Great thread, surferguy! Lots of really good advice here already. I can add a few more from the "luxury" side of camping to make it a bit more enjoyable. Links are attached to each item for easy reference:
- Fire tripod;
- Dutch oven or any other cast iron pot to hang over fire (Canadian Tire has them on good sale periodically);
- Mr. Heater - Propane space heater; they come in smaller and bigger sizes. I bought mine at Cabela's but they're often sold half-price on FB Marketplace.
- Heavy-duty tent spikes - I saw the concrete nails suggestion and it's great; but they could be a pain in the ass to pull out of hard soil; and they're not that cheap too. I bought this set for $20 on sale and they're really tough.
- Pop-up change/toilet tent - this thing is stored flat and takes no space in transportation whatsoever; pops-up in seconds by itself. Put a sh.t-bucket in it and it becomes a private bathroom for kids and women.
- Over-the-fire portable folding grill - this thing is very useful for steaks, veggies, skewers, burgers and hot dogs.
- Folding shovel for anything that needs digging.
- Percolating kettle/coffeemaker - not a necessity, for sure, but a great thing to have.
- Camping table - we got Woods one at Canadian Tire. The base folds and the top rolls into a neat small package. It's all aluminum. Great little table.
We also bought a pop-up canopy to set over the table.
All of the above things are really cheap on amazon and, obviously, not for backpacking. But if you are driving with kids, they do not take a lot of room at all. A couple of axes (large and small), a good knife with saw, lots of rope etc.
P.S. I wouldn't waste my money on a Yeti cooler unless you're planning on transporting live organs for transplanting. Coleman, Igloo and Woods are all good coolers that keep the stuff in them cold for up to 4 days, if properly packed. They're four times cheaper than Yeti and go on 50% off sale every so often. Yeti is grossly overpriced for a plastic box with foam in its walls.
This review sums it up nicely.