Saturday, April 26, 2014

Easter and Garner State Park

for Easter weekend, we were invited by some friends to go camping with them
and their families for 4 days at Garner State Park. we had a blast. 
the boys had a fabulous time. we did so many fun things. the older kids and adults
were so very nice to our boys. we were so grateful. it was the first time we've been,
and it was a beautiful place with lots to do.

campsite 200



this pretty much was chase the entire time. dirty, missing a shoe, but having 
so much fun. throwing rocks, playing in ash, finding sticks, etc.



first day there, they heard the bigger boys were going down for a swim - 
so of course they wanted to join in on the fun!








you can see the big holes here, but you can't see the huge fish just lazily swimming around....





chase with his no fear wants to be thrown in! you have to be careful though
becasue some spots are shallow. you have to make it right into the deep hole. 
grant didn't jump quite right and really bruised his left heel. it didn't bother him too
much though.



chase didn't quite realize how cold the water was...it IS called the frio river....






and the campfire every night was a huge hit too. chase is obsessed with fire lately.
whenever he earns a reward, he says "can i buy a lighter?" um, no.





the next day we hiked up this mountain. it was super steep but lots of fun. 
the views from the top were amazing.








we made it to the top! the boys were excited to add their own rocks to the pile.




there were caves along the way which was also a huge hit with both boys.




jason is AMAZING. chase of course couldn't make it through a 4 hour hike so 
jason carried him much of the way. it was steep, rocky, and hot, and i couldn't
imagine doing it holding a 35 lb kid on my back. 





one of the days we ate lunch at the garner grill in the center of the campground.





another day we looked for a rope swing on the river. we didn't find it but we found a huge
jump off point off a big rock/tree stump. of course both my boys jumped in off the rock.
multiple times. it was funny to see the older kids dare each other to do it and say
"did you see that 4 year old do it? come on! do it!"

unfortunately jason was helping the boys in the river on his raft and was helping them
up and down the slippery rocks, multiple times, so we didn't get any pictures. 
but it was fun. and we did see a HUGE tree on our walk there!





one of the things the boys liked the best was walking down from our campsite and looking
for rocks/fossils just right there on the river. they could be there for hours. they love exploring, 
pretending to be scientists and finding rocks, gems, crystals, etc.









while we were there, the Easter bunny left these notes that their gifts/sweets were at home....
(they were very concerned before we left that if we went camping they'd miss out on easter...)



unpacking in the garage waiting to go inside....chase, chase, chase.....



finally, mom lets us go inside! 






they LOVE confetti eggs....





hope you had as much fun as we did. happy easter!