend time together with minimal distraction.

We have the cheap-o version of Corn Hole.  Ladder ball, a washer ring toss game.

The kids have a bin of outdoor toys with bases and a bouncy ball for kick ball.  Bubbles.  Scoop ball.  Rackets and a birdie.  Soccer ball.  Bocce ball.  Stuff has been thrown in over the years.

What are you favorite outdoor games for camping?  Anything you've been eyeing and want to get?

My posts about Board Games & Card Games

Colorful fire

As I was looking for lighter fluid the other day, the kids spotted Colorful Fire and begged me to get it.  I wasn't too sure how it would go, but sure, let's try it.  It also got me out of buying the other 12 things they begged for before we got out of Meijer because they already had something fun in the cart.

I was pleasantly surprised at how colorful the 1 packet was and I'd get it again if the kids ask.  The fire danced away every time my camera got a picture, so this was really the most colorful of 10 pictures I got before I just gave up.

Sleepy Hollow State Park

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Sleepy Hollow State Park, it's one of the closest state parks to the Lansing area.  We usually have at least 1 trip there a year, this year we had two.

For our first trip to Sleepy Hollow this year, there was a college-aged employee who came around and invited all the families to join him on a walk for Big Foot.  The kids were all about this, it was the first time we'd seen programming like this at Sleepy Hollow.  We joined Ranger Tim (ok, probably not a real ranger, but a fun nickname nonetheless).  He made it fun for the kids as we slogged our way through the mosquito infested woods to a swamp area filled with even more mosquitoes.  Smoky the Bear was spotted on our trek to find Big Foot.  Ranger Tim also had more programming for the kids on Saturday, Youngest Kid really enjoyed the Weasel Games with Dad while I stayed back at the campsite with Oldest Kid, who wanted to craft.  I appreciate that Sleepy Hollow has added programming for the kids and a bit disappointed that he'd gone back to college for our return trip.

If the weather works, we like to spend some time at the Lake Ovid beach.  On one of our first trips to Sleepy Hollow, I'd guess that oldest kid was a toddler, we saw the signs pointing toward the beach at a footpath in the campground.  We had no idea how far away the beach actually was and Husband went back to get the truck for our return trip.  While my kids are older now and could handle the trek, we usually drive the beach now instead.

There is a nice fishing pier along a walking path not far from the campground.  The kids are always excited to catch Blue Gill and Sunfish.  We saw a very large Great Northern Pike swim by as we were packing up the fishing gear on this last trip.

All of the footpaths and nature trails made a great opportunity to go on our Nature Scavenger Hunt, and the kids enjoyed finding the different items.  Well, they enjoyed it until they got too annoyed at the mosquitoes.

Have I mentioned that there are mosquitoes?  Always included on my packing list for Sleepy Hollow is the most powerful bug spray I can find, calamine and what I call the Itch Stick, Sting Eze Insect Bite Relief.

If you decide to make a trip, pay very close attention to the website's information on how much power cord you need.  Our first trip there, probably the same one where we walked to the beach, Husband had to make a run to Walmart in St. Johns to get us more power cord.  The people next to us on our most recent trip had to do the same thing.

You're probably not going to head to Sleepy Hollow and see the sights in the area, since Ovid is just a small town, but it makes for great weekend camping.

Water Jugs

Sometimes the water at a campground is questionable in how it tastes compared to how it tastes at home.  At the beginning of the camping season, I buy 2 gallons of water.  That water then fills the coffee pot for the duration of our trip.  Then, before our next trip, I just fill the jugs with water from the home tap.  This works great for 2-3 night trips.

Fresh Rhubarb Cake

Just like zucchini, we get a TON of rhubarb every year.  We have 2 very large rhubarb plants in the backyard.  So big that I'm always happy to give it away.  To mix up the routine of all that Zucchini Bread that I make and freeze and take on camping trips, my SIL shared this Rhubarb Cake recipe with me.

Cake ingredients

• 1/2 cup butter, softened
• 1 1/2 cups brown sugar, firmly packed
• 1 egg
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 2 cups flour
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1 Tbs lemon juice
• 1 cup milk
• 2 cups coarsely chopped fresh rhubarb

Topping ingredients

• 1/2 cup pecans
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1 tsp ground cinnamon

What to do:

• To prepare cake, preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Grease and flour a 9 x 13 inch pan.  Cream butter until light.  Add brown sugar; continue to cream until mixture is well blended and fluffy.  Beat egg and vanilla into the creamed mixture until blended.  In a separate bowl sift the flour, salt, and soda.  In another bowl combine the lemon juice and milk; add it alternately with the flour mixture to the creamed mixture, beginning and ending with the flour.  Gently fold the chopped rhubarb into the batter, stirring just enough to distribute evenly.  Pour batter into prepared pan, spreading evenly.
• To prepare topping, mix topping ingredients and sprinkle evenly over the batter.  Bake cake for 45 to 50 minutes.  Cool the cake in the pan for at least 30 minutes.  Cut into squares to serve.  Serves 12.

