For ages now I’ve wanted to take the girls camping (I used to go a lot myself), but they were either too young or we didn’t have the tent, or we didn’t have the time. Finally we decided to bite the bullet and a couple of weekends ago, we went on our first camping trip. Though we had the tent, we had very little else. We bought a couple of camping mats, Lily needed a sleeping bag and I had to dig out all sorts of old bits and pieces like the airbeds from our youth, the car cigarette lighter air pump and things like that. We made sure to bring an axe to split woods since we wanted to build a campfire. We also borrowed a few bits and I bought a book with campsites in it, all before we were ready to go (I later found a site called Planet Camping which would have been great to buy things from). We settled on a weekend away, up in North Yorkshire. The village was called Staxton, though technically we were only a few miles from Scarborough.

We set off after Chris finished work and the journey was only about an hour and a half. The place we were staying at was called Spring Willows and it was specially picked (partly by availability) because it had a swimming pool. We arrived around 7.30pm and quickly set up the tent. It took a while as it had been ages since I last used it, but we got there fairly easily. Next we blew up the kids airbeds, got the sleeping bags ready and settled in for the night.

In the morning, we had a light breakfast of cereal bars, brioche and iced coffee. Afterwards we headed to John Bull Rock in Bridlington, only to realise the factory was closed and it was a wasted trip. However we stopped for a coffee anyway and then headed back to Scarborough. When we arrived and parked, we decided to walk around the shops. We stopped at Subway for lunch and eventually made our way to the beach and the amusement arcades.

After a while spent in the arcades, we went for a walk along the promenade. We stopped for a drink and to catch Pokemon (!!). Eventually we wanted back to the town and then back to the car, before heading back to the campsite. After relaxing for a while, we went out for dinner. There was a local fish and chip shop which we had decided to eat at and it didn’t disappoint! Afterwards we went back to the campsite and chilled out. We spent a little time in the games room, playing pool, air hockey and pinball. However in the end we went back to the tents and slept (we’d caved to buying air beds for Chris and I while shopping that day so it was a comfier night sleep!). Trout fishing is one of the most popular types of fishing in America. It’s a great way to enjoy time with friends and family while getting some exercise and fresh air. If you’ve never caught trout before, it can be difficult to land them at first. But don’t worry – here are some trout fishing tips for beginners! Usually, mornings are best because there’s less movement in the water due to less sunlight.

When we woke in the morning, we had breakfast again and then packed up the car. We had missed the swimming times the day before so we made it our mission to catch swimming that morning. The pool was amazing but I actually enjoyed the shower afterwards even more. Once we were finished, we headed to the car and drove to York. Since we still wanted to enjoy our weekend, we had decided on another day out, walking around the shops and having lunch out in York.

The weather was lovely as we strolled around York, popping in and out of shops. We visited the Disney Store (of course) and then had a late lunch at Bella Italia as we all love it there. Eventually though we headed home, getting back for around 5pm. We had a lovely weekend away and can’t wait to go camping again!