Atlanta State Park - March 31 - April 4, 2015

We just got back from our annual "Spring Break" camping trip!!

We spent 4 nights at Atlanta State Park in northeast Texas and had a fun time!

Here are some picture highlights from our trip!  :-)

I have to point out that ALL day Tuesday Anna was either laying against the camper or the truck!  She was going to make sure we didn't forget her! LOL!  In fact as soon as the kids opened the back door to the truck she jumped in (we of course had to pull her out to put her in the kennel in the back of the truck...but she was one excited puppy dog)!

So our first full day there we decided to do some fishing...of course no luck there (we NEVER have any luck fishing LOL but the kids sure do enjoy trying).  And of course, wherever there is water they are going to find a way to get in it...even if the water is freezing cold!

That afternoon Alyssa and I went on a walk by ourselves!!  We had such a fun time finding all different kinds of wildflowers, that we later drew in our nature journals!

At one point of the hike we came across two wild hogs...they were in the distance a bit and I was going to get a picture until I realized that they were running towards us.  I figured I better find a way to keep Alyssa and I safe.  If they wouldn't have stopped when they did I was going to have her give her loudest scream!  That would have definitely scared them away, along with the rest of the wildlife in the park! LOL!  Hindsight - I wish I would have gotten that picture!  They were HUGE!

For dinner that night we had grilled chicken wings!  YUM!!  I tried three new recipes and all were very good!!

So the next morning we decided to take another hike, but this time we brought along the boys, Daddy and Anna!  :-)

We then came back and played around at the camper for a bit.  The kids had a rope.  Oh what fun you can have with a rope! LOL!

That afternoon we decided to take a trip into town and of course had to end up at Wal-Mart!  I mean, what's a vacation without a trip to Wal-Mart?!?!  We found some really cute suit sets for the boys for Easter and realized that they needed hair cuts!  So we got their hair cuts, ate supper, and even went and got some ice cream!  We also bought a movie to take back to the camper to watch that night (it was RV of course LOL!)

Here is Aaron with his haircut :-)  (he was being silly and putting it into a mohawk - which it does so well going into a mohawk LOL!)

Friday morning I tried a new breakfast recipe - monkey bread! YUM!  It was a hit!  :-)

We tried some more fishing - still no luck!  :-(

That afternoon it was threatening to rain so we came in the camper and played with our new book we got - Sea Creature Origami.  (Daddy took a nap).  We managed to get a seal made!  It was not easy!!  I am going to have to do some studying on this before we do much more with this book!

Later that afternoon the kids, Anna and I went on another hike!  This time we ran across a cottonmouth snake!!  OH MY!  The trail was suppose to cross a creek, but it was flooded (the lake was WAY up!)  So we had to walk off the path to find a point where we could cross the creek so that we could continue on the trail.  We came to a point that looked like a good spot to cross - until I spotted the snake!  Of course I screamed!  But I did manage to get a picture of it!  We just moved further down the creek to find another spot to cross and left that guy alone!

Check out the dogwood in full bloom in the background of this picture!!  There was wild dogwood everywhere and it was beautiful!

See that lake behind us - that was suppose to be the trail...but it was just a wee bit flooded.

And here is our snake friend - YIKES!

One last picture - the last morning - the kids are getting too big to pile in bed with us!! LOL!

We had an awesome time!

Until next time,
Kellie

Cedar Hill State Park February 12-15, 2015

Ok - so I don't have too many pictures of this trip but it was still a good trip!

We have been talking for quite some time about finding a good spot to camp in the metroplex area for weekends when we want to camp but have a lot going on.  When homeschool classes are in session for the kids and I they usually happen every other Friday.  Well this last week they happened to fall on the same day as Daniel's sales meeting in Grapevine!  So we thought we would try it out and see how it works!

We went to Cedar Hill State Park!  It is a big state park and lots of traffic but still better than an RV Park in our opinion!  We went and set up Thursday afternoon.  The kids and I came straight from our music lessons and Daniel met us there with the camper!  So Friday morning we head our separate ways.  The kids and I were only 20 minutes from our classes (compared to 45 minutes from home) and Daniel was only about 30 minutes from his meeting (compared to the 1 hr 15 minutes or so from home!)  So we all got to sleep a little bit later and had a little bit nicer drive to our destinations!  And then we all met back at the camper and had the rest of the weekend to play!!  :-)

We brought the camper home early Sunday morning and dropped it off at the house and then headed to church!  So we had a full weekend of camping and didn't miss church! YAY!  :-)

We will probably be doing this again on a weekend that we are just dying to go camping but have these other obligations!  We can always make it work somehow!!


We made hamburgers with bacon and guacamole and fried french fries for supper on Thursday night!  (you know how I love my food LOL!)  I was in the kitchen and saw them setting up the campfire and thought I would try to capture a picture of my view.  :-)

And since it was Valentine's weekend we had to have some fun!!  We got heart-shaped marshmallows!!

And of course Seth had to climb yet another tree!  He was yelling that he was stuck here!  I told him I would get a picture while his Dad came to help him get down LOL!

I have to remember to have the camera out more for these trips!

Until next time,
Kellie

Fort Parker State Park January 29th - February 1st, 2015

So, we had been planning on getting with my parents in January already and when we got the new camper we decided that what would be funner but to go camping with them!!  We have had our eyes on Ft Parker State Park for awhile and it is good midway point between our home and theirs so we decided it would be the perfect place to meet up!

We actually went down on Thursday.  Daniel's parents came down for the day on Friday and we went to the old Ft Parker and then Mom and Dad got their Friday evening!

The beginning of that week the forecast looked very cold and very rainy....but we all know how trustworthy forecasts can be in North Texas so we didn't pay much attention to it.  And I am so glad that we didn't!  It turned out to be a very nice weekend!

So our spot was RIGHT on the lake and faced the west so we got some AWESOME sunset pictures!  And there was a tree that Seth fell in love with!  (He LOVES to climb trees! I am just glad he never fell in the water! LOL!)

 I finally used the panoramic feature on my phone camera!

Here are some pictures from Old Fort Parker.

Here are a few more pics from this weekend!

 Alyssa found the perfect spot!!!  It was just her size! :-)

 Look at this HUGE tree!! 

It kept looking like it was going to rain our last morning so we decided it might be safer to cook inside... I put our griddle attachment for our grill on top of the stove.  It worked out pretty good (but would probably do better with a griddle attachment that was made to fit that stove LOL - buy we made it work!!  oh  - and that is french toast by the way! YUMMY!!!!!! )

It was definitely another trip for the record books!

Until next time,

Kellie