 Now that I'm thinking about it, I'll have to share my recipe for rhubarb custard pie soon, too [adds to mental list of future posts].

Nature Scavenger Hunt

Sometimes we need a project, or a way to spend time together on a camping trip.  We have a camping trip coming up and Husband has to go to a meeting for a while.  I thought that the kids and I could go on a scavenger hunt together and find different things in nature.

A Google search found lists that were too easy or not long enough or not printable.  Here is the list I came up with, click HERE for a printable version.

Hoffmaster State Park

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Hoffmaster State Park, it's extremely popular.  We got in there for the first time in September 2013 and loved it.

For our trip to Hoffmaster in August 2014, we planned our trip with friends 5.5 months in advance.  There was only one group of 3 campsites together left when I looked.  We snatched them up as quickly as we could.

The campsites are dirt and grass cover, tons of tree cover.  The sites are usually quite big, but there are some smaller sites.  The lack of an asphalt pad allowed our 3 sites to have the campers in a U shape.  By manipulating the smaller campers, the pop-ups, the kids had 3 sites worth of space to run and play.  After bedtime, the adults were right there and no one felt uncomfortable not being able to see their camper and kids while we chatted around the fire.

After dinner the first night, we headed to the beach.  Kids played in the sand and in the water.  We watched a spectacular Lake Michigan sunset.  It was the stuff the Pure Michigan ads are made of.

Our 2nd day, we and another family headed over the Michigan's Adventure for the day.  You'd think that I'd know better than to go to an amusement park on a Saturday in August since I worked at Cedar Point (owned by the same parent company) for 3 summers in my late teenage years.  However, the big crowds headed back toward the water park by mid afternoon and we had minimal waits for the amusement park rides.

The other family that didn't go to Michigan's Adventure spent more time on the beach, went to the Hoffmaster Nature Center, climbed a sand dune.

A word to the wise, if you want to head to the Nature Center, which is quite nice, don't do what we did last year.  We thought, "Oh, it's only 1/4 mile up the road, let's ride our bikes!"  Yeah, the ROAD to the nature center is 1/4 mile away from the campground.  I'm not sure how far the nature center is into the park on that road, but it's all uphill and felt like forever as an adult, my kids were great and hung in there with the uphill biking for a long time, but... yeah, don't do that.

The playground is quite large and serves the whole campground, my kids enjoy it.

Also, last year, we camped near the Campground Host site.  I've interacted with a lot of campground hosts over the years.  These hosts were extremely friendly, their programming was better than any other host, they were very knowledgeable.  I was so impressed with them, I wrote to the head of the campground to say how great I thought they were.  While this trip didn't bring much interaction with the hosts, I saw them keeping traffic flowing at the waste water station on Sunday morning, helping people with put their garbage in the dumpsters, having friendly conversations.  The head of the campground does a phenomenal job getting campground hosts.

I know Hoffmaster has a Halloween camping weekend.  I saw on the campground map that there is a vintage camper weekend in June, which sounds neat.

If you can plan ahead enough during high camping season, it's worth the trip.  If you can't plan ahead, it's pretty easy to get in during September and early May.

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Gatlinburg Trip part 10: The end

This post is the final in a series about our vacation to Gatlinburg, Tennessee and the Great Smoky Mountains National Park.  Look for more posts of trip from me, here is Part 9.

The campfire, the last night, with the cacophony of frogs and the stream.  It was a good trip and I was sad to see it end.  What better way to end a day camping, what better way to end this series.

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Gatlinburg Vacation part 9: Henwallow Falls Hike

This post is the ninth in a series about our vacation to Gatlinburg, Tennessee and the Great Smoky Mountains National Park.  Look for more posts of trip from me, here is Part 8 and Part 10.

Our last full day in Gatlinburg was another unplanned day for us.  We headed to Hen Wallow Falls in the Cosby area of the park based on similar thought processes that we used for our hike to Fern Branch Falls in Part 7.

