First family camping trip

We went camping this weekend with three other families at Huntsville State Park. We figured we better try camping on this continent instead of tackling it fresh in Africa.

Soon after arriving, Caleb and I went down to the dock to look at the water. We got a surprise visitor after not too long.














He had his right eyeball missing, so I'm guessing he's quite a fighter. If you could see the dark part of his tail, you could see he's about 6 feet long. It was pretty cool except for when Caleb would crawl up on the railing to look over. I didn't like that too much.



After all the tents had been set up, Kylie said, "There is nothing to do," and I said, "I know. Isn't it wonderful?!" She got in the groove not long after that, and she and all the kids ended up having a lot of fun. Kylie was the oldest kid there. We had three five year olds, a three year old and three under two. It sounds chaotic, but the kids really did play well and enjoy running around.

We roasted hot dogs, had smores, and visited late into the night. Here, Kylie, Karis and Abigail are showing off their glow in the dark jewelry (thanks, Heather, for bringing so many).



In the morning, I woke to obnoxious bird noises, but it had been a cool night and not normal Texas humidity levels, so I can take a few birds squawking. Not to mention, this was the view from our campsite!


















A couple of the guys made scrambled eggs and deer sausage so we could have breakfast tacos. This was definitely not "roughing it" to me.

After cleaning up a little, we headed to the "beach area" of the lake to swim. Yes, this is the same lake I saw the alligator in, but I was hoping he might get full before he got to the beach front.

Anyway, the kids had a blast trying out their new swimming skills. Karis even put her face in the lake water. That's pretty big-time in my book! Just two weeks ago, she didn't like putting her face in bath water.

After getting good and tired, we headed back for sandwiches and final packing. It was a short trip, but we all needed to get back for church. It was a lot of fun, and I can't thank the Lord enough for the perfect weather, good friends, and for my mattress when I got home last night.