Jackson, MS; Camping Trip 2012-4

Joe was offered a part time job opportunity with a company that gives educational briefs to military personnel.   The LAST thing Joe needs right now with his busy schedule is to add yet another responsibility or job.  But looking towards the future, his retirement next summer and the networking possibilities in this job, he gladly accepted the position.  The job requires him to travel to different locations in Tennessee, Mississippi, and Arkansas on the weekends.  Because he was upset about traveling away from us so often, we just decided that we would travel with him when it was possible.

His first traveling assignment was Jackson, MS and we packed up the popup camper and hit the road.  There were very limited camping opportunities in Jackson, but we did find LeFleur's Bluff State Park online and took the gamble and stayed there.  It was absolutely beautiful.

The campground surrounded a lake and it was peaceful and shady.  Peaceful until the boys got out of the car...

There was a ton of wildlife and we saw at least a dozen deer right around the lake.  The temperature was in the upper 80's this trip as opposed to 104 on the last trip, and we really enjoyed the cooler climate.  

Joe was busy working during the day, but I found plenty of things to do with the boys.  I actually hope that Joe gets another trip down that way so we can do a few more things that we didn't have the time to do.

The first stop was the Mississippi Museum of Natural Science.  The had a dinosaur exhibit just like the one that closed recently at the Memphis Zoo, so the boys were very excited to get another chance to see  it.

We also got to attend our tenth (exaggeration, probably more like fourth) live nature show this summer. I've been trying really hard to get Justice less afraid of snakes this summer, especially since we camp so much.  I mean, I'm "scared" of snakes, who really isn't?  But he takes it to a whole new level.  He's PETRIFIED of snakes.  Well, not anymore.  He has made some great strides this summer to conquer that fear, and I'd have to say he's finally done it.  The guy tried to hang the snake around Justice's neck though and he flipped.  Justice was having none of that.

Jack is not afraid of snakes.  Or anything, for that matter.  When the guy said "Who wants to touch the snake?" Jack flew out of his seat with his hand high in the air hollering "ME ME ME I DO I DO!".  Jack wanted the snake on his shoulders but it was too heavy and nearly knocked him over.  

Joe has a khaki bucket hat that Jack absolutely loves to wear.  So when we went to the gift shop and he saw this hat, he absolutely FLIPPED out and had to have it.  I caved.  He literally dropped to his knees to say thank you after I gave it to him.

After the Museum of Natural Science, I took the boys to the Mississippi Children's Museum.  Oh wow, what a zoo!  The boys had a BLAST, but it was so hectic.  I'm torn on the concept of a Children's Museum.  While I think they are absolutely a ton of fun, I'm not so sure "museum" is the term I'd use for any of them.  Anyhow, we went and had a great time!

Jack had a great time climbing on the rock wall.  He would have stayed there for hours.  Not a bad climber either, especially wearing flip flops.

And down he goes, right on top of his head.  He was fine, tough as nails.

This was Justice's favorite thing to do, he loved the velcro wall.  

Justice drove me nuts.  He had a very difficult time concentrating due to the level of activity and noise in the museum.  He was a mess.  I warned him several times about wandering off, and then I just looked up and he was gone.  Not because he was being disobedient, he just couldn't focus and was all over the place.  Except this time it took me 30 minutes to find him, and I was MAD.  I spotted him while I was walking to security to report him missing.  I was so upset with him for wandering off that I couldn't see straight.  Rather than beat the tarnation out of him in front of a zillion people, I decided public humiliation would be the best punishment.  So I strapped him into a rainbow satin cape and set him in front of the puppet theater to put on a puppet show for the kids that were sitting there.  He was miserable at first and almost started to cry.  Good, that's exactly what I was looking for.  He eventually started to enjoy himself and made the best of a tragic situation.  The kids thought it was fun and he did too in the end.  What he didn't need to know was that he was also checking off a requirement for his Showman Activity Badge.  And did I mention it made me feel a lot better?

Jack loved wearing this spider suit and climbing through the tunnels in the museum.  I didn't realize his spider suit was on upside down until I sat down to type this.  

They had a huge water table that had a lot of activities.

And a station where you could build your own foam boat and send it down the river. 

We did something else that we normally never ever ever do while we were on this trip.  We ate out.  Every day.  Mainly because Joe had dental surgery recently and is on a liquid diet.  He is very grouchy about this diet, so while he was at work I stuffed the boys full of food so we wouldn't eat again after he got off of work to save him from the torture of being around us while we ate.  And since Golden Corral is Justice's all time favorite place to eat, we went twice.  I also took them to Applebee's, a place neither of them has eaten at and I think it's been ten years since I went.  I remembered after this weekend why we don't eat out very often.  It's horrible for you.  I gained three pounds in two days eating out.  If you are one of those people that has a hard time losing weight, then stop eating out.  Best diet secret ever.  You're welcome.

We had a great time and it was a fun trip.  Joe's first weekend at his new job was a success and he enjoyed it.  I love being away from the TV and out of the house, and I especially love spending so much time with the boys.  We still have one more camping trip planned for the summer, and then football will be in full swing and we will have to park the popup until Spring.