Labor Day Camping Trip

This past weekend was Labor Day. We took our 5th wheel camper and headed to our favorite spot, Roaring River, for a long weekend of camping. It was really nice. I can't believe its been a YEAR since we had the camper out and went camping! After going, we were all planning our next trip! Once you get back out there you remember how much fun it is and how much we all enjoy it. It was funny, as soon as we got there, the girls seemed to be on a mission to do EVERYTHING the first evening of our arrival : 'let's go get ice cream, let's go fishing, let's go swimming, who wants to go for a bike ride? Mom, play badminton with me. It's my turn for a game, mom, play catch with me"  ha ha.


me and T with a badminton racket special effect, lol



T playing 'bounce the ball in the air'. I don't know the real name, but its pretty fun. These  disc like frisbee things act as trampolines in your hand and u bounce the ball up and try to catch it without dropping it. I have our camper 'packed' with all sorts of games for us to play while camping.

  They eventually settled down and pulled out the paints I started keeping in the camper and created some lovely masterpieces while sitting under the trees outside and painting to their hearts' content :)


Since we were there from Thurs to Mon, we did lots of unscheduled and relaxing activities. There is a little shop in a nearby campground (walking or biking distance) that we visit every time to buy ice cream cones and sit in their comfy rocking chairs on the porch and enjoy the view of the tree covered hill and eat our ice cream. We did this a few times (of course).





These rocking chairs are so comfy. We love sitting here with our ice cream. Only $1 for a big scoop too! :)  Of course T brought a book to read during our ice cream break :)

 We even went for a whole family bike ride with grandpa and grandma too (they camped next to us this weekend). That was really fun as well, except my husband is a goofball and was doing wheelies on his bike.


Grandma and Grandpa with W



 Wheelie-Dan

Dan and his dad fished every day, and the girls joined them two days. The first day the girls went I stayed in bed, intending to walk down with the dog a little later and take pictures. But I started reading a magazine and ended up staying in bed. They came back before I was done, because they had each caught their limit already! Dan said they had lots of fun and did really well. T cast and caught all her own fish! W reeled in the ones Daddy caught :)  I was able to go with them the next morning where W again maxed out, but T only got one that morning (and was a bit pouty to boot). Here are some pictures I took during that fishing experience...


So cute, W, with one of her fish.




W bringing in Grandpa's fish with the net.




I like this picture.




T having daddy help her get her fish off the line.



 T fishing, and W 'talking' to her fish.

The first two days we got there it was still 100degrees! We have never camped when it was that hot before (too hot) which is why we always go in the spring and fall instead of the summer. But this summer has been incredibly hot, so even Labor Day weekend was hot. However, Sunday and Monday it cooled down to 50 at night at 80 during the day, so it was MUCH nicer! More like true camping weather so we were actually able to have a campfire and sit around it. I was sitting by it Sunday night after Dan had gone inside with the girls, when two little bandits (raccoons) came up to our campsite looking for snacks. They were so cute and funny, they didn't even see me sitting in the chair by the fire and they were only about 6 feet away! After I went to get my camera though, they didn't come back :(
I took Lucy, our dog, on some great little hikes (W even joined me one day with a promise of ice cream afterwards ha ha). I have learned that I really like hiking! Really great workout up all those hills and lots of fun to be outside! Here are some pictures from those hikes...

 This is a really cool rock formation called the "kitchen". When you climb up the crevase (near the middle right of pix) you come to a little flat spot, that u then jump down into a hole that is completely boxed in by these huge boulders (that collapsed about 20 years ago, creating this current formation). History has it that during the Civil War, soldiers hid out in this hole. Its pretty big, about 10ft x 10ft x 6 ft.  Pretty neat.

 Relaxing on the 'roof' of the 'room' or hole below, that I discussed above.

 Such a cutie! Always the poser too, check out her leg!  lol

 The view is so pretty and the rocks are just amazing.

 Another really cool spot. These huge rock islands are in the forest. They are about 20 feet tall. W is sitting on the edge of one. That's a smaller one to the right side of the photo.

 So fun, and such a pretty picture. I like all three of these next pix, so I had to include them all!

 One of those 'islands'. Pretty neat, eh?

 Our hiking trail. W posing again (of course).

