Camping Trip 2015-3, Chickasaw State Park

The Coach wanted to venture out of the local area for the weekend, and decided to take us to Chickasaw State Park for the weekend.  The lake was beautiful.  In the summer there is a swim beach, paddle boats, and lots of good fishing.  There is a really awesome playground over by the lake, and great hiking trails.  The campground is a rough mess.  It is tucked into a hilly area of the park about a mile and half from the lake.  The roads and campsites are rough.  Really big inclines, difficult to park in, and the playground was REALLY old.  The bathrooms were also really old, and I don't think I saw a Ranger drive around more than once the whole weekend.  The sites were so tight that we actually had to move to a different site after we checked in because our small 25 foot trailer wouldn't fit in the one they gave us.  

But once we got settled in and looked around we realized how pretty it is.  Very densely wooded.

The lake was gorgeous.

The kids loved it.  They didn't complain about the old playground, and they didn't complain about the bumpy roads.  The playground wasn't within view of the campsite, so that was a little iffy for me, but Justice is 13 and I trusted that he would take care of the boys.  And he did, no worries.  I do prefer to be within eyesight of the playground since they spend so much time there.  It's just so much nicer to sit at your own site and watch your kids play, especially when that's what they do most of the day.  Yes, that's Jack running far ahead of us on the road.

 We walked miles on Saturday.  

This kid was a cute little pain in the neck.

So I'm sure you've noticed that my pictures are sort of awful the past two posts.  I forgot my camera not once, but twice.  All I have are cruddy phone pictures.

Somebody likes to swing.

This kid has a death wish.  He is a teenager now, and boy did he get dumb.  

This needed some stitches.  But since we just got to the campground, I wasn't going to get him any stitches.  Too bad for bad decisions.  This particular injury was from riding up to the very top of the campground (remember, I said it was a huge hill) and then deciding to ride his brakeless bike down the hill at top speed.

Boy did he wreck.  WRECK.  I haven't seen a bike wreck like that since I was a kid. 

The Coach:  "Why the bleep didn't you use your brakes?"

Jus:  "They don't work!"

The Coach:  "SO YOU MEAN TO TELL ME YOU KNEW THEY DIDN'T WORK AND YOU STILL RODE DOWN THE BLEEPING HILL????"

Jus:  "Yeah, well I guess that was a bad idea."

The Coach:  "You know what, never mind son."

LOL.  When The Coach calls you son the conversation is going to a bad place.  

 Something bad happens to a kids brain when they hit the teen years.  I've seen it in other kids, I hoped and prayed mine would skip it, but alas no… he's dumb like the rest of them.  Sigh.  

There was also an Easter Egg hunt.  That was a surprise, we didn't know that until we checked in.  There are at least a thousand eggs in this field, funny how they didn't show up on the camera because I could sure see them while I was standing there.

Bubba helped Bo get some eggs.  Bo wasn't really sure what to do, he was pretty confused.  He didn't understand the hurry up part.  Each time he found an egg he wanted to open it and check it out right there.

Jack loved it.  He raced around like all the other kids in his age group acting like a fool trying to score the most eggs.  He got one of the "prize" eggs though, instead of candy it had a free kids meal at the camp lodge.  He was stoked about that.  There was only one of those per age group so for him it was like winning a big lotto.

I probably don't have to point out which kid is Jack.  

They played some baseball.

I think it was my bright idea to let Bo have his bat.

We spent a lot of time around this fire.  That's my favorite part of the day.

I was trying so hard to get a picture of Justice's face.  It was covered in marshmallow bits, you can sort of see the burnt pieces on his chin, and a string of melted mallow on his lip.  Ha.  Gross.

Justice likes to eat his marshmallow's burnt to a crisp just like Jack.  He also doesn't have the patience to let them cool off AT ALL before he inhales them.

Yeah, there it is.  Burnt mouth.

Let me just gnaw that marshmallow off of the dirty stick I found in the forest.  Yum.

This is about when he realized I was taking pictures.   Marshmallow everywhere on his chin.

 I sure love this dumb little fool.  He has a good heart, even though his brain is malfunctioning right now due to *puberty* (gasp!).

This hill is too steep for Jack to ride his bike down.  We learned that Jack has finally outgrown his bike.  Can I get an amen?  He's almost seven and still rides the first little bitty 12 inch bike he had from I think his second birthday.   Thank heavens the little guy is growing, and he will get a new bike for his birthday next month.  Justice was teasing him that his bike was like a clown car.  Jack actually thought that was funny, so good for Jack.

He did a great job on the hill though, no wrecks for Jack although his brakes do work well.  This was NOT the hill that Justice went down and crashed.  I don't even have a picture of that hill.  Justice said he knew it wasn't going to end well when he rounded the top and heard somebody say "OHHHHH!" but it was too late.

Whizzing on by on his clown car, afro blowing in the breeze.  Ha!  Oh Jack.  

This guy right here is a great sport.  The rest of us like camping WAYYYYY more than he does, but he takes us whenever we want and doesn't complain in the slightest, even when he's pulling ticks out of his ribcage.  He's good at camping, too.  Yes, you can be bad at camping.  He can light a fire in a thunderstorm  and has learned all the ins and outs of the trailer with no worries for me.  He patiently raises bike seats and tends to bent handlebars after wrecks, and he pushed Bo on the swing for hours.  He is pretty awesome and I'm glad he's mine.  

Oh, and then there's his dutch oven cooking skills.  Holy cow can he cook in the dutch oven.  Can't boil water at home, but give the man a fire and he whips up some delicious food.

This is caramel apple cobbler.  My favorite so far.  We ate that pot up in less than ten minutes.  It was shameful.

We had a nice "Easter Fireside" and talked about the true meaning of Easter, and then got the kids showered up and in bed.  No worries about not falling asleep while we are camping.  They are out cold within seconds of hitting the pillow.

Jack was worried the Easter Bunny wasn't coming since we weren't home.  Actually, he said "Too bad we won't get Easter Baskets this year since we aren't home".  Aw.  Poor Jack.  Of course the Easter Bunny was coming.  I did tone it WAY down this year, though.   Bad photo, sorry.  It was dark and I didn't want to turn on the light to take a better picture. You get the idea.  Baskets, chocolate, Peeps and a little toy for each kid.

Jack was SO surprised when he saw the baskets.  I don't get to see that sort of emotion from Jack too often, so it was nice.  

Bo got a Dora movie in his basket.  He has just recently branched out from Mickey Mouse Clubhouse and started to watch a few other shows.

Justice got a dri-fit Covington Charger shirt.

Happy and chocolate covered faces.  No candy this year other than Peeps and they wouldn't have gotten those if I hadn't found "dye free" Peeps for Justice.  He has a terrible food dye sensitivity so I keep all candy away from him.  That means the other kids don't get it either.  Sorry guys, it is what it is.   

Easter breakfast of champions.  Cadbury egg on a fork.  And I know that the kids don't like Cadbury eggs, but I put them in their baskets every year because they are The Coaches favorite!  The kids always say "Gross, another Cadbury egg!" And pass it right on over to Dad.

After a tasty chocolate breakfast, we let the kids go back to the playground for awhile to say goodbye to their new best friends.  They meet new best friends in every park, and thanks to modern technology they can continue to communicate with them long after the trip ends.

Bo didn't want to go to the playground, he decided he would hang around with Dad and help him break down the camp.

Lucky Dad.

I always get a little sad when it's time to go home.  We had a great time, just spending time together, laughing, and having fun.  These times are priceless to us.  No outside distractions, just us.  The Coach and I cherish every single one of these trips, and can't wait to take many more.