It really shouldn't have been a good camping trip. 95-degree days in the Carolina low country, with an average of 85 percent humidity? Two kids, one a toddler, who had never camped before? I expected it to be kind of a grind but we had a surprisingly great time during our three-day stay at Lee State Park over the eclipse weekend.

We decided to camp because literally all of the hotel rooms and Air B&Bs in the whole area were booked up by the time we made our reservations. We chose Lee State Park as our camping spot just because it was near Florence, where our friends were staying. But once we were there, and saw all the park had to offer, we were glad we chose it. First of all, Lee State Park is home to some of the largest numbers of hummingbirds in the state of South Carolina. We saw so many different varietes of them, whirring about like little jewels. Did you know they make a clicking, chirruping sound as they fly? At some points we were surrounded by what seemed like a full on swarm of them.

Besides that, we saw a ton of other wildlife during our stay. Anouk's nature journal features several different frogs, spiders, centipedes, fish (in the kid-friendly swimming hole on the grounds), lizards, and a bobcat (that we heard yowling outside our tent one night, eek!)

But probably the most interesting things we saw at the park were the artesian wells. I had never seen one before and didn't know what they were so if you're in the same boat: Basically, an artisean well is a pipe stuck down into groundwater reservoir that's under pressure so that it flows up to the surface without a pump. The water is uncontaminated so it is clear and cold and clean. In the 1930s, the CCC drilled several of these wells at Lee State Park and most of them are still pumping over 80 years later! The kid were able to splashed and played in them like fountains. It was a nice way to cool off.


If you are looking for tips for camping with kids in extreme hot weather, here are some things that helped make our trip a little easier. First, frozen water bottles. Before we left, we froze 24 water bottles and loaded them into our cooler. At night, we all took bottles to bed with us. If you wrap them in a sock adn stick them under your neck and arms, it can bring the temperature down enough so that you're comfy enough to sleep.

Second: head lamps. Anouk kept losing her flashlight in the dark and freaking out, but once we stuck the head lamp on her, she was fine and bonus was able to use her hands to make smores.

Third: the Story Nory podcast. Before bed the kids wanted bedtime stories but it was dark and by the end of the night the grownups were pooped. We put on the Story Nory podcast and let somebody else read to them instead and didn't have to haul a bunch of books around in our packs.

Four: You can never have enough toilet paper. Bring several rolls.

Five: Sawyer Picaridin Insect Repellant Lotion. (You're welcome!) It has literally no smell, doesn't feel greasy, and works just as well as DEET. It evaporates more slowly than DEET though so you don't need to reapply as often. It also doesn't carry the same neurotoxicity concerns as DEET, according to my pediatrician. Sold!

Are your little ones happy campers or do they prefer to stay indoors? What tips/recommendations can you offer for camping with kids? Hit us up!

Swamps get a bad rap for being hot, humid, and stinky and a terrible place to be in summer. But don't believe it! Swamp Stomp at First Landing State Park this summer has been a blast. For those who aren't familiar with the concept: the program involves a short hike through the woods, under trees laden with Spanish moss. The park ranger hauls up big netfuls of muck from the bottom of the swamp and spreads it on the boardwalks. Then you root through it to search for the water bugs, amphibians, and invertebrates that live there.

This event is super hands on, and kids are encouraged to touch and explore, to gently hold and examine the things they find and compare them to pictures and information provided by the ranger, who does her best to make sure that everybody finds something! Anouk found a tadpole (with legs, halfway through metamorphosis!) and a couple of water scorpions and man, you would have thought she'd found gold nuggets. I love to see her getting less squeamish with bugs and squiggly things and to learn about the landscape that she lives in.




Besides learning about swamp life, we also heard, as we hiked, some fun facts about the dune ecosystem of the park, the variety of trees and vegetation (did you know this is the farthest north Spanish moss can grow?), and water quality (did you also know that the tannins in leaves make the swamp water super pure to drink? -- but I'm not going to try it any time soon).

Swamp Stomp is held at the park every Tuesday and Friday throughout the summer and is only one of the fantastic programs that First Landing puts on. Check out the full roster of offerings here.

PS: BUG SPRAY. We've found picaridin to be the best against mosquitoes, ticks, and those awful biting flies.

When I mentioned to a friend that we were planning a trip to the Mariners Museum in Newport News, she told me that the little kids might find it a bit boring, or over their heads. But because I'm curious and because admission is only $1 during the summer months (!), we went anyway, and I'm so glad we did! Either we are boring or the Mariners Museum has changed, because it has been one of our favorite outings of the summer so far.

The exhibits in the museum cover all things having to do with sailing, navigating, naval wars throughout history, boat building, even the intersection of the space program and the sea. There is enough information given in each exhibit to satisfy the nerdiest adults but also tons of kid-friendly parts of each exhibit as well. There were ships to go in and climb on, barrels of seafaring goods to poke around in, wheels to turn, ropes to knot, and all sorts of hands on fun.






Anouk's favorites from the trip were: the computer games that simulated a sea battle and allowed her to trace trading routes around the globe, the exhibit on Polynesian voyagers (more on that in another post), the model of the ironclad USS Monitor and all of the information on that wreck and the artifacts that were brought up from it. Gus loved: the rooms of model ships (from the Titanic to ancient Egyptian barges), pressing the buttons in the WWII submarine, the spinning globe in the navigators library, and climbing in the wooden play boats in the small park outside.

We ALL enjoyed the exhibit on the America's Cup race, and all of the technological innovations that go into making these sailing yachts lighter, faster, and more aerodynamic. There were a ton of things to touch and play with, and seeing the catamaran that won the race hanging from the ceiling (it's so big!) was really cool.

We spent two hours plus at the museum and still didn't see everything. So we'll have to take advantage of the dollar deal and go back before Labor Day!