Here we go. I have a list of things that I want to do with my kids this summer before they go back to school. Feel free to share your own ideas and experiences about family friendly summer fun in Kamloops.

1. Go to Music in the Park at least once a week - it starts a 7pm in Riverside park and is every night through July and August. You can find the schedule of artists playing here.
2. Visit the farmers market on the North Shore and downtown every week - I love seeing what appears as the season goes on and the kids love being so close to the food they are going to eat. Encourage health, local choices and support your local farmer’s and artisans.
   Saturdays - 200 block of St Paul St - 8am - 12pm
   Fridays - McDonald Park, McDonald Avenue  - 4pm - 8pm
3. Take the kids on a backpacking trip - most likely quite close to home and a short walk in since my youngest is 3.5 my daughter and I did a trip near the end of school that was 5.5km in and then back out. Wells Gray is a great family friendly area.
4. Swim at the outdoor pool in Westsyde - crazily Kelowna does not have any outdoor pools but Kamloops (being far superior) has several. I have yet to take advantage but intend to visit at least one this summer. You can check out the schedule posted here
5. Eat the fruits of our labours - we planted a garden this year. Each of the kids got to decide one thing that they would plant. My daughter chose strawberries and is eating the first round right now. I chose potatoes and the plants are super tall! My son chose peppers, chocolate peppers to be precise and he is so excited to taste them. It isn’t too late to get some produce in the ground to eat later in the summer or see above to eat the fruits of someone else’s labour!
6. Komasket Music Festival - if you haven’t been you need to check it out. This is one weekend that we never miss for the positive vibes and fabulous music it is a beautiful environment to spend a few days with your family and others.
7. Bike ride at McArthur Island - one of our favorite passtimes but certainly not reserved for summer vacation. My son’s fav is the ‘dirt hills’ aka BMX track. We like to go early in the morning so we can see the deer on the golf course.
8. Build a Solar Oven - we (me) are super excited about this project it is partially completed and we hope to cook our first potatoes in it on Sunday the kids are skeptical but extrememly curious.
9. Float the Thompson River - you may want to wait until your kids are a bit bigger to attempt this one as the currents can be dangerous. My daughter is a healthy swimmer this year so we are going to dawn some life jackets and dingys and introduce them to their first Thompson River Float.
10. Camp in the backyard - ok so we have already done this one but who says you can’t do any of these more than once?! It is fun to pretend you are in the wilderness while giggling steps from your door and you can always retreat inside quickly incase of bears.

That is it. Have a happy summer my fellow Kamloops Parents may all your summer camps, camping trips and activities be filled with joy and laughter. Hope to see you out there!

Taking five kids camping is no easy feat. Heck taking any kids camping is a tribute to our parenting skills if they come home happy and wanting to go again the next time. We hiked just under 6km to Moul Falls with the kids this weekend. It was their first big hike of the year and they did awesome. The camping trip got me to thinking what we could do for the kids to help them along their way and foster their independence in a way that only being in the outdoors can. Here are some of the thoughts that we had:

1. Each and every child who is hiking on their own two feet gets a whistle on a lanyard and is instructed how to use it if you get lost - 3 short blasts and then wait and listen for a response.
2. Give each of the kids 3 and up a hydration pack with a couple snacks and some additional clothing in it. They will be sure to stay hydrated when they can be in control of thier sipping and can have their very own snacks when it is break time.
3. Take your time and be sure to allow for lots of stops. Affirm to your child that this is a hike and not a carry, we have time to wait for you to have a rest so you can continue. Build up their stamina with lots of shorter hikes (1-2km) before going on a longer one.
4. The world is a different place when you are 3ish feet tall especially a forest. Bring a flora and fauna field guide and make a stop a chance to learn about the plants around you.
5. A magnifying glass is the best camp toy going. So simple and yet I had never thought of it until now. The kids thoroughly enjoyed them and their 100 inch nature ‘hikes’.

We noticed that kids are a lot less picky when it comes to food when you are camping well maybe not a lot less but a little ;) Oh and the best adult discovery of the camping trip - a section of the newspaper, rolled, tied into small sections with string and cut into small tubes then dipped in candle wax is the best fire-starter ever. And a solar oven is a must for summer time camping.

I got tired of making camping lists.

Generally speaking I know what I need to bring when we go camping. We’ve been many times before and we packed the camp bins. But it always seems like I find myself questioning or wondering if I have forgotten something and it inevitably turns out that I find out I have when we are four hours from civilization - oops. I eventually got tired of making lists and wondering if I left anything off the list that is crucially important.

The solution: a master list; I wrote down everything in my camping gear and everything that was missing for a couple camping trips and left the list in my camp gear. Then when I was relatively confident I had a complete list I made a master list and I taped it to the underside of my two main camping containers. Then I ‘laminated’ the lists with packing tape.

Last night while my partner marveled at my brilliance he requested that I write a blog post sharing my idea. As we went through our camp gear for the first time this season I got out my trusty rusty crayola marker and crossed off the items we already had in the bins and circled the ones that were missing we soon had a short shopping list of the items we knew we needed. With minimal thought we quickly ran some checks and were confident we had well stocked our gear. I also left some space at the bottom of each list where I could write down anything I forgot or extra we wanted to bring.

There were four lists in total:
1. Smaller general items - cutlery, knives, utensils, matches, garbage bags, etc (and the camp stove goes on top of this little indispensible bin)
2. Larger, mostly cooking items - dishes, cooking pots, wash bin, misc handy camping stuff you don’t use that often but sure are glad you brought when you do actually need it, fuel, etc.
3. Groceries (this list is tucked into a pocket I made from the other list) - staples that we always bring like oatmeal, pasta, granola bars etc.
4. Sleeping stuff - tent, pad, sleeping bag… I am sure you get the idea

And that pretty much covers it. I should have taken some pics last night for you all to enjoy and get a visual of what the heck I am talking about but I am sure you get the idea. I could of course post the lists if you really want.