As many of you know, we’ve spent the last several months living full-time in our RV and traveling around to see various National Parks. That means a LOT of meals packed in on hikes or in the car!

I’ve started branching out a little more on the foods we eat, but one of the staples I usually have on hand is a box of Wheat Thins- my almost 2 year old LOVES them, and frankly, we all do! It’s a nice salty snack on a hike or when we get back to the car.

But I’ve also found that they serve another important purpose- they are the perfect backup when mama forgets the utensils!

The first time I had to rely on good ol’ Wheat Thins was in Yellowstone. If memory serves, we had just finished a LONG hike- like 8 or 9 miles- and people were hungry! I pulled out all the sandwich stuff- and promptly realized I forgot plates and a knife! We could make do without the plates easily enough- everyone could just hold their sandwich and I could just use the bread bag as my working space- but what about the knife?!

And thus, the Wheat Thin knife was born. They actually work pretty darn well! Granted, every once in a while if I’m being a little too vigorous the Wheat Thin will crack in half, but then it’s just a tasty snack for me while I finish compiling the sandwiches ;). And they actually spread the peanut butter and jelly beautifully!

I’d love to say that’s the last time I forgot a knife- but it’s definitely happened since. What can I say? Remembering to grab everything (even with a list!) is apparently not one of my strong points. Wheat Thins has saved the day more than once!

You’d think this would be the extent of the heroism of Wheat Thins, but nay! They came to the rescue again in a completely new way just this weekend…

We’re currently staying near Bryce Canyon National Park, and it’s BUSY. If you don’t get to the park early enough, there’s a good chance you’ll get turned away and told to take a shuttle into the park because there’s literally no space for private vehicles! Which is great if you’ve planned ahead for that, but if not- that’s hard to figure out with 6 little kids in tow! We were only turned away once, but luckily we had to eat lunch anyway, so by the time we had eaten our yogurt parfaits and turned back around, we were able to get in just fine.

I give you this background so you can understand my plight. On Memorial Day, we had a FULL day planned. We woke up at 5 in the morning so we could watch the sun rise over Sunrise Point in Bryce Canyon, and we planned to hit Navajo and Peekaboo Loops- a total of about 9 miles of hiking. We also knew the park would be busy, so we packed breakfast and lunch so that we could stay in the park and not have to worry about leaving and then not getting back in.

We watched the gorgeous sunrise and happily walked back or our car ready for a full day of hiking. I pulled out everything I needed to make our yogurt parfaits- and then realized with a plummet in my stomach that I totally spaced grabbing bowls and spoons!

With a full day of hiking, not eating was definitely not an option. And I hated the idea of leaving the park to get bowls and spoons- because what if we couldn’t get back in? The parking lot was already quite full. I scrounged around all my lunch materials and snacks to see if there was anything I could use- and lo and behold, there was my trusty box of Wheat Thins.

While it wasn’t ideal, we made it work! I dipped Wheat Thins in the tub of yogurt and passed it to all the little ones (who couldn’t be trusted to not double-dip ;) ), and then let the big kids help themselves. Then we just ate some of the strawberries and almonds on the side. While a bowl and spoon would obviously have been better, Wheat Thins came in and saved the day in our little dilemma!

So now I know- ALWAYS bring a box of Wheat Thins. Because chances are- I’ll probably forget something else! ;)