The girls got all decked out in their "Laura Ingalls" gear the minute we arrived and grabbed their toy bow and arrows to play till their hearts content (that is my favorite thing to watch....my kiddos being creative and using their minds for play! love it!) T was especially creative in her outfit, but when I took pictures she immediately said "don't put that on facebook mom!" so she probably wouldn't appreciate me posting a pix here either :(  but the outfit was adorable. She had an apron around her waist and some sort of bonnet thing on her head and a belt held her 'knife' and arrows, then her bow was slung over her shoulder. Very fun looking!  She did however shoot her arrow into a tree and it landed flat on a branch and got stuck there so she tried to get it out with a broom while standing on top of the trailer. She didn't have any luck so Dan THREW the broom into the tree to try to get the arrow out, only to have the BROOM get stuck in the same position! ha ha  He ended up climbing on top of the trailer and shaking the branches till they both fell down. lol.

hee hee

Any trip to Roaring River wouldn't be complete if I didn't drive over to the Tanger outlet mall in Branson (only an hour away), so Saturday I went there. It was fun to wander through all the stores all by myself. Even though I had 7 hours there, I still found myself rushing at the end to make sure I got back in time for dinner! Its crazy how I can shop forever!  I didn't go overboard, there wasn't THAT much stuff that struck my fancy this time, but I did get the girls a few things, and me a few things. Plus I got a few pretty pieces of costume jewelry. I typically don't wear much of that kind of jewelry, but I always like it on other people, and the right piece can really 'make' an outfit, so I am venturing out and trying some new things :)
Lucy, our dog, loved our trip. She gets to go with us on camping vacations, so these are her favorite trips :)  she was well behaved and as happy as ever!

Lucy watching us fish :)


P.S. that book W is holding called "A Camping Spree with Mr. Magee" is the greatest book ever! great bright pictures, and a really cute story!



The girls and I usually like to walk through the stream behind our camper in the spring. But at this time of year it was all dried up, so there were only a few spots to play in the water at (besides the regular fishing river of course). Here are some pictures of the girls catching baby crawfish and tadpoles. T even caught a tadpole with legs! That was pretty cool!






W and I went to the playground, where Lucy got in on the action and even went down the slide! Here is a little video of that, and a photo.

Here are some more pictures in general.


Ahhh, the relaxing peace of a recliner under the trees :)



W just having fun entertaining herself with dirt and water at the campsite :)

There happens to be a fish hatchery at this State Park, these next pictures were taken in that area. There are also several natural caves and springs.

 Look at the beautiful color of the water here at the mouth of the spring. This spring feeds the whole hatchery (I believe) and its located way back under that crevase in a deep cave. The water is really cold here.

 The spring is behind them, and you can see the rock above it (and them) how its split open. Really pretty. There is also a fun, short trail/hike above this point.

 At the spring/cave entrance.

The hatchery area. Dan is pointing to a big fish in the water. The spring feeds into this.

Well, if you stuck with this post, you got to the best part of it... my poem!


While camping this time, I got out my pen and paper and wrote down this poem :)

An Ode to Camping

Camping.

Fresh air and cooling breezes,
Camping.

Marshmallows and allergy sneezes,
Camping.

Crickets chirping,
Raccoons lurking.
Camping.

Masked bandits on the prowl,
Lucy senses them and gives a growl.
Camping.

The sound of a diesel-engine truck,
The fun of playing in the dirt and muck.
Camping.

The stars overhead at night.
The feeling is always so right.
Camping.

S'mores on a campfire,
Pancakes on the griddle,
Sitting by the fire,
Writing this riddle.
Camping.

Playing games and riding a bike.
Going fishing and taking a hike.
Camping.

Uno is a favorite game we play.
Round after round, every day.
Camping.

Holding hands, skipping down the road.
Laughing and giggling like its a secret code.
Camping.

Eating ice cream on the porch.
Campfire lit up like a torch.
Camping.

Rocking chair rocking.
Mommy's at the outlet mall,
Not very shocking :)
Camping.

Lightning bugs caught in a net.
Tadpoles and crawfish, the girls love to get.
Camping.

Nighttime is for gazing at stars overhead,
Morning time brings 2 little girls into our bed!
Camping.

Its an American tradition.
Its a family vacation.
Camping.

Its all its cracked up to be,
and its relaxing and fun to me!

Camping.