Camping with kids in Big Bear California

The last time we camped was back in 08'. Sad right? Before kids my husband and I loved to go camping but after kids it wasn't really a top priority and it seemed like it would be a lot more work with babies.

My son has asked us continuously for the last couple of years if we could go camping again. We kept telling him we will go soon. Of course life just gets busy and camping is low on the totem pole of priorities. In January we decided we are going to start camping again that this was the year to reignite our love for the rugged outdoors.

Our first camping trip this year was at the start of spring break. We decided to camp our for two nights and three days after a little research online we decided on Big Bear to go camping. The funny thing is as we told friends that we were going camping in Big Bear most of them looked at us like we were a little bit crazy. You see most of the locals are still going skiing in April. It is true there is still snow in Big Bear but only on one mountain not the one we camped on.

Of course we had checked the weather and knew it would be a little chilly at night. So we made sure we had warm sleeping bags and a borrowed heater ...the heater was awesome!

My husband found a great campground for families called Serrano campground. This is a great campground for first timers and for families because it has bathroom facilities, showers and cleared campsites. It is not a rugged campground. I really appreciated the super clean bathrooms (they clean them three times a day) we did not use the showers because we forgot towels but they looked great.

After surviving the first chilly night my husband made a delicious breakfast and tried his hand at percolated coffee...it was not good. So he headed to Starbucks in town and brought back yummy coffee. Now I know some of you die hard campers are shaking your head at the thought of getting Starbucks while camping but I'm not an all or nothing kinda girl so I enjoyed my coffee guilt-free.

I was able to use a dutch oven I won in a chili cook-off years ago for the very first time. I was super excited to use it. I ended up making a yummy pot roast and boy did it hit the spot!

The kids favorite part of the whole trip was a hike in the Woodland trail. It is a mile and a half long and perfect for little kids. There were sixteen markers throughout the hike that taught us about the plants and wildlife indigenous to the San Bernardino mountains.

Big thanks to the workers at the Discovery Center for steering us to the right activity for our kids. If you are ever in Big Bear make sure you stop by the Discover Center they have a ton of ideas, maps, activities, crafts, and adventure passes.

My kiddos had a wonderful time running through the bushes and "hunting" cheetahs, bears and snakes with their sticks. My husband and I enjoyed the quiet unplugged time we were able to share.

Everyone had a wonderful time even with the chilly evenings. We are already planning for our next trip sometime this summer!!