This past weekend we took our very first camping trip as a family. Well, the kids and mine's 1st camping trip EVER! I know , I know. If you are like most of my friends you are probably thinking there is no way I would camp....let alone camp in a tent. But I did!! The best part is I loved it!! We had such a great time with my brother, sister in law and nephew. To top it off there was no phone service. 0! That meant no texting, facebooking, instagramming, or any googling ! We survived. I told Nick that it was really nice not being tied to the phone. I only used it to take pictures. Maybe one of the best parts !!
My sister in law had heard great things about a campsite in Ohio called
Long's Retreat. It took about an hour and a half from Northern Kentucky ( Nathan and Lauren said it was about an hour for all our Augusta peeps who might be interested.) The website says they have over 400 camping sites. We literally had the perfect spot on the water. Our site did not have electric....which we did not need (we were in the A's). It was a short walk to the bath house and rest rooms. If camping in a tent isn't your thing or you don't have a camper they have cabins and deluxe cabins to rent. They have a 20 acre lake you can enjoy by renting a paddle boat or a canoe, or going fishing. There is no license needed and no charge for fishing, but they ask that their guests follow the catch and release policy. If the temps have you melting and needing to cool off they have an area of the lake you can swim in. It has a sandy beach, diving boards, tube slide and Splash Pad. All are included with the price of admission, or can be added to your camping rate. The Beach Hut is available to rent inflatable tubes and lounge chairs, and the concession stand serves hot food and cold drinks! It is the perfect area to soak up some sunshine. But if you're not looking to get wet, you can experience many other options for fun. Play miniature golf, ride the adult and kiddie go karts, climb the rock wall, take a spin on the carousel, jump in the moon bounce, enjoy the video arcade, tennis courts, sand volleyball, basketball, and more !
There is sooo much to do at Long's Retreat if sitting and relaxing isn't your thing or if you need something to keep the kids entertained. Let me tell ya, your kids will LOVE this place! Ours are already asking to go back.
Once we got to Long's Retreat we started to set up camp. When I say "we", I really mean Nick. God love this man. He does it all for us. I helped by keeping the kids entertained and by adding my "decorating" touches. It's not called Glamping for nothing! There is no reason our tent and area couldn't look cute while we were "roughing" it. We got there a little earlier than my brother so were almost finished when they arrived and got set up as well.
After we set up camp, we decided to rent canoes. Add this to the list of things I had not done before. Again, it was a lot of fun and I really enjoyed myself. The kids were a little afraid at first but they started to warm up to it after being on the lake for a while. The kids then spotted the go carts. So off we went. After a few spins and some ice cream at the camp store we headed back to start dinner. The kids played in the water and mud. I have never seen Max so muddy. He had the biggest smile on his face the whole time. ( I bought camping clothes just for this possibility. I bought $3 shorts and tshirts at target for both kids and used older swim suits. I am not the type of person who would be ok with their regular clothes getting all muddy and dirty. While they have "play" clothes, I would still stress about the mud coming out. Sorry not sorry. Buying inexpensive camping clothes was the perfect solution to my ocd. It's just who I am. ) It was a great evening for relaxing and just hanging out, laughing, and telling stories. The boys needed showers in the worst way! Lauren and I took the boys up to the shower house to hose the dirty boys off. Max and Bryce were like 2 peas in a pod all weekend . Bryce said they were best friends forever ( I sure hope so!!). Then you had Meredith bossing them around all weekend. We ended the night roasting marshmellows and partaking in some adult beverages.
Sleeping in the tent was not bad at all! I actually did not mind it. Nick said he slept terribly. But that is nothing new. He never sleeps good so I did not expect him to sleep good on the blow up mattress either. The kids did good and slept all night. Sometimes Max has a hard time adjusting to sleeping in new places and usually wakes up a few times. But he didn't. Sleeping under the starts was good for the soul!
On Saturday we were up and at 'em early! We cooked breakfast (I had pre made breakfast burritos- eggs, sausage and cheese all rolled into foil. We cooked them over the fire. Let's just say it was a total FAIL! The burrito part stuck to the foil. We ended up scraping the inside onto the plate and just eating the eggs and sausage. Live and learn. Next time we will bring donuts!!)
Nick ended up going to the camp store and buying a fishing rod and let the kids fish! And of course him too. The kids bored of it pretty fast. I sat around and read my book. It was so nice to just relax and "breathe". We ate lunch and then headed to the lake to swim for a few hours before heading back to our camp site to finish packing up. Nick started packing up while we were swimming.
I have to say all in all it was the pefect 1st camping trip. Of course, Nick is talking buying a camper. I would honestly be ok with camping in our tent again. Granted a camper would be awesome and a nice goal to look forward to. This one weekend wasn't nearly long enough. We were only able to spend a little over 24 hours there. Nick and I both had to be at work Sunday morning as well as my sister in law. Long's Retreat was great for our first adventure. Checkin is after 9am and checkout is at 5p!
So tell me what is your favorite spot to camp that isn't too far away? I am ready to plan our next camping trip!!
