Camping With Twin Infants

5 Families = 1 Fun Camping Experience

We made it unscathed! The camping trip was a great success. The largest hurdle was the twins sleeping for the first time in their travel cots. The first night we only experienced one hiccup. Margot woke up crying right after Clem crawled into bed. Clem made the mistake of peaking in on her and the noise he made, woke her up. Thankfully a bottle soothed her back to sleep. The second night was without issue, they both slept like babies. 

For this camping trip we invited several of Paley’s classmates and schoolmates. The parents were out numbered by the kids but the kids truly kept each other busy. Of coarse there was the occasional bonk or fight over some toy. Most of the time the kids resolved their issues on their own. The parents really got to relax most of the time, except when they pulled out a game here or there. My friend Chris Ann got roped into a few of those games.

The campground we go to is Memorial Park, located in San Mateo County. The camp has been around since 1924 when it was acquired from the logging companies who logged the area from the late 1800’s to the early 1900’s. Eventually the park was memorialized for soldiers lost during WWI. The federal government turned the park into a campground through the WPA movement that President FDR created after WWII. 

The Kids on the last day! Still all smiles! 

My dad started going to this camp in the 60’s with his family, after they moved south from Redding to the east bay. His family continued to go to the park, making my first camping trip to the park when I was a baby. My mother loves to share the story of how when we were infants, they would use a refrigerator box as our sleep and play crib. Yes children back then, there were no travel cots for infants, your dolly stroller is what we actually rode around in and that comfy federal and state regulated car seat is a Porsche compared to the pieces of thinly padded boards held down by a lap belt that coined the term car seat. 

So camping is still in our future with 3 kids in tow. Next summer we already have a camping trip planned to the same park but with a group of Clem’s friends this time. We are also going to explore another pastime from Clem’s childhood and spend a week at a summer camp somewhere in a cabin. I’ve been researching a few places and plan to write a blog post about my findings sometime this Fall.