Any excuse to go camping right?! We do a Christmas in July camping weekend each year and it's so much fun! But what is it? What do we do? Well, let me tell you all about it...
Family & Friends
Firstly, it wouldn't be like Christmas without at least a handful of family & friends, would it? This tradition started with my parents' friends, then we joined in, and each year seems to bring new faces. We continue the tradition each year, sometime in July.
Camp Spot
Over the years we've tried all different locations to host our Christmas in July weekend away. The things we need to consider are:
*Powered & non powered sites
*Large open area to have a communal area & multiple fires (for the camp oven feast!)
*Amenities for those not self-sufficient.
*Within 2hours of home for an easy Friday getaway.
Food
It certainly wouldn't be Christmassy without lots of food. We set up a private facebook event and about a month prior to the weekend we pick what kind of dish we'd like to cook and delegate whatever else we need, to those who don't choose themselves. Everyone knows what each other are responsible for. It has become a camp oven competition of sorts.
The food run down is basically:
Mains (Meat dishes)
Sides (Vege/Potato Bake/Damper)
Dessert (including egg nogg & mulled wine!)
And for those who aren't into cooking: Nibbles Platters
We do the feast as a late lunch on the Saturday, this is an all-day event!
If you need camp oven food inspo, check out our Camp Oven Recipes blog.
Secret Santa
Presents! After the feast we do Secret Santa. The rules:
Each adult brings 1 gift worth $25. Parents are to buy their own children a gift to unwrap.
Presents are all wrapped in newspaper and put around the tree.
Numbers are put in a hat and picked at random to set order of opening.
Each adult gets to choose and unwrap a gift, BUT they can choose to swap gifts with someone who has already opened a gift, if they see something they like better!
#1 gets to have the last say and can choose to swap from anyone's gifts as they don't get a choice to start with.
So. Much. Fun!!
That's the basics of our Christmas in July camping weekend, great quality time with family & friends and great food! It gets everyone involved and committed to booking a weekend away together. Do you celebrate Christmas in July?
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