We’ve been celebrating Halloween with the identical group of associates since Chase was a child and certainly one of our associates started internet hosting our crew about 6 years in the past as a result of they’ve the very best neighborhood for trick-or-treating. This 12 months the celebration was greater than only a Halloween celebration nevertheless, because it doubled as a shock fortieth birthday celebration for our buddy Lauren!
Halloween Weekend 2025 + Our Tenting MVPs
The entire girls in attendance got here to the celebration dressed as totally different variations of Lauren! I used to be College of Tennessee Lauren (she’s a diehard Vols fan since her school days) and her response when she realized we had been all dressed as some model of HER for Halloween was priceless!
In fact it wouldn’t be Halloween with out trick-or-treating and we trick-or-treated till the children’ baggage had been virtually overflowing with sweet.
After trick-or-treating, all of the dads took the children dwelling so the mothers might keep again and rejoice Lauren till near midnight. It was an amazing Halloween!
Weekend Tenting Journey
On Saturday, Ryan and I awoke and instantly went into go-mode packing up for a fast 24-hour tenting journey!
Once we noticed a principally free weekend on our agenda a few weeks in the past, we nabbed one of many final websites obtainable at Dan Nicholas Park and crossed our fingers for good climate. It ended up being completely beautiful exterior (I’ll by no means recover from the colourful fall leaves in North Carolina) and although temperatures dropped down to only beneath 40 levels in a single day, we had been ready with sleeping baggage, blankets and layers.
We like tenting at Dan Nicholas Park for a myriad of causes, the very high one being easy accessibility to a small lake that gives our boys with loads of leisure within the type of netting small fish and frogs. (For any native associates, it’s not the very best lake for catching fish with a rod and reel although, as we’ve by no means had good luck and by no means seen anybody else catch a factor.)
The park can also be very near our home (solely a couple of 60-minute drive) and has a lot to do past the campground, together with a number of playgrounds, a mini zoo, gem mining, mini golf, paddle boating and extra. (It seems like a step again in time as many of the actions are priced underneath $2 per particular person.)
The campground is situated throughout the lake from the entire points of interest which we love because it makes tenting really feel secluded from park guests however the whole lot remains to be walkable by way of the lakeside path.
I had somebody on Instagram ask me to spotlight our tenting “MVPs” so right here’s a fast rundown of the provides we discover most useful as newbie campers:
CORE Tent:
Ryan spent lots of time researching this tent earlier than he ordered it 3 years in the past and it paid off as a result of it’s improbable. It arrange/breaks down simply (5-10 minutes!), is sweet and spacious (it says is sleeps 12 which feels aggressive but it surely’s a lot massive for our household of 5) and lined with LED lights which might be extremely useful at night time. It additionally has zip-down dividers so you’ll be able to create separate sleeping areas which was particularly useful when Rhett was 3 and went to mattress/slept longer than everybody else.
Tenting Blankets:
The blankets I initially ordered to deliver to the boys’ soccer video games that ended up being so nice for tenting, too! I like that one facet is nylon (aka it doesn’t decide up dust/grass/turf/leaves) and the opposite facet is sweet and comfy. We used these by the campfire after which introduced them into the tent to place them over our sleeping baggage at night time. I already ordered two extra as a result of they had been so useful on this journey and all of us wished our personal.
Razor Griddle:
We’ve had this for years (we initially bought it for tailgating!) and use it to prepare dinner all of our meals. It pops up and could be very straightforward to make use of to prepare dinner the whole lot from burgers and sizzling canine to eggs and pancakes.
Mini Noise Machine:
Aka the one cause all of us get any sleep. It’s small however can get fairly loud and simply holds a cost by means of 2+ nights. A $8.99 gem of a discover!
Hest Sleeping Pads:
Oh my gosh these are a sport changer. Ryan and I flopped round on a deflating air mattress throughout our first tenting journey and it was a catastrophe. These mats are unimaginable. I sleep one million occasions higher and so they really feel like a real luxurious. (The boys nonetheless use air mattresses as a result of the Hest pads are a splurge and so they sleep principally positive on their air mattresses to date. We do pack the Hest pads for household journey although after we want an additional sleeping spot for them.)
Water Jug/A Few Gallons of Water:
Having clear water entry on the campsite is so useful for brushing tooth with no need to go to the bogs, washing fingers, refilling water bottles, and so on. (We often simply purchase a few gallons of water earlier than a tenting journey.)
Eno Hammock:
This can be a carryover merchandise Ryan had from his in a single day climbing days that our entire household enjoys hanging round in on our tenting journeys.
Chairs:
Our transportable ALDI tenting chairs I purchased on a whim 2 years in the past have held up nicely for the boys (they’re practically similar to these tenting chairs) and this pop-up out of doors rocking chair is for positive probably the most coveted seat in our household — a lot in order that we might must get one other one. (I initially bought it for Ryan as a birthday reward final 12 months.)
Marshmallow Roasting Sticks:
The boys and I gave these to Ryan for Christmas years in the past and so they’re the very best!
Wipes:
For cleansing fingers, surfaces, your physique, and so on.
Kindle/Nighttime Studying Lights:
These are actually useful for our household, as all of us learn earlier than we fall asleep. Since we’re sharing one sleeping space, the power to learn earlier than mattress provides everybody a quiet exercise they will do in the event that they’re feeling stressed.
Sleeping Luggage:
This was one other ALDI buy that labored nicely for us! Our boys all have sleeping baggage from ALDI meant for 40(ish)-degree tenting and above and so they work nicely, although we might must put money into hotter ones as a result of Chase talked about he was a bit of chilly on this journey. Ryan and I take advantage of two Large Agnes sleeping baggage he’s had for years from his previous climbing journeys and so they’re tremendous heat, straightforward to pack and really light-weight.
Each time we go tenting, we attempt to take stock of what works and what doesn’t, what we use and what we don’t and it’s at all times a studying course of. A few of the objects listed above are completely an funding and never essentially one thing I’d advocate in the event you’re simply going to provide tenting a shot one time to see if it’s one thing you would possibly like. They’re objects we’ve acquired over time, as a household who plans to proceed tenting with our youngsters for years and years, and so they’re objects we hope/imagine will maintain up nicely.
It’s by no means good and each tenting journey inevitably has some complications or obstacles pop up but it surely’s at all times price it, particularly because the boys additionally appear to get pleasure from it a lot.
All they really want for a enjoyable tenting weekend in a giant pile of dust… and s’mores.
As soon as we made it dwelling on Sunday, we spent the remainder of the day doing laundry, cleansing up round the home and getting organized for the week forward. Ryan additionally put up half of our Christmas lights although we’re going to attempt to withstand turning them on for a pair extra weeks. (I make no guarantees.)
And now I’m off to get this Monday rockin’. The massive youngsters have a instructor work day immediately and all three boys do not need faculty tomorrow both so it’s a little bit of a wonky week over right here. I hope you all have an amazing Monday and luxuriate in the remainder of your week!