If Fern Branch Falls was "off the beaten path," then Hen Wallow Falls was REALLY off the beaten path.  We saw 2 people the entire way up the mountain.  Two.  One, two.  Two.  On a Saturday.  We saw more people heading up as we headed back down, but still.

The other thing we were greeted with were numerous bear signs.

I know Husband and I were much, much more watchful on our hike.  Let's be real, if I were a bear, I'd choose to live farther away from the big touristy places.

The entire hike, it very much felt like we were climbing a mountain.  The kids tired more quickly, there weren't many things to see along the way.  There was a lot of the hiking path where you tried to look over the edge and you're pretty sure the bottom is 200 feet down, but you're not really sure because there's tons of foliage.

We found lots of millipedes along the way, it was neat to see the legs moving.

But, we never made it all the way to Hen Wallow Falls, kids got tired and our information said that the end of the hike would get tricky for kids.  If anyone has made it all the way, I think we were pretty close. If you've been there, I'd love to see your pictures!

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Gatlinburg Vacation part 8: Mountain Farm Museum

This post is the eighth in a series about our vacation to Gatlinburg, Tennessee and the Great Smoky Mountains National Park.  Look for more posts of trip from me, here is Part 7 and Part 9.

The day we headed to the Mountain Farm Museum and Oconaluftee Visitor Center, we were greeted with gorgeous views of the North Carolina mountains along the way.

I liked that there are more opportunities for education at the Mountain Farm Museum than at other locations we visited.  This is where my kids participated in their Ranger-led Junior Ranger program that I mentioned in Part 2 of this series.  As I was looking at the schedule of events posted in the Oconaluftee Visitor Center, a Park Ranger came right over and told me to scoot quickly to get to the next program that started so that the kids could get there in time.  I appreciated her helpfulness and awareness of time.

As we chatted with a Park Ranger, she mentioned that not very many people who visit Gatlinburg make their way to this area of the national park.  Further evidence of my like of "off the beaten path" kind of places, I liked that this location is far less crowded than Sugarlands Visitors Center in Gatlinburg.  I liked the different opportunities for experiences.  The park ranger also mentioned that elk had been in the pasture all week, but of course not the day we were there.

We also stopped at Mingus Mill.  The guy running the mill... eh... well... he seemed more interested in his book than talking with visitors.  But it was very pretty and peaceful.

Gatlinburg Vacation part 7: Fern Branch Falls

This post is the seventh in a series about our vacation to Gatlinburg, Tennessee and the Great Smoky Mountains National Park.  Look for more posts of trip from me, here is Part 6 and Part 8.

One of my favorite days of our trip was an unplanned day.  On our first day, Husband picked up Family Hiking in the Smokies: Time Well Spent at the Sugarlands Visitors Center.  The book breaks down a ton of different hiking options with how hard it will be for kids of different ages, what you'll see along the way, how long the hike will take, and more.

With that knowledge, we headed to the Greenbriar section of the park for Porter's Creek Trail and Fern Branch Falls.  Without this book, I highly doubt we would have headed to these locations.  I just tried to grab some links on the national park website and came up short.  The book described these paths as "off the beaten path" and considering how few people we met along the way, and the lack of links, I'd wholeheartedly agree.

An off shoot of the trail lead to a historic farm site and cabin, there was a cemetery along the way.  We followed a river up the mountain.  When we got to the water fall, it was beautiful.

Gatlinburg Vacation part 6: Aquarium of the Smokies

This post is the sixth in a series about our vacation to Gatlinburg, Tennessee and the Great Smoky Mountains National Park.  Look for more posts of trip from me, here is Part 5 and Part 7.

There are tons and tons of tourist traps in Gatlinburg.  Lots of ways to spend a boatload of money.  Seeing what all there is to do, I came across the brochure for Ripley's Aquarium of the Smokies.  The closest aquarium to us is in Chicago and we didn't stop on our trip there a couple of years ago.  This was a top contender for our only tourist trap stop.  Then, I had numerous people tell me it's a great place to go.

The decision was made, the kids were excited, we headed to the aquarium.

It did not disappoint, I think I had a smile on my face the whole time.  Husband did, too.  The kids talked about it for days.  Oldest kid loved the sharks.  Youngest kid loved the penguins.

We got to pet a jellyfish, watched the sting ray show, climbed into the penguin area.  We marveled as the creatures swam over, under, and around us.

Gatlinburg Vacation part 5: Cades Cove Loop

This post is the fifth in a series about our vacation to Gatlinburg, Tennessee and the Great Smoky Mountains National Park.  Look for more posts of trip from me, here is Part 4 and Part 6.

