And sometimes, it’s amazing.  Listening to Adelaide tell story after story with her story dice.  Watching Hudson make piles and piles of broken twigs for the campfire.  Listening to Josephine squeal with glee watching everyone.  Watching Eleanore tend the campfire safely.  Even when the firewood is soggy and the campfire refuses to light, it’s worth it.

We camped at Cedar Point Campground in the Croatan National Forest (close to Emerald Isle, North Carolina), and stayed at campsite 22.

Friday we woke up to storms and rain.  It got really windy quickly when Jason had taken the big kids to the bathroom, and when a small branch hit our shelter, I jumped in the truck with Josephine for a bit.  Later we saw that there were a lot of downed branches across the campground.  Storms and dropping branches (or trees!) are the scariest part of tent camping.  It looked like rain for the day, so we headed out for some sightseeing by car.

We ended up at the Aquarium at Pine Knoll Shores and actually got in free, except for Hudson, because we home school!  Hudson isn’t school age, so we had to pay for him.  The aquarium was nice- a little small but all the exhibits looked clean and well maintained.  Adelaide and Eleanore loved touching the rays and horseshoe crabs.

The weather cleared up later that afternoon, so we stopped at a public beach for a walk nearby.  The waves were pretty high because of the storms, and we got to see numerous puffer fish and cannonball jellyfish washed up on the shore.  We stayed out of the water due to all the jellyfish.  They were really cool to see, but I wouldn’t want to feel one!

Saturday’s weather was gorgeous.  Cool and crisp, but still sunny.  The *perfect* camping weather!  We drove over to Beaufort after fixing a nice breakfast, planning to take the ferry from there to Shackleford Banks, an island known for its wild horses.  However, when we got to Beaufort we discovered the ferry was only running from further away Morehead City that day.   Heading out of Beaufort, we followed the coast a bit and on the nearby islands, what did we see, but wild horses!

The ferry from Moorehead City leaves from the Cape Lookout National Seashore Visitor Center, a National Park, so we got to stamp our National Park passport book- I love that little book, and took some time remembering all the places we have gotten it stamped as I flipped through it.  We almost have the Southeast Region completely filled with stamps.

Cape Lookout has an amazing lighthouse with the checkerboard pattern the Outer Banks is known for.  It hadn’t opened for the season yet, but you can still stop at that island to check it out via the ferry.

The ferry to Shackleford Banks dumps you out right on the sandy shore- no dock!  That was a bit of a surprise, and we took our shoes off so we wouldn’t get wet jumping off in a few inches of water.  You can even backpack camp there- there were quite a few tents set up and people with all their gear.  It may have given us a little spark of inspiration to give it a try in the future.  We saw their packs, and Jason and I started talking about how the girls were big enough to carry some gear on their backs.

It was very windy on the island, and we walked down the shore picking up shells for about an hour and ate our packed lunch on the beach.  The island is so beautiful, but the wind blowing sand into us was a little painful for the kids in shorts- wear pants!

It started to rain, so we picked up the ferry a little earlier than we’d planned.  We didn’t manage to walk among the wild horses, but we did see them as we left!  The ferry stopped at the Cape Lookout lighthouse before heading back, so we got a closer look from the ferry but we didn’t stop to explore.  We headed back to our campsite for some fantastic spaghetti- it’s so amazing how satisfying cooking and eating outdoors is after a day of exploring.  The kids had a blast making shadow puppets in the tent after dinner and then Eleanore read from Harry Potter and the Sorceror’s Stone before bedtime.

This post is from Lisa's personal blog post from May 2017, but we knew it was worth sharing with you. We hope you enjoyed this blast from our adventuring past.

Feeling inspired?  Check out our fun camp mugs to liven up any trip!

I’ve been thinking a lot about safety lately.  With the wildfires in Utah, and the news story of the hikers who got stuck on a short trail when they hiked to a waterfall, and the hiker last fall in the Smokies who got lost on a short hike and died, it reinforced the importance of spreading the knowledge of the ten essentials.

The Ten Essentials.

It sounds complicated.  Like something you only need if you’re going deep in the wilderness, miles away from civilization, right?   Or just for those Scouts really roughing it.

Wrong.  Emergencies can happen ANYWHERE.  Some of the hikers in Utah that got stranded were on an easy 1.9 mile hike.  A trail many people hike with no supplies except a bottle of water and maybe a snack.  The hikers that got stranded, however, ended up having to spend the night on the trail and hike out on a different path, all with no essentials.

Here are the Ten Essential items you should be carrying with you on hikes, and some of my tips:

1. Navigation (map and compass)
   A trail map- we always stop at the visitor’s center at the parks we visit to pick up a trail map.  I also take a picture of the maps provided on the trails just in case.
   A compass is great, but only if you know how to use it.  Check out these tips from the American Hiking Society on the basics.  NOLS also offers great classes for more in depth work.
2. Sun protection (sunglasses and sunscreen)
   A sun hat for your kids is also a great addition.
3. Insulation (extra clothing)
   A light jacket if the nights get chilly, rain or wind breaker if you’re in the mountains and storms can roll in quickly.
4. Illumination (headlamp/flashlight)
   and make sure it has working batteries!
5. First-aid supplies
   Lots of band aids-especially if your kids go through band aids like mine do, tweezers for splinters, antibiotic cream, an epi-pen if you have anyone in the family who requires one, bug spray
6. Fire (waterproof matches/lighter/candles)
   We always have one of these waterproof match holders in every pack we have and an extra in the car.  Lightweight and waterproof!
7. Repair kit and tools
   A knife and a strip of duct tape- wrapped around a hiking pole or water bottle are two things that are often recommended.  You can fix a pair of broken shoes, broken glasses, etc with a small piece of duct tape.  A small length of paracord is handy, too, in case you need to make a shelter, or make an impromptu shoelace.
8. Nutrition (extra food)
   Self explanatory- but snacks are important, especially if you have kids!  Definitely necessary in an emergency situation, but necessary in general, too.  Nothing motivates and distracts kids away from their boredom or whinyness than food, so pack some extra granola bars or applesauce pouches.  For hiking, I stock up on prepackaged snacks we don’t purchase a lot, to make them special- lara bars, zbars, fig bars.  We also always have a couple of these in our packs- Yummy Earth organic suckers.  Nothing motivates my kids back to the car like the promise of a sucker.  We don’t use them EVERY hike, but they’re good to have on hand, and are a great boost when you or your kids need it.
9. Hydration (extra water)
   Water is a necessity for all our hikes, but a small water filter is also a good idea.  We have a few of these very lightweight and easy to use Lifestraws-you just dip it into water and drink through the filter like a straw.  Sawyer Minis are another really good option.
10. Emergency shelter
    This sounds complicated, but isn’t.  A large tarp, a simple garbage bag, or one of these emergency blankets could provide a bit of warmth and shelter from rain if you needed it.  I also recommend a whistle for every person in your family.  Teach your kids to use them if they ever get separated from you.  Many packs have them build into the straps, but I also recommend these.  They don’t have a ball or pea, which can break or jam and render the whistle unusable.