Thank you again, I will go camping on June 11, will see how things go this time.
I also agree with my wife, it got kind of complicated to go camping and it ruins the fun.
When I was backpacking I would stick everything on my back, get into the train for 12 hours, then hitchhike to the camping spot/mountain, then do day hikes, move the tent and repeat.
Backpacking sleeping pads, backpacking tent, burning only wood we could gather... At least I did not go to extremes, as we were not moving camp daily so did not have to get the lightest things (plus did not have money for the real advanced gear).
Now with a car(minivan) full of luxury camping stuff, it is not as fun as before...
We kind of have everything binned for camping, I just need to go through the bins and replace the expired items/batteries/whatnot as we did not use them for one year.
This time I will remove the meat/eggs and so on from the meal plan, or perhaps just get enough for the first night. That should remove part of the stress with preparing.
We have a gas camping stove so tea/coffee/cooking is really fine and quick (reminds me I need to get some fuel :)).
And we are anyway only going for two nights now, those are fine. The harder ones are when we go for 4-5 nights...
Regarding the cots, I don't think I can fit 4 in the current tent, might be the right time for a new tent...
The current tent is this:
https://www.rei.com/product/128687/rei-co-op-grand-hut-4-tent And it is really a grand hut, but when you are 4 inside it gets a little crowded.
I will think hard about getting a larger one where I can fit cots in.
I have some good (at least I think they are good:)) air mattresses, these
https://smile.amazon.com/gp/product/B01FELZ3TW/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1When we first got them we slept on them in our house and we were thrilled. Unfortunately it seems it is not the same in a tent :).
With the dog, we first need to neuter him so if we leave him somewhere he is not isolated. He is just over one year old and leaving him in dog care for 3 days around dogs without being able to play with them does not make me feel well :). We'll neuter him in the next 2-3 months and then will be able to leave him in dog care instead of hauling him with us.
Unfortunately this means this summer we will have to adjust our vacation plans with him in mind too.
EDIT: when going camping I am the one preparing food, setting/taking down camp, cooking/making coffee/washing dishes, especially because my wife is doing this a lot at home and vacation should be vacation.
We keep it simple with cooking, I don't want to go camping to grill (although I get my cast iron grill for a nice steak from time to time).
When I go camping I want to just relax/hike/play as much as possible, if I want to cook and wash a lot of dishes I can stay home :).