Camping

We had quite a busy weekend around here! Saturday morning we packed up and headed off to Raccoon Creek State Park. It was such a beautiful day. We wound our way around the lake and took a little side road to a boat launch area. It was bitter sweet taking Maya for a swim there. It was the same spot that we always took the pooch to when we were in the park so she could swim.

Maya did an awesome job at swimming. It is hard to believe that it wasn't too long ago that she would only take some tentative steps into the water. This was her first trip to a lake and she was retrieving like a professional.


The kids had a great time throwing sticks for her,


and just goofing around on the shore.


Will and Greg looked for boats out on the lake.

I even got Maya to jump off the dock.

The second time off the dock she was a lot more hesitant and needed a little push.


After Maya's swim, we went off to find a place to picnic. The sun was pretty hot but there were lots of shady areas. Marcus was way more excited about the picnic than he was expressing in this photo:

I don't know what I was thinking in this picture.

With full bellies, Will thought it was a good idea to try to climb a tree.


Then we were ready to hike. The last time we hiked at Raccoon Creek, Greg and I each carried a kid on our back. Although this was still a possibility, we much preferred to hike somewhere where the kids could walk themselves and use up their own energy instead of ours. We choose a short hike to the Mineral Springs. The trail runs along a creek and comes to a small waterfall.

There are areas where the water comes out from the rocks. The water is heavy in minerals and over the years has stained the rocks orange. The water drips onto these two big rocks and has eroded them away making these large bowls. Marcus and Will thought the bowls were perfect for "cooking".





Then it was up some steps to an old building that apparently used to be a spa.





We spent the night camping! We took the kids on one camping trip last summer that was a lot of work. Since we are still tent campers, there was just so much stuff to pack - tents, sleeping bags, sleeping pads, coolers with food, ice, cooking utensils and stoves, firewood, toiletries, clothes, extra shoes, and pretty much anything else that two adults, two kids, and a dog might need over the course of a night. We just happened to stumble upon the best campsite possible to make our evening under the stars practically stress free.


Yes, that is our house in the background.

Marcus and Will were so excited about camping. After getting the tent all set up, we played in the yard a bit and sang some campfire songs, minus the campfire.


We briefly thought about getting a fire set up but a fire ring in our yard would just be one more thing that Greg would have to mow around. The kids are really into taking pictures with my camera. Every once in awhile they snap a good one but this is the best we got of Greg and me on our camping trip.

We saw our little bunny friend, Brownie, hanging out by our campsite. I was fortunate to get a snapshot of him. It was likely the photo taken of Brownie ever based on some bunny remnants Greg found in the yard this morning. RIP Brownie.

Marcus was so excited about camping that he kept asking if it was time to go to bed yet. If I knew my kid would be begging me to go to bed, I would start camping out every night. Once the kids were tucked into their sleeping bags, neither of them were all that excited about camping anymore. There were a few tears and lots of reassurance that we were just outside the tent before they finally fell asleep.

Greg and I hung out on the porch all evening reading and play cards.


Maya hung out too, keeping watch over her two brothers in case some wildlife would happen to show up.


We didn't even have any trouble tearing down camp in the morning. We took turns hanging out with the kids and watching cartoons while the other one packed up the gear. We wasted no time because the weekend wasn't over and we still had one more fun activity to attend...

TO BE CONTINUED...