A Camping We Will Go!

So I've been thinking a lot lately about summer and stuff I could do with the kids on the cheap. 

Now that Johnny's 4, I feel like he's old enough to enjoy some adventures and make some great memories. 

Thanks to a couple of issues with the car,  we're a few hundred dollars behind where we were hoping to be this time of year, so a hotel for a couple of nights is pretty much out of our budget. 

Then I got to watching some videos on YouTube with my mom, who plans on hitting the road and perhaps living out of a van/rv part time. 

And it hit me. Why can't Johnny and I take a few overnight trips this summer and camp in my Jeep Patriot?

Camping in the Jeep would save us possibly hundreds of dollars on a hotel room or Airbnb, which would afford us to eat out a few times and hit up a local attraction or two while we're in town. 

I've gathered a few supplies and contacted my uncle who owns almost 2 acres of land. He agreed to let us come camp over in our Jeep for a couple of nights. I figure we will drive down on Friday, camp out, do the Cameron Park Zoo in Waco on Saturday, camp that night (already in talks with Uncle Jay about a campfire - can you say SMORES?) and home on Sunday morning. 

And now I need to know; What are some of your best camping tips? (We need them desperately!)