This might just be the longest we’ve gone in the past three years without traveling someplace new. My inner wanderlust is so confused right now, is yours?! We had a big camping trip planned in the Smoky Mountains later this month, but with everything going on in the world right now we obviously had to postpone. After looking forward to that adventure for months, we decided to salvage our spring camping trip but do it in a totally different way: have it at home!
After spending a few weeks stuck at home, we thought there was no time like the present and planned an outdoor backyard camping getaway. I’m so excited today to share a peek into our recent camping “trip” with Academy Sports + Outdoors. I’m also sharing a few tips to make your backyard camping trip a breeze along with highlighting a delicious dinner & dessert recipe (that you can cook over outside over an open flame!) More below …
Backyard Camping
Take Your Family on an Outdoor Adventure without Leaving Home
Even if we weren’t all collectively self-isolating at home right now, I would still 100% recommend planning a backyard camping trip. Going on an adventure only steps away from your backdoor can feel like your traveling worlds away, especially these days.
Create a Cozy Campsite without Having to Pack
Packing for a camping trip is unlike packing for any other trip. It requires A LOT of planning and well … packing! Whenever we hit the road to our favorite campsites, the trunk of our car is usually filled to the brim with goodies and gear. It was so refreshing not having to meticulously plan or pack for our backyard camping adventure. We were able to haul our gear from our garage several yards away straight to our “campsite.”
Set Up Your Site as if You Were in the Wilderness
We wanted our backyard camping trip to feel as close as it could to what it would have been like had we made it out to the Smoky Mountains this spring. So we set up our site with all of the gear we would have packed with us on a traditional trip.
We have a few different tents that we use depending on the adventure. The one we used for our backyard trip is the Magellan Outdoors Tellico 3 Person Dome Tent. It fits a queen air mattress and still leaves room for shoes and small bags. This is a great tent size for couples, small families or older kids who want their own tent. The set up is super simple and the price can’t be beaten either at only $29.99! We also love this larger one linked in this post for longer trips or if we’re camping with friends.
Sleep in Comfort & Style
When you are camping in your own backyard, you can easily bring your comforts of home outdoors. We set up a cozy air mattress, topped it with a sheet and a few blankets and pillows. Annie was so excited because we also surprised her with her first “big girl” sleeping bag for this trip! This purple one is by Magellan Outdoors and also from Academy. It’s rated for 45-degrees and even comes with a matching pillow. Annie squealed with delight when she opened the bag and the pillow slipped out.
We are having a blast seeing our love of camping and the outdoors through our daughter’s eyes.
Entertain with a Game or Two
One of the major differences between traditional camping trips and backyard camping trips are the activities. At home you may not have trails to hike, lakes to canoe or wildlife to watch for in the distance. But with a simple backyard the possibilities of outdoor fun are endless!
Academy has an amazing selection of outdoor games, activity sets and even playsets for children. We brought out our Lone Star Bag Toss Set for a bit of afternoon fun. Annie might not be a “corn hole” pro just yet but she loves tossing the bean bags with us. A few other games and activities we’ve found from Academy that we love not only for camping but for every day are this sidewalk chalk paint set, horseshoes, this hammock, Annie’s wooden playhouse and bubble soap. We’ve been trying to get really creative with outdoor activities these days and Academy has made it so much easier!
Shop our Favorite Outdoor Activities
A few other games and activities we love that you don’t need anything but our imagination are nature scavenger hunts, stargazing, and traditional campfire songs and stories.
Fuel Your Fire in a Fire Pit
What’s camping without a campfire?! At home fire pits are all the rage these days and we frequently enjoy evening fires in our Mosaic Bowl Fire Pit from Academy. (This one is currently on sale for less than $70 by the way!) We moved our fire pit from the back porch to our campsite and surrounded our roaring fire with folding camp chairs. Once the fire was lit, it truly felt like we were off on our adventure and far from home!
PS: Patrick is a master when it comes to fire building! Annie was so intrigued while watching him start the fire from scratch & it was so special to see them bond in this way!
Dining al Fresco by the Fire
I don’t know about you, but making dinner and eating it outdoors is half the fun of a camping trip! When it comes to camping food, we like to go the easier the better route. I am also a firm believer in the fact that food tastes more delicious when eaten outdoors!
Whip Up a Crowd Pleasing Dish
Skillet Carne Asada Nacho Recipe checked off our list as something simple to whip up and eat by the fire. To save time, we seared flank steak in advance in our kitchen but you can easily do so in a Lodge Cast Iron Skillet over an open fire. Once the steak was ready, we filled the skillet with tortilla chips, topped with cheese and sliced steak to roast for about ten minutes or so. We topped our nachos with sour cream, pico de gallo, homemade guacamole, cilantro, and poblano peppers.
Heavy duty reusable plates are perfect for dining outdoors and we love Academy’s selection of Enamelware. From coffee cups, to percolators, plates and cutlery, we’ve been collecting it through the years and bring our set with us on every trip.
Don’t Forget the Desserts!
If you didn’t eat smore’s while camping … did you even go camping!?
Smore’s add a bit of magic and deliciousness to every camping trip. In the past, we always used sticks we’d find in the woods to roast our marshmallows. But after stumbling upon Academy’s Camper’s Smore’s Grill our days of catching sticks on fire mid-marshmallow roast are over! This nifty smore’s grill can roast three smore’s at a time, feeding hungry kids (and their parents) that much faster.
For an even sweeter take on traditional smore’s, we sometimes like to drizzle a bit of caramel syrup on top of the chocolate. It may be sticky but it’s oh-so-delicious.
We don’t know how much longer we will be social distancing and spending our days stuck at home. Regardless, I do know that we will be planning more backyard camping trips in our future – even if the world is our oyster again! This setup took only about half an hour and gave us hours upon hours of family fun and a break from the routine that each of us needed.
Academy is so easy to order from online and they ship pretty quickly too. If you’re looking for an escape right now (when that’s the last thing we’re able to do) I can’t recommend a backyard camping trip enough!
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Big thank you to Academy for partnering with me and sponsoring this post. I have such fun teaming up with brands I love and that my family purchases from regularly. It was such a treat to share this adventure with you all. As always, all opinions are my own. Thank you for supporting the brands that make Lone Star Looking Glass possible.
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xo, alice
Have you done backyard camping before? Let me know in a comment below!
