Camping virgin needs help. (Be gentle with me, I'm nervous)

[sassy]

Right, so we've bought a tent. me and dd1 are having a weekend in it in 2 weeks time (weather permitting). We've got sleeping bags, airbed and pump, lamp. We'e going with another mum and her dd - they are festival goers so are a bit more geared up.

What do we definitely need?

Any top tips? esp r.e. sleeping, toilets and staying dry

Will I love it ?

make sure you are comfy at night. Camping is no fun if you cant sleep.

Airbeds and a crash mat, this time of yoear you can probably get away with taking a duvet if you don't want to fork out for sleeping bags.

A bucket with a lid for night time emergencies and a 'loo bag' a wash bag big enough to hold a loo roll, squirty soap and a small hand towel.

few plastic bags/binliners - for damp/wet clothes rubbish etc....
couple of pegs (not tent but the other ones) (always come in useful)
torch
flip flops (not for sleeping but easy to dry and easy to put on if your running to the toilet in middle of night)

what are you cooking on?

staying dry- if it's warm but wet, keep the DD in shorts as they won't drag through any mud. I don't bother with wellies in high summer either- jellies and flip flops can be washed under the tap easily enough. make sure you have warm pj's- I always think a good pair is a good a camping investment as anay, as I even managed to get cold this weekend .

Loo bag - excellent idea.

Flip Flops and jelies - will buy those.

Not sure about cooking - will talk to my friend and see what she's got.

Any other ideas?

corkscrew

More toilet paper than you think you will need. Make sure your loo bag is waterproof (even if that means it's just a carrier bag) as S's Law states that it will be chucking down and pitch dark if you need to go at 2am. And it helps if it has a loop of some sort, as there's often nowhere dry to put it down and you really don't want soggy bogroll!

If the campsite's grassy, consider letting your dd run around barefoot, even if it's raining, as skin dries almost instantly, unlike footwear, and you'll be able to keep the inside of the tent cleaner that way.

A water carrier with a tap. You can get them at specialist camping shops, sometimes also Woolies and Robert Dyas. If not that, then the biggest bottle of water you can find (the 5 or 10 litre sort) from the supermarket. You may be a bit of a trek from the nearest tap, so you want to be able to have water at the tent, especially in this heat.

Insect repellant, sunscreen, aftersun.

A flag or lantern or similar to help you and especially the children to locate the tent among all the others.

Have fun!

We got a water holder (collapsible) at the pound shop. guess how much it ost we use that on long trips or just buy the biggest bottle of water at the supermarket on shorter ones