I camp every season at least once. As others have mentioned, investing in a good air mattress makes or breaks the trip I’ve found.
I bought mine about ten years ago on sale at Walmart. It’s a
double high queen size and it’s the best purchase I’ve ever made. If you can do it, get one that’s got the pump built in. Kids are typically good on a water toy air mattress. You will need a converter that can plug into your car (they can be plugged into a cigarette lighter for older cars or the dc outlet in newer cars). Because of my mattress I often find that at least one of my friends ends up sleeping in my tent and with me on almost all my camping trips. Everyone makes fun of the girl with the big mattress until they’ve spent one night on the cold hard ground. Lol!!
I have also found that getting one of those long thin
Rubbermaid storage bins is a HUGE asset for camping (I actually have two now got both on sale at Walmart too). My initial purchase was to pack my tent and ground tarps in it. It’s great because at the end of the trip you can literally toss everything in and you don’t have to be too worried about neatly folding when the bottoms all muddy or full of bugs/slug slime. Then just take it all out and hose down when home allow to dry and repack neatly for the next trip. I also use a second one to pack all my gear in, so my flints, ropes, camping stove (in case we don’t get fries going because of wet grounds), cutlery, TP, food that doesn’t need to be cold, bag with clothes, etc. Having a small car and being able to pack these two things and go have been great. It saves SO much space and I can still pile stuff on top, usually the dog’s things and friends tents or stuff.
Otherwise E and her friend will have a great time. Obviously, hotdog “octopus” are a must, along with pop corn on the fire and s’mores. Obviously, lots of things to do at the site is a must when camping with pre-teens and teens, a few good books too. Enjoy your time spent in nature, it’s always so peaceful and it’s always the best sleep I get.
I also forgot, a good pro tip before your trip. Get your Dad to show you how to assemble the tent (with E there). That way you can allow the tent to air out some and see if it requires any patches. I also like to buy a couple cans of
tent water proofing spray and spray along all the seams of the tents. This repels water and morning dew from getting into the tent. Again, this has saved what could’ve been awful camping trips. Yes, there’s been a lot where it’s rained a lot on our trips.