Earlier this week, I went down south to see my Granny. My sister drove and we came back over the Peak District. Thanks to the lovely summer evenings we’ve been enjoying recently, this meant we could take in the breathtaking greenery of the Peak District on our drive home. We live so near to the Peak District, I always feel guilty for not going there more often. Last year, Laurie was given a huge tent and loads of camping accessories for his 30th birthday. His birthday is at the end of July, but we managed to squeeze in a couple of camping trips before the end of the summer (you can read about our first family camping trip here).
I love camping, it’s always so nice to get away even if just for a couple of nights. I love ending up somewhere with hardly any phone signal so that we can just enjoy being outdoors as a family. Our tent is huge, and while that means it’s a bit of a nightmare to put up, it always makes the perfect base. It’s big enough to spend time in when the weather is bad, although I do think we look quite ridiculous as a family of three emerging from an 8-man tent. Speaking of tents, how pretty are these Orla Kiely tents!
After we had such a nice time in Portugal earlier this month, I keep thinking about how lovely it would be to go camping. Camping is the perfect way to get away on a budget, it doesn’t have to cost much at all. Living so close to the Peak District, we don’t even have to drive for very long to find somewhere peaceful to stay. We tend to visit smaller campsites rather than the huge sites with parks and swimming pools. As long as they have electricity and working showers, I’m happy. And as long as there is plenty of room for running around in, Ebony is equally content.
I tried looking into sleeping options that might make camping a possibility for this year. I don’t think I could sleep on an airbed very well, I have no idea how I’d even get up from so low down. I did see these camping beds at Aldi which I thought might work, but Laurie was quick to point out that it would be like sleeping on a sunbed. There may have been tears in Portugal at one point because trying to nap on a sunbed broke every bit of my body, so I was quickly put off the idea. I think having to trek to the toilets 15 times in the night might get a bit much too. It seems a shame because we only got to go camping a couple of times and now we’re having to miss this year because of the pregnancy. I just want to be in a field, eating barbecue food and watching Ebony fly a kite. Is that really too much to ask?
Ebony’s favourite thing is to have me and Laurie to herself. Obviously, she has my attention during the week and at weekends she gets to enjoy Laurie’s company, but there’s nothing she loves more than when all three of us do something together. I wish we could take a camping trip before the new baby arrives, I think it would have been a great way of spending some quality time together as a family of three.
If you’re planning to go camping this summer, make sure you check out The Ultimate Camping Guide by Halfords. It’s got everything you need to know, from how to choose a tent to how to keep kids entertained on long journeys. It’s also got information about campsites across the UK.
