One of my coworkers went to my favorite part of Arkansas over Labor Day weekend and it really made me miss the days of going camping. We’ve never taken the youngest camping and the boys have only had a few camping trips if we’re been totally honest...
So I decided in these weird times, maybe a camping trip is just what we need! Though I may have gone halfway with it - I only looked for state parks with cabins. In an effort to try new areas, we went east to Martin Dies Jr. state park, which has a few different kinds of cabins/shelters.
The first night was a little rough. Apparently we haven’t used our air mattresses in awhile and 2 out of the 3 went flat. Natalie apparently doesn’t like feeling deflated when half asleep, so she was not a happy camper. (Pun intended!)
Luckily everyone was excited to eat some breakfast!
Well Henry is… whatever emotion Henry usually is? ;)
I promise the youngest was having a great time being out in nature. She was running all over the campsite, picking up leaves and rocks. But all the excitement must have been overwhelming, she needed a quick break for Violet to sing her some music…
She was good a few minutes later, don’t worry!
It was a really nice morning, with just a bit of fog over the lake.
We took off for a family bike ride on the off-road trails in the park. I was finally getting to test out the new bike trailer and it is great! In comparison to the old one, it feels like nothing is back there. Which Natalie may not have appreciated since I was possibly going a bit too fast down the first hill and hitting some tree roots. The eyewitness reports claim that the trailer went airborne, but that feels like an exaggeration….
Either way, the youngest one was ticked about the bumps and you can see her glaring at me. I slowed it down and tried to avoid the tree roots as best as I could, but she was really only happy once we were back on the pavement. Whoops!
Chilling at the campsite after the bike ride and these two got lost in books right away.
I can’t even be mad.
I can be a little jealous though, right?
This girl was being a huge toot on not wanting to eat anything. I tried to bring stuff she likes, but she just wanted chips & juice. You can see the half sandwich I made her got deconstructed and the ham and cheese ended up on my chair. Oh well, I tried…?
After lunch, we went to explore the nearby Livingston Lake state park. I’ve been trying to snag day passes for there for weeks since it’s a reasonably close drive to home, but never managed. But when I booked the cabin that was an hour past it, I figured we could check it out! (I did try to rent a cabin here, but they were all booked up - it’s apparently quite popular!)
We had fun playing in the day use area and then walking down some of the trails. Natalie pretty much just wanted to follow her brothers wherever they were exploring!
The only downside to the adventure was that it was super hot and we all failed to grab water before starting down the trail. So we ended a little short to get back to the truck and hydrate!
I am still not used to it being so hot in October!!!
At some point on the first day, Henry was pestering us when we were going fishing. Then dramatically stated “the only reason I agreed to come was to go fishing!!”
lol - not sure where this sudden fishing obsession has come from and not sure why he thinks attendance was optional. We did finally attempt fishing that evening, but nothing was biting. In a totally random occurrence though, we ended up choosing a fishing spot right in front of a shelter that was occupied by some of my former coworkers! They recognized us and yelled hello, so we got to chat a little bit while also trying to keep the younger ones from falling in the lake.
It was a total “what a small world” moment to be at the same park 3 hours from home and that we just happened to stop at the point to fish!
We decided to pack up the truck Monday morning and then try fishing again on our way out. Matt cast the line out to make sure it was working good for Henry and immediately snagged a fish. The little guy managed to get away before we could reel him in, but we were clearly in a hot spot!
Well apparently the first guy warned his buddies, because there were no more fish grabbing on the hooks.
I didn’t get to try my luck because I was chasing the toddler up and down the wooden ramp, but the boys gave it their best shot!
Natalie was mostly having a blast collecting pretty leaves. And running. Sooooo much running…
I tried to get her to just chill and enjoy the morning, but she wasn’t very interested in hanging with mom for longer than it takes to shoot a selfie. My only consolation was that she would probably fall asleep for a bit on the way home…?
The boys finally called it quits and we started the walk back to the truck. I asked Matt to deal with Natalie because I was worn out.
And that lasted for like 30 seconds before he was all “Oh, I want to try fishing here real quick!”
Y’all, he cast his line in a few times and then gave up. Proceeded to grab his tackle box and walk with the boys back to the truck. While I was again chasing the toddler.
He’s a brave, brave man considering I know where he sleeps...
So the first camping trip was a little hot, a little bumpy on the trails and we didn’t catch any fish, but the kids had a blast!!! Our little cabin was pretty basic, but at least felt a little more manageable with 3 kids than a tent.
But honestly the best part was that AC unit on the wall! Once we ditched these traitor air mattresses for some cheap ones from Wal-Mart, we all slept great in the cool cabin.
Ok, maybe we will try again on camping. Though if I am being totally honest, we’re bordering on glamping…?
Since there was no bathroom except the one down the road though, I am still calling it camping? Seems like a reasonable line in the sand. ;)