With everyone healthy and a gorgeous April weekend ahead, we decided to take the boