October 23-26
We have been wanting to go camping for a while so decided to go camping in honor of Chester’s birthday. We decided to wait until after Apple Butter to go. I figured that the campgrounds would have lots of availability with it not being summer any longer and school being in session. Well not so! I forgot it was peak fall foliage time! We didn’t want to travel too many hours so we could maximize our camping time. We were able to find some availability at Douthat State Park which is only 2 hours away. Hurrah! Anyway today (23rd) I got up and got all our clothes and food packed up and ready to roll. We headed out around 5pm. I believe. We had to stop at Walmart on our way out. Chester ran in and got the groceries while I got dinner ready. I had cooked pork ribs in my crock pot all day so it was ready when we left. Perfect! I’ll have to remember that for other times we are heading out somewhere. So nice to have it hot and ready and easy to throw in the motorhome so we could go ahead and get on the road. Once we finished dinner we headed on to Douthat. We were able to get a spot and pretty much just got settled in and then headed to bed the first night.
The kids thought this was a great way to ride along. I love Kolby’s feet in the air. Needless to say I snapped a picture then they had to move. Didn’t need them to be the first thing to go through the windshield if we had to slam on the brakes.
Friday we ended up moving to another spot before we set up for breakfast. The kids slept in. I was worried that Kolby was getting sick. He slept in late and then got up and asked to get dressed then climbed back in bed and went back to sleep. Crazy! I guess he was just worn out after camp and all the late nights since. Chester, Cooper & Bryant went on a mountain bike ride in the morning while Kolby slept. I read a book and then once he woke up and ate Kaylin, Kolby & I played games. We played Jenga and Memory. Kolby was a whizzbang at memory!
I got to pay Jenga with these 2 cute kids!
So fun teaching them a new game!
I loved how she would try to catch the tower if it was falling.
My biking guys! They biked around 3 miles.
The guys biked up to this overlook of the lake. So pretty!
Thankfully after his nap and breakfast Kolby was raring to go. When Ches and the boys got back they realized Bryant had left his gloves up at the top of the trail a few miles away. We had lunch and then Chester rode back to get the gloves. The kids and I gathered up firewood and then chopped it up.
Woodcutter Bryant!
Cooper working hard on getting some firewood.
Love my cute kids.
Love you too Bryant!
In the late afternoon we hiked down to the creek. The kids had a blast throwing rocks in and trying to cross the creek without getting wet. It was amazing to just relax and enjoy God’s creation.
Hiking down to the creek.
Kolby loved throwing rocks in. His rock size just kept getting bigger and bigger though.
Bryant loved seeing how close he could get to getting wet!
Our Kaylin girl!
Oops! Cooper fell in.
Hey good-lookin’! Glad you had a birthday so we could go camping!
Trying to keep Kolby from falling in because he was throwing huge rocks. :-)
Having a blast!
Stunt-man Bryant!
He was having way too much fun!
A Rock message Cooper made for Chester.
When we got back Chester went to work starting a fire. He was determined to use his new fire starter stick. I don’t know if he got it to light that night or not but by the time we left he had started a couple fires with it. Way to go Babe! After dinner we had to have Smores before crawling into bed. I just really enjoyed not having anything pressing to do. We headed to bed early and got to just crawl in bed and read a book. How relaxing!
Trying to start a fire with his firestick. (without matches)
Enjoying Smores with Nutella!
He never got tired of playing in the fire.
Yummy smore!
How does it taste?
Chester managed to keep everything balanced on his lap and arm rails.
Saturday we got up cooked pancakes for breakfast before heading down to hear about a sand presentation. The guy who was giving the presentation used to work for NASA and he had a few pieces of the insulation tiles from a few space shuttles. They were made from sand! It was pretty interesting learning about how the tiles were made. Before the presentation got started Bryant decided to climb the mountain nearby.
Bryant decided to free climb this mountain. He got way up there before we told him that was high enough. He is right in the middle up there!
Bryant is up the hill a little to the left of the middle. That hill was pretty steep. He is a climber!
Kolby wanted to climb up the hill with Bryant so bad. I was able to sit him up by and tree and he was so happy!
After the presentation we headed back to the motorhome and packed a picnic lunch and wen for a hike around the lake. The kids did so well. It was really fun being outdoors together as a family. The weather was BEAUTIFUL! We were able to wear short sleeves during the day but it was plenty cold at night and in the morning to enjoy a nice toasty fire.
Fixing to head out on our hike around the lake.
Selfies! Hard to do with a group!
Hiker Kolby ready to go with his hiking stick!
Kolby & I
The lake was so pretty
We hiked all the way around the lake.
Stopping for our lunch break
While I was eating Kolby snuggled up to me. He got all situated and said, “Nice headrest Mom, nice headrest!” So cute! He was all kicked back ready to relax.
Kaylin did such a great job crossing the creek on a fallen log when we decided to take a shortcut through the forest.
I even managed to cross a few logs with Kolby on my shoulders, without falling in. That sure was interesting.
The side of the lake that we ate lunch on.
So pretty!
The lake
So fun hiking with this little dude! He loved that hiking stick.
More lake shots
Bryant checking out the dam.
Chester, Kolby & Kaylin checking out the dam.
We hiked about 3 miles around the lake. We stopped and watched a wedding on the water’s edge and let the kids play on the playground. So proud of the kids making it the whole way.
Sunday morning Bryant decided to take Kaylin & Kolby on a hike up the mountain we were camped by. They were gone for a while. We couldn’t see them or hear them for a little bit. We were starting to worry about them when we heard them laughing and talking on their way back down. They were so thrilled with their little hike. After breakfast we packed up a lunch and some snacks and went on another hike. The kids had gotten backpacks of gear at the ranger station. The backpacks had binoculars, compass, field guides, etc. in them. Pretty neat. You could just borrow them for a hike and bring them back when you were done. The kids thought they were pretty neat. Anyway we headed out to a spot you could look out over the lake.
Ready to head out on our mountain hike.
My family
A very weird growth on this tree. It was hard like bark. Not sure if trees get tumors or cancer or what it was. Very strange. It was several feet wide on each side of the tree.
We made it to the overlook!
The kids were all checking out their backpack gear.
Bryant taking a rest
Hiker Kaylin
Cute Kids
My hiker husband!
After we made it up there we decided to try to hike on to a waterfall to have our lunch there. It was a pretty good hike. I ended up carrying Kolby most of the way up. We finally made it up to the waterfall. It was very disappointing as it was just barely a trickle of water running down over the rock. Oh well. We made it and were proud of our accomplishment. We ate our lunch then headed back down. We hiked 3 miles total!
Cooper & Bryant eating lunch with the waterfall in the background. :-)
The waterfall! Bryant decided to climb it. He is up at the very top, you can barely see him.
I zoomed way up on Bryant so you could tell where he was.
Kolby wanted to climb up every rock that was along the trail on the way back down. He was so pleased with himself.
When we got back we had just enough time to rush around and pack up before we had to be out of there at 2. Wow! Such a fun weekend! Very relaxing and good to be a family! So glad we could do it.
Our rig!