Today is Clay's and my 16th anniversary. We celebrated by sleeping in our own bed again - get your head out of the gutter! After sleeping in a tent for 2 days, my back needed a real bed. :P
We had a wonderful time camping with the kids for the past couple of days at Carter Caves State Park. We took Julia and Kat camping a long time ago, but they don't really remember it. This was Elliott and Lucy's first time. Clay was really hoping that they would enjoy it because we are hoping to make this a regular thing - sleeping in a tent. :P
The kids were really unhappy with us when we decided to pack up last night instead of this morning to head home. The weather was going to be iffy, with a chance of scatter storms, so we were on the fence about going/staying. When a bus full of high school students pulled into the campsite and started unloading tents, etc, we decided we'd get the heck out of there.
Clay is a master packer...and so begins the Griswald family camping trip!
Tight fit
If we were at the campsite, this is what Elliott was doing (if we weren't eating - which we seemed to do alot). I can't tell you how many hours this boy spent on his bike.
Clay took the training wheels off Lucy's bike. She was eager to learn to ride it. Big sister gave a hand.
We woke up to the smell of bacon. Yum!
We decided a hike seemed like a good idea. We maybe should have picked a shorter one, but there was alot of neat things to see on this hike... we hiked 3.8 miles. Lucy is a stud! We may have bribed the kids with ice cream to make it that last mile without complaining.We saw several millipedes, snails, a deer, a turtle, and a small snake.
It's hard to see Elliott because of the sun, but look high up on that rock. He and Clay are two peas in an adventurous pod. I prefer to keep my feet on the ground. That boy is going to give me a heart attack one day!
This is right after a small snake slithered in front of Lucy.
When it's nearly 90 degrees and you don't have air conditioning, you find a creek to play in.
The kids enjoyed eating hobo meals. Heck, I may start cooking everything in tin foil!
Just so you know, cooking cinnamon rolls over a fire is super yummy! It takes a little while, but it's worth it!
We ate good - and it felt like we ate all the time.
Clay worked with Lucy for maybe 10 minutes on riding her bike, and by golly, the little lady had the hang of it! A nearly empty campground is a perfect place to learn to ride your bike!
A tennis court is an even better place to practice your riding skills
When you go to Carter Caves, you need to go in a cave. We toured the Cascade Cave. There are also two caves that you can explore on your own, but we ran out of time. This park is really neat! We would love to go back sometime to see more.
We decided to act like old men and play a game of horseshoes (it was part of the Family Adventure Quest). We had no idea what the rules were, but we had fun throwing the horseshoes! We may be just a little competitive.
Highly recommend this state park. Tons of stuff to do and see. And if you eat at the lodge, get the banana pudding. It was warm and delicious! You will thank me.
Love my family!
(Pay no attention to the old lady neck rolls)
