A few weeks ago, we went camping with our friends, Mark and Erin, plus their little one (named Sophie) and their OTHER little-one-on-the-way (named... whatever Sophie decides to call him THIS week).

This was Sophie's first camping trip. And for a 4-year-old, this was a big deal! (Aside from being "broken up with" by her boyfriend at school last week, that is.)

In fact, we were worried we might not find a campsite that was available close to home... At which point, we were informed that our camping expedition would, in fact, still take place -- it would just be moved to Sophie's backyard instead!

This camping trip was happening, rain or shine... campsite or no campsite.

We camp A LOT. Actually, we used to camp much more when we lived in Florida (and we could even camp on the beach sometimes!), but we still have a lot of fun camping in and around Tennessee nonetheless.

Truth be told, I am SOOOOoooo thankful for my many years of experience as a solo camper on all those biking trips!

(And, yes I still consider myself a "cyclist", though I'm not nearly as diligent about it as I once was...)

Anyhoo, here are our best tips for surviving your first (or your next) camping trip.