Camping with my large family

So, just got back from a week long camping trip to sunny (and rainy) Florida. It had been awhile since we tent camped for so long. I researched lots on Pinterest ahead of time, but some of  our best realizations were brought about out of necessity and happenstance as most brilliant discoveries are. I will share a few of them here. Oh, and anything that serves a dual purpose,  especially on a road/camping trip is even more awesome so far as I am concerned.

1. Road trip moment of brilliance.  Tin foil: don't leave home without it.
Those tin foil skills gained working at a popular steak house years ago come in to play as a mom. To save money,  I buy the larger chicken nugget pack at the drive through and divide it among 3 or 4 children.  Then,  whip out the foil and wha-lah, instant travel food pouch. I'm still impressed with myself over this one! So many uses...chips, fries, cereal.  Road trip success.

2. Labeling drinks. Awhile back I got one of those big packs of juice drinks at Aldi with the intention of reusing the bottles. They are a great size! I usually use them when we go to homeschool co-op once a week and it isn't a big deal if they're labeled. On our trip however, I thought it'd be nice. So, I first wrapped duct tape around a clean, empty bottle. Then after writing names with a sharpie and adding whatever stickers, I wrapped them again in packaging tape. Now if I could just get them to stop losing the lids!

3. Dixie cups. Those 5oz. kitchen size. For at the campground I brought dixie cups. Little did I realize how great a choice this was until we got to using them.This is where that whole dual purpose thing comes in to play. Not only do they reduce the amount of dirty dishes needing washed, but being that they are basically wax coated paper, they make excellent fire starters too!

4. Last one for now. Tent lights. I found these at Harbor Freight as a sort of last minute purchase. They were perfect. No need to buy batteries either. They lit up each room of the tent fairly well, have the ability to be a flashlight, come with hooks that fold in for hanging, and even have magnets to store them on the fridge at home and not lose them. At just under $4 each, I might just have to go back for more!

We really enjoýed our week at Tomoka State Park! Here is a picture of our site all setup.