Oh beautiful for spacious skies,

For amber waves of grain,

For purple mountain majesties

Above the fruited plain!

America! America! God shed His grace on thee

And crown they good with brotherhood

From sea to shining sea!

I don't think I've ever had a moment where I saw - no, felt - every fiber of a patriotic song as I did while we were in the Cades Cove Loop.  I saw the purple mountains.  The amber waves of grain.  I felt God's grace.

If I were the song-writing type, I would have been inspired, too.  Instead, I'll just leave you with a photo.

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Gatlinburg Vacation part 4: Clingman's Dome & Newfound Gap

This post is the fourth in a series about our vacation to Gatlinburg, Tennessee and the Great Smoky Mountains National Park.  Look for more posts of trip from me, here is Part 3 and Part 5.

Clingman's Dome, the highest point in the Smoky Mountains.  We arrived at the Clingman's Dome Visitors Center in shorts & t-shirts.  It was 55 degrees, 20+ degrees cooler than our campsite when we left.  We had 700 feet to climb before reaching the summit.  Scoured the truck to find a construction worker's coat and a men's XL rain jacket.  My kids now have Great Smoky Mountains sweatshirts.  Not the cheapest souvenir we could have purchased...  ANYWAY...

The climb, while paved, is not for the faint of heart.  I saw and heard others panting and needing breaks along the way.  While we were walking up the mountain, we were very much up in the clouds.  When we reached the pinnacle, we were in a cloud.  The pictures I have are of us in a cloud.  When we got back down to parking lot level, we were treated with breathtaking views of the mountains of North Carolina.  I took a picture of my kids sorta reenacting the opening scene of The Sound of Music with Julie Andrews (LOVE that movie!  I happened to read Forever Liesl by Charmian Carr on the trip).

Since Newfound Gap was on our way back down the mountain, we stopped there, too.  I got pictures of us at the Tennessee/North Carolina state line.  The Appalachian Trail also crosses right there and Husband spent about a week hiking the Appalachian Trail when he was in college.  We got pictures with that sign, too.

You know, I'm staring at the picture I've put in this post, still just mesmerized by the beauty.

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Gatlinburg Vacation part 3: Cataract Falls

This post is the third in a series about our vacation to Gatlinburg, Tennessee and the Great Smoky Mountains National Park.  Look for more posts of trip from me, here is Part 2 & Part 4.

After we explored the Sugarlands Visitors Center and our talk with the Park Ranger, we headed out for our first hike during our vacation.  It was a shorter hike compared to what we did later in the week, but a nice way to start our mountain exploration.

Along the way, trees and plants are well marked, helping kids fill out their Junior Ranger packets.  We stopped near the falls, admired the beauty while the kids had a snack.  I looked up and saw a big bird's nest 30 feet above me.

We tried to extend our hike, but Youngest Kid needed to use the bathroom, so we headed back to the Visitors Center.

Gatlinburg Vacation part 2: Junior Rangers

This post is the second in a series about our vacation to Gatlinburg, Tennessee and the Great Smoky Mountains National Park.  Look for more posts of trip from me, here is Part 1 and Part 3.

As I was deep in planning for our trip, I asked a friend about their family trip.  She mentioned the Junior Ranger program and how much her kids enjoyed it.  I looked into the program on the website and knew my kids would enjoy it, too.

I found I could order the booklets online before our trip, but decided not to chance how long shipping would take.  You can pick up booklets at any of the visitors centers, we got ours at the Sugarlands Visitors Center.

The first activity in the booklets had the kids asking a park ranger questions.  The park ranger we talked to at the Sugarlands Visitors Center was extremely friendly, happy to talk to kids.  As our conversation unfolded, talking about different animals in the park, he slipped off to a back room.  When he came back a few minutes later, he had a fur from a black bear and a river otter for my kids to pet and learn more about.  It was a really great moment.  Not surprisingly, when asked what his favorite part of his job is, his answer was educating children.

The Junior Ranger program also requires the child to participate in a Ranger-led program.  Looking at the list of options online, I was both very impressed and overwhelmed at the sheer number of opportunities to participate in a ranger-led program.  Also impressing me was that almost all of the programs are free.  We did the Batteries Not Included program at the Mountain Farm Museum, and the kids enjoyed learning about the toys kids in the olden days would have played with, they even got to make their own "Buzz Button" and to bring it home.

The rest of the Junior Ranger booklet had different activities for some of the most popular places in the Smoky Mountain National Park.  There are questions to answer, things to observe.  What animals have you seen?  What kinds of plants have you seen?  How did kids learn in the olden days?  There also activities that kids can do on their own.

