#Feastinthewoods || Wild Camping

Over the bank holiday weekend we went along to do some wild camping with Feast In The Woods.

The feast was held in a secret location somewhere in Kent.

For a first camping trip with 4 boys it may have seemed a little crazy to go somewhere, where there

was no running water and no electricity but there's no adventure in playing it too safe.

Plus the whole idea was to get away from all our gadgets and gizmos and just enjoy time as a family.

Not being able to wash wasn't an issue, the boys were quite happy in their own smells.

We arrived just after 4 on the Friday evening.

We got first pick of the bell tents and decided to head for the one at the back in the corner, just incase the boys decided to do some midnight crying, we'd be out the way and wouldn't disturb people.

Also having the beds on the floor looked more than ideal, no child could possibly fall off one of those in the middle of the night!

The boys were all excited about being in the woods and were desperate to go and explored.

So once the van was unloaded we put on our wellies and went off for a mini adventure.

Along the way we lost Noah to a group of boys his age and pretty much that was the last we saw of him.

Other than when he returned to eat and sleep.

The twins used to be our wild boys and would love nothing more than running into the woods and exploring and not worrying about one of us being by their side.

 It really surprised me when they didn't really run and play.

They said it was too scary and that they wanted either me or Jon with them.

I think they would have quite happily just spent the weekend playing by the tent.

Noah was the one I was more worried about, as usually he finds something to moan about in everything we do.

Specially being away from his beloved PS4.

Once he'd bonded with the other boys he was the happiest I've seen him in a long time.

He returned each night around half ten when it got dark with brand new scratches and scrapes to show off that he'd got whilst making dens and playing chase in the woods.

He'd crash out and wake the next day eager to run off and find his friend Blue.

Ru-bear by name, bear by nature!!

Ru was in his element in the woods, he was so content walking in the woods looking at the trees and plants and hunting for bugs.

Every time we were back at the tent he would sign "trees" and we would have to go for another walk.

He probably walk over 5 miles a day.

Not once did he head bang or hit out at someone.

He was calm and a joy to be around.

On Saturday I signed up all the littles for forest school but the twins were too tired and wanted to stay back at the tent and nap.

So I took Ru along hoping he'd behave and not have a melt down. As he doesn't always do well  being in a group environment.

There was no need to worry, he was amazing!

He listened well and did what all the others were doing and I could really see he was enjoying himself.

We went on a bug hunt, did some bush craft, bark rubbing and best of all....we made FIRE!

It was a great experience and I'm so gutted the twins and Noah didn't want to go along and give it a go.

Everyone we met and spoke to were really lovely.

There was plenty to do and not once did the boys ever say they were bored.

I spent half of Saturday afternoon painting kids faces, I took the boys to get theirs done and as soon as they were done I had a line of children asking if they could have something done.

Now my face painting skills are a little rough around the edges but I had no complaints and all the kids were pretty impressed with what I did and I had no angry parents coming up to me asking me what I had done to their little angels faces.

I also learnt how to weave a bracelet using a plastic fork. Something ill be doing again at home.

On Saturday evening the Feast was served and everyone flocked in to fill their plates up.

We decided to wait a second and then head over, which was a bit silly as we were left with the scraps. Even though we didn't get a lot, we managed to get most things and everything that we had tasted delicious.

We left on Sunday rather than staying till Monday, as the wooden pallets we were sleeping on were doing nothing for Jons back and he was in a lot of pain.

So we missed out on some activities and the communal BBQ.

We all loved it so much that once we were home we actually wanted to be back in the bell tent.

The twins woke up on Monday morning and the first thing they asked Jon was 'When are we going camping again?!?'

It's made us realise we would quite happily buy our own tent and more camping supplies and spend most weekends camping.