Spring Break, Part 2

Okay, so I've had a few requests for the "grungy" and "greasy" camping pictures...there are a few of those to share, believe me! But, first, I have to fit in the day in Fredricksburg. Bare with me...you'll see the no makeup, kids-in-the-mud shots, if you're patient. :)

TUESDAY: We spent the night in our second hotel...which was VERY nice with a yummy breakfast! We really savored the hot shower, the Bath & Body travel products, the coffee, the breakfast, and the soft beds, because we knew we wouldn't be seeing most of that for the rest of the week. :)

It was cold and rainy, but we braved the weather, and toured around Fredricksburg, including our favorite stop---The Pioneer Museum. All four of us were fascinated...and of course, the girls were in awe at seeing how a REAL family lived just like Little House on the Prairie.

They played school in an original schoolhouse from the 1800's...

They met a real Sequoix Indian family...I was really interested in this (and in their very warm tepee!!)

They played music and wooden toys at an original pioneer house with this guy (Carlie's friend)...

We visited the blacksmith, and, we even got to have homemade biscuits and cobbler at the chuckwagon! Kendyll especially liked seeing the wagon barn, where many of the wagons looked just like "Pa's wagon".

We also went to an old ice cream parlor, spent time resting in our hotel, and then out to dinner.

The restaurant we chose was in the basement of a hospital from the 1800's. This also was FASCINATING to Kendyll. We asked about the history as we sat down, and our waitress proceeded to tell our six year old that it was actually a morgue as well, and that there were three ghosts who still lived there. NICE. Thank you very much for that. I spent the entire dinner telling her that there was no such thing as ghosts. And, yes, she still brings it up at least a couple of times a week. Here we are heading downstairs to what was probably the old morgue... :)

WEDNESDAY: We head for Inks Lake State Park, but stop first at Wildseed Farms, which is probably beautiful two weeks after we were there. :) It's fields and fields of wildflowers, along with a cute shop and a place to buy your own seed packets. They also have a huge enclosed butterfly garden...which opened three days after our visit. Love that. We took home a few souvenirs from this stop. :) Here's a picture of the girls there, where wildflowers WOULD be blooming if we were there at the right time...

So, finally!!! Here we are at the actual camping trip! Whew! We were all so excited to arrive. I literally had nervous butterflies in my stomach, just wanting it to go well, but still not sure we could pull it off!! I have to say, we were blessed with wonderful weather, awesome facilities (thank you Adam and Cortni for the info on this place!), and had an absolutely wonderful three days.

I grew up camping with my family and have some of the BEST memories from those trips. I remember the smallest of details from those times together, and was very excited to create some of those same family times with my own children. On the other other hand, Mark did not grow up camping, but was excited to try something new. I was very impressed with his camping abilities, and how much he truly enjoyed each part of it. It was a very satisfying thing to do something new together and have so much fun in the process. Sure, we laughed at ourselves and our ineptness on occasion, but we still had fun figuring it all out. And, next time around, we'll be even better at all of this!

There is something awesome about making all of your own food, having nowhere to be at any certain time, and only showering twice in a whole week that just makes it fun!!

So, here we go...

Setting up camp went very well...and look how beautiful!! Mark picked the perfect site!

Within an hour of being there, Kendyll found countless quartz rocks and a hip bone of a deer! It was the coolest thing! And, within that same hour, Carlie declared that she wanted to go home and that she DID NOT like camping. This was because one of the first things she picked up on the ground was a piece of this...

For the rest of the trip, one of our favorite words was "pokeys". She had quite a few "pokeys" stuck in her hand, and, for that moment, she was done with this whole idea of being in nature. For the rest of the trip, she would not go NEAR a pokey. However, she did change her mind about camping at least!

Abby Kate's favorite thing was having free reign in the tent (and especially loved this travel fan...)

Within minutes of finishing at camp, the girls were ready to fish. So, they headed to the lake store to buy their worms. The inspection began to pick out the perfect one to catch their fish...

And, this is my very favorite picture of the whole trip!

Here are my three cuties fishing the first night...within ten minutes, they had caught the first fish of the trip! (And, to Mark's dismay, it would end up being their last. :)

The day ended with hot dogs and s'mores, an AWESOME "first fire" built by Mark, and this as our scenery...it just doesn't get any better!

The bad part came later that night. We found out the next day that the temperature was in the high 30's that night. And, let me tell you, it felt ten degrees colder than that!! The two big girls were completely warm in their thermal sleeping bags. But, Abby Kate had frozen hands and nose. So, at 3:00 in the morning, Mark took a drive to warm up the car (and our baby), and they slept in the car the rest of the night. In fact, AK took almost all of her naps in the car. It was the quietest place in camp, and was the only place we could control the temperature. She handled it quite well, as you can tell...

THURSDAY: We woke up, thawed out, had pancakes and bacon on the griddle, and even had real coffee in a "camping coffeepot"! (You should see the camping gadgets you can buy these days!) Let me say that I definitely need to get better at making pancakes for the next trip. Not exactly like making them at home... :)

After breakfast, hiking was first on the list for Kendyll. We conquered quite a few rocky hills around the park. And, they felt like they had climbed Pike's Peak!

We drove around the entire lake, and stopped at a few scenic lookouts, like this one...this is the waterhole where you can jump off cliffs (in the summer, that is...not in March. :)

Seeing the boats on the lake got us in the boat mood, so we did the only kind that allowed for a one year old baby---the paddleboat!

All three girls LOVED being on the water. Kendyll really wanted to canoe too, but there was just no way to manage that with AK along. Maybe next time...

Here's the boat gang:

The rest of the day was a little bit of everything! We did lots more exploring, a little mudpie making (they were covered), bubbles, frisbee, and football around camp, The kids and Mark did more fishing (I wish you could see Mark's Barbie pole in this picture...he was determined to get another fish!) And Mommy did more reading (almost two whole books!), and lots of cooking. This was our big night for a "nice dinner" at the campsite. Check out these shish-ka-bobs, grilled corn, and "mom's campfire potatoes"!! (and the cute griller-man!) It was delicious and we had definitely ALL worked up an appetite.

The night was filled with more food--more s'mores, and popcorn made "Grandad" style on the stove...We had fun listening to our neighbor family sing songs on their guitar (and singing along when we knew the song!), and enjoyed MUCH warmer temperatures. The best part was ending another day like this...

...and the sad part was that we were supposed to leave the next day by noon. The girls were so sad to be leaving, and really, we were too. So, we decided to wake up early and get on the waiting list for staying one more night...and we got our wish!!

FRIDAY: We were so glad we got to stay, because we fit in a lot of things that we had wanted to do--and we had beautiful 80 degree weather to do it in. We did many of the same things as the other days (shocking, I know), along with lots of playing on the giant playground they have there for kids. Here we are BACK in the water again, where they spent the entire afternoon.

But, our favorite part of this day was our 2 1/2 MILE HIKE!! The girls did awesome, and only got tired as we were heading back to our camp. And, look at Abby Kate's sweet ride! I wish they had one my size!! :)

Halfway through the hike, we stopped for a picnic on the "perfect spot" that Kendyll picked out. (That was her job and she took it very seriously. There were a few times where we would suggest we stop, and she would not hear of it. I was so glad we waited for her decision, though, because she really did find the most scenic spot!) I know these hiking pictures are redundant, but I can't pick a favorite...sorry!

SATURDAY: After packing the car Friday evening, we loaded up the tent and headed out of town. We waved goodbye to our fun state park, and promised to be back again soon. :)

Then, we headed to meet Uncle Austin, Aunt Cassie, and baby Caleb (who is getting SO big!!) in Austin on our way home for some good Mexican food! Cassie brought cute little Easter treats for the girls (which reminded me of how much I had to do when I got home that night!) and we all enjoyed getting to hug on our sweet baby nephew/cousin. Cass and Austin were good sports to meet us in our current condition...smelly, dirty clothes, and smelly, dirty hair. The shower when we got home might have been one of the best ones of my life (right behind the shower after bid night in college!)

Anyway, it was a wonderful trip. Thanks for reading along on our adventure...I know it's ridiculous to be this detailed, but I guess it's my blog and I can do that. :) I really want to remember "the little things"....like pokeys, and shishkabobs, and Mark fishing with his Barbie pole. :) So, I hope you made it through this monster of a post...and I hope it makes you all want to take your family camping! You can borrow our gadgets anytime!! :)