Simpler Living Blog

FAMILY ACTIVITIES, INTENTIONAL LIVING

Backyard Camping: Quality Family Time on a Budget

Lehman's
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One of our family’s favorite things to do is to take a staycation at home. We work all week to get our day-to-day work finished, plan the menus and pick up any needed groceries, and anticipate the beginning of our staycation just as if we were packing up to go somewhere. We plan daily short hikes and excursions in our local area and then spend afternoons at home… together. The challenge is to stay focused on resting, doing only the needed chores and leave the rest alone. I am guessing you can identify. When you stay at home, it’s nearly impossible to see that little job or the lingering to-do list hanging on the refrigerator and not do it. But that is the point of a staycation- to let the work wait in order to focus on time together. That’s why when we plan one of our staycations, and admittedly it has been a few years since we pulled it off, we camp in our backyard. Seeing the family tent setup next to a campfire and the fixings reminds us that we are “somewhere else” and those extra chores are off limits. We cook most of our meals outside over the fire or on the grill and eat at the picnic table on our deck. As we are setting everything up in the backyard, we ready the cast iron pans, roasting sticks, over-the-fire waffle and popcorn makers, and our favorite cast iron Dutch oven. Meal prep together is a favorite time. We enjoy the fire as we sit together or watch the kids play and savor the slower pace, we aren’t on any timeline out here. [caption id="attachment_39240" align="aligncenter" width="800"]

Cooking breakfast over fire in Petromax fire skillet

Cooking over a fire brings savory, mouthwatering flavor to your meals.[/caption] After the meal, we do only what cleanup is necessary and take care of our barn chores before deciding what the evening’s entertainment will be- a riveting game of badminton or wiffle ball, playing a movie outside on a screen, or maybe just making s’mores around the fire. At bedtime, the tent and bedding smelling of woodsmoke, the kids snuggle down into their sleeping bag with the dancing firelight as a nightlight. Staycation for us is a wonderful way to be intentional about our time together with the comfort of our own home. I guess the whole point is pretty straightforward. You don’t have to go far and spend tons of cash to make memories with the ones you love and consequently find joy in the simple things.

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