Time to start thinking about vacation next summer?

Having a large family we don't take many expensive vacations. Not saying that I wouldn't like to, it's just not very economical for us! By the time we put 8 of us on a plane, rent a car, rent 2 hotel rooms, plus eating out and admissions to places, we could have bought a small island somewhere!

Just about every vacation we take right now involves camping and driving to the destination. Which is fine with me, I love to camp and so do the kids.

But right now is the time to start making reservations to some camp grounds. Many start booking 11 months out. Our favorite park, Garner state park in Texas, books solid within hours each day they release camp sites 11 months away. We already have our sites for next July.

But all is not lost if you decide to go last minute and don't have reservations. Last year we wanted to go to Dinosaur State Park, up by Dallas and didn't have a camp site booked. We were unable to stay in the park ( they also fill up FAST) but we did find a private campground outside the park. These are usually more expensive, and you will have to pay the park fee every day on top of that, but you have to suck it up if you didn't make reservations a year away!

Like the dino footprint?!

The camp ground had these adorable little cabins that we rented spur of the moment. They were quite a bit more expensive but my little one had just gotten out of the hospital with asthma problems and I was exhausted. So the extra money was worth it to me, not so much the husband, but hey, I was the one up all night nursing :)

The insides were a little 70's, flash back to my friends basements when I was a kid, but we had a blast.

My children who are used to camping were in heaven! They thought the little cabins were the coolest trip ever! We brought all the bikes because we had room with no extra camping gear which was a great choice. We rocked as parents for the weekend....

Had to throw in the token cute baby picture.

If you are thinking about camping next summer, you might want to see if you can make reservations now. If you would like some personal reviews on parks in Texas we have been to most of them, just shoot me an email!

I personally use Reserve America for almost all my reservations. Click HERE for their site. If you are going the day before you have to call the park directly.

What are your plans for next summer? Have you made reservations?