At the end of our trip, we took the mostly completed booklets to talk to another Park Ranger.  The kids talked with her about what they did, where they went, what their favorite location was.  The Ranger Rhonda then had a little ceremony where the kids got completion certificates and a Junior Ranger badge.  Oldest kid proudly wore her badge for 2 days afterward.

We let the kids each pick out a trinket for completing the program and they are the proud owners of key chains to decorate their school backpacks.

For the $2.50 cost of the booklet, this was a program that was very much worth the cost and the time.  My kids really enjoyed it.

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Gatlinburg Vacation part 1: The campground

This post is the first in a series about our vacation to Gatlinburg, Tennessee and the Great Smoky Mountains National Park.  Look for more posts of trip from me, here is part 2.

When Husband and I decided to head to Gatlinburg for our family vacation this year, figuring out where we were staying and getting a reservation became my top priority.  My first place to look was the Great Smoky Mountains National Park website.  I quickly learned that most campsites in the park do not have electricity, and if they do have electricity it wouldn't be at the capacity to support our camper [cough: air conditioning].

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So, then I went to Google and searched.  I spent 2 full days scouring private campground websites.  I was mentally exhausted when I finally settled on Crazy Horse/Adventure Bound.  I liked the stream-side campsite opportunities, the full hook-up, the kids' activities, the feel that we were in the mountains.  You can book your campsite on the website, but I decided to call to make my reservation.  There's something about talking to a person when I wanted to do my best to get a bigger campsite of the options I was looking at.

I think my conversation worked well, we had a great campsite.  I think my days of searching did well, too.  It is a very nice campground.

Staff are friendly and helpful.  Happy to chat or be on their way if that's what you want.  And in a bit, you'll learn that they're safety oriented.

Our campsite was decently sized, it was far bigger than many sites we've had at private campgrounds.  Having the stream right behind our campsite was absolutely lovely, probably my favorite part of our campsite.  It drowned out all noise from our camping neighbors, the ambiance of the sound was incredibly relaxing.  The downside to our campsite was the rental cabin directly across the stream.  Thankfully, the cabin people didn't come outside much so it wasn't a big deal.

On our 2nd day, we hit the water slide and pool.  It was Youngest Kid's first time on a big water slide, and because of her shorter height, she and I rode together.  Hearing her giggle the whole way down the slide?  It was completely awesome.  It's a gentle but fun slide.  The little pool at the end of the slide was a great depth for Youngest Kid, but she just loved riding with Dad & Mom.  Then we headed to the swimming pool, which had varying depths for kids of all ages.

That night, a big storm rolled through the area.  I mean a BIG storm.  Campground staff came around early on and suggested that we put up our awning and utilize the campground bathrooms if we felt uncomfortable because of the weather.  A bit later, still before a drop of rain fell, campground staff came around again and strongly suggested that we head to the campground bathroom for safety.  We spent well over an hour in the Men's Bathroom with a lot of other campers.  This was a first-time experience for me, taking shelter in a campground bathroom.  An experience I hope to never have again.  All the people were friendly, it was kind of a bonding time, we continued to chat with our bathroom friends for the rest of our visit.  Thankfully, no tornado touched down near us, everyone and everything was safe.

Another highlight for our family at the campground was Jack Tales.  A play of sorts, storytelling really.  It involves Jack the Storyteller and campers - young and old - helping to act out the stories.  Costumes are required and provided.  This is right up Youngest Kid's alley, she dressed as a party animal and so did I.  Oldest kid loved watching the show with Daddy.  We went back for another show later in our stay and Youngest Kid was right in there again.

The location of the campground had us a bit outside of Gatlinburg, between the Greenbriar and Cosby entrances into Smoky Mountain National Park.  Being away from the hustle and bustle of downtown Gatlinburg was a good fit for our family because we wanted the mountain experience.

Crazy Horse/Adventure Bound was a good home base for us on our vacation.

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Easy breakfast for a long car trip

For our trip down to Gatlinburg, we planed on hitting the road extra early.  I was hopeful that the kids would sleep longer in the car.  This means having some breakfast on the road.  I want to skip the drive-thru as much as possible.

I got some croissants at the grocery store and made some breakfast sandwiches.  I popped them into ziplock bags and then back into the container that the croissants came in.  I had them in the fridge overnight and grabbed them in the morning.  When anyone asked for breakfast, it was ready to go.

I also put slices of zucchini bread in individual ziplock bags because we all love zucchini bread.