More Camping Adventures!

We went away this weekend on another camping trip. We LOVE it! We have so much fun just hanging out together with no interruptions, going on hikes, playing on the playgrounds, and other fun adventures we can get into…I mean find. =) It was a beautiful weekend. We hesitated going b/c there was a chance of rain and it was supposed to get COLD! Well Friday and Saturday were wonderful. Saturday evening it started getting cold and Sunday was beautiful too but got pretty chilly. Overall, It was a perfect weekend for camping. I did discover that my weeny dobie needs to have a jacket. She was pretty chilled the whole time, even in the trailer. We haven’t turned on the heat yet in the trailer….Clay tried b/c Mya seemed so cold but we couldn’t get it going. Clay thinks we need more propane. We really don’t have much desire to run the heat (A/C too) b/c it is noisy. The best advice was given to us….get heating blankets!! They work wonderfully and you feel all toasty and comfy snuggled under it sleeping while it is freezing outside. But that didn’t help Mya any. The dogs kennel inside the trailer so they are sheltered from the cold. The dogs kenneled together on this trip and I think they enjoyed the extra warmth. We even covered Mya up with some extra towels. So next camping pics might include Mya in a stylish winter jacket….LOL! Pathetic, huh?!?

We really enjoyed this state park. It was beautiful and more hiking trails than we could walk in a week! We arrived at dark and knew we were by the water but the view when we woke up was very nice!

This was Clara’s “fishing pole” she made. She kept saying, “shhh, I’m fishing!”

Clara and I found a secret passage to the lake. She then showed Daddy and the boys when they got back to camp.

When the boys went off hiking on their own they found a great surprise! A fantastic rope swing! We all tried it out except Clara…she will have to wait a few years! She wanted to go so bad!! The water was really beautiful and it reminded me of Arkansas.

My 3 monkeys!! Christian is at the tip top…..He can climb anything!

The campgrounds had a great playground!

Clay and Christian had a contest to see who could climb up the rock wall with no hands the fastest….Daddy actually won! We were all blown away that he beat Christian!

Clara all bundled up on Sunday! She has footed PJs on and then her outfit Candy and Matt got her for her birthday! We had a blast! Ready to go again!

I also had to add that we found our first letterbox on this camping trip. There were supposed to be two hidden but only one was intact. It is such a fun time to follow all the clues and end up with the "prize"! I took this pic with my phone so not the best.

Somebody is 3! & Thanksgiving too!

I am doing it again….lumping multiple things into one post.  Why do I stink so bad at blogging?  Uggghh!  Anyway…here goes!

My baby girl turned THREE on Nov. 19th!!  She was also sick on top of it.  So we had a family party planned but canceled it so we wouldn’t share her sickness with others.  We had a quiet little party just the 5 of us.  We had a good time celebrating the blessing of Clara!  The girl LOVES Smoothie King (she calls it Smoothie Came) and asked for a smoothie along with the vegan cookies they sell.  How bad are we…we had no candles so a baking/cookie stick did the trick.  She was in heaven with her smoothie and cookie!

Taffy and Papa Dave got Clara the play-doh set and the cutest PJ’s!  They sent them home from work with Clay so she could open them up on her birthday.

Clara loves all things teeth!  She will probably be an orthodontist or dentist when she grows up.  I bought her some toothbrushes.  This was her favorite present.        

Notice in this pic she has not put down the toothbrushes yet!! and when inspecting the other gifts, YEP!  Still holding the toothbrushes!

I am including the pics of Clara opening up her gifts from Meemaw and Pawpaw (out of order) b/c she opened them on Thanksgiving but it is still part of her birthday. 

 

This is an AWFUL pic b/c of the flash but Meemaw had gotten this for Clara 2 YEARS ago!!!  It is a china tea set.  It is beyond sweet and the cutest thing!  Clara liked it!

Meemaw also picked out the sweetest book called The Little Teacup that Talked.  It made me cry!  She also included a book Little Girls Bible Storybook for Mothers and Daughters. 

I cannot believe my girl is THREE!!  Life flies by so fast!  She is smart, funny, thoughtful, stubborn, and beautiful!  She loves to do her schoolwork and will ask to do it.  She was getting her hair trimmed the other day and while sitting in the chair she asked to do schoolwork when we got home.  ;)  She got her first professional hair trim on Tuesday.  She was not too thrilled with the experience but was thrilled when Sirmunia did her nails after we finished.  She loved it!

Saturday, the 20th, Clay and Cullen headed out to Houston for Cullen’s purity weekend.  It came up so fast.  Clay did a great job of planning it.  He got VIP tickets to the Toby Mac concert.  They got to go backstage and do  Q&A session with the bands, and a tour of the center.  I gave Cullen my camera and had high hopes for lots of pics……these were all I got!!

If you want to know more about purity weekends here is a peak of Christian’s purity weekend post here.  I go into more detail of the lessons used to teach how important it is for our children to stay pure for their future spouses.  Cullen is much more quiet and reserved about sharing about his weekend.  I pray that he protects his heart and chooses his friends wisely.  I pray that he will choose a spouse that is Godly.  Cullen said he had a lot of fun but getting anything else from  him is like pulling teeth.  =(

We also enjoyed a great Thanksgiving.   Taffy (Clay’s Mom) had a kid table set up to have a drawing contest for being thankful.  They had fun.  Then we all played Farkle!  We had a BLAST!!  We then went to my Mom and Dad’s and enjoyed dinner with my Matt, Candy, Mom, Dad, GG, Jerry, and his daughter, Melissa, and her 2 girls age 3 and 4 months.  There is so much to be thankful for!  We are so blessed!  

Christian got to drive the boom lift my parent’s neighbors had rented to trim trees.  He had a blast!

Here are some pics of my 3 year old! 

Here she is eating a tomato at the boys flag football game.  We had bought them at the farmer’s market before the father/son game.  She got hungry and asked if she could eat one of the tomatoes…she ate it just like an apple but ended up sucking all the seeds right out of it!!