Eulee's First Campouts!

The end of April was all about camping for the kids!

First we took the kids to Inks Lake State Park about 2 hours north of SA.  First of all, packing for camping with kids is a real pain.  After you've packed everything up, you feel like you should be camping for a week to make it worth all the effort you just went through.  It's a lot of work.  You're packing for fishing, swimming, eating, sleeping, sitting, biking, bug collecting...it's A LOT of stuff!  But totally worth it though.

It was Eulee's first time and we were a little nervous, but we figured we had to give it a try some time!  She actually did really well.  That girl is a real trooper (she and Evie are very similar this way).  She just did everything we did and went to bed late with all of us.  B and I had her sleep in between us and it was pretty awful.  She had a little bit of congestion so she woke up quite often...which woke us up as well.  Needless to say, B and I felt like our bodies were broken after 2 nights of sleeping with Eulee on the ground.  Plus, we're old too!  It also didn't help that we were all freezing at night.  It was in the low-50s at night...which doesn't sound cold, but actually felt chilly at 5 o'clock in the morning!  Our faces were all frozen and we had to sleep with blankets on our faces.  Ha!  It really wasn't too cold for camping, but we could have been more prepared for the cooler temps at night.

Inks Lake is a BEAUTIFUL place.  When we left, I was already planning our next trip back. The park is mostly made up of pink granite, so it's very rocky....but a beautiful kind of rocky.  There are vernal pools everywhere in little holes in the rocks that are seasonally filled up with water.  We found all kinds of creatures and critters in those little pools.

We had this huge outcrop behind our campsite that the kids would just climb up and explore.  This outcrop led to a beautiful hike that we all enjoyed one evening after dinner.  It was just gorgeous.

Then there's Devil's Waterhole inside the park.  After a short hike, you can climb up huge rocks to dive down into the waterhole.  Unfortunately, when we went, there had just been lots of rain, so the water was high and we had heard of many water moccasin sightings.  Needless to say, we skipped Devil's Waterhole (another reason we want to go back) and hiked further upstream where there was a waterfall and shallower, running water.  The kids spent so much time in this area.  I really think they could have stayed there all day.  It was just so nice.

Ah-Ma and Ah-Gong even drove out from Austin to spend a few hours with us by the water.  Fun!

The big kids also brought their bikes and our campsite was close to a fishing pier, so we'd just let the older 3 kids take off on their bikes and go exploring while we made meals and packed up.  They loved having that freedom and we loved letting them roam.

This was seriously the best camping trip we've had so far.  I guess it's our first as a whole family, so I don't have anything else to compare it to...but everything was pretty perfect if you ask me.  The scenery was beautiful, the s'mores were delicious, the hiking was great.  Granted we didn't get to jump into Devil's Waterhole and we couldn't rent kayaks/canoes/paddle boats because the water was too high, but we discovered a beautiful place not too far away from our house...and we are hooked!

The following weekend was Dad 'N Me Campout at Discovery School.  The kids look forward to this camping trip every year.  B debated whether or not to take Eulee on this one-night trip just because we didn't want it to take away from the fun that the older kids could have.  In the end, Eulee's charm won B over and so he took all 4 kids hiking without me!  I was shocked because I don't think I'm strong enough to ever do that.  B is definitely one of the best dads out there!

It was a super fun camping trip for all the kids.  After the camp was all setup, they all went swimming for a few hours.

Then they ran around with their friends until dinner time and s'more time.  Each of the kids had friends they played with and B said sometimes he wasn't even sure where the kids were!

They all went to bed late and passed out in the tent.  After breakfast the next morning, they went on a fossil hike with friends.  

Then they packed up and headed home.  What a fun time with Daddy!

The kids are just loving all this camping.  Well, maybe Elina is a little hesitant, but the rest of the kids are obsessed.  We've already booked our return trip to Inks Lake in the fall with friends.  We can't wait!  I definitely see more camping trips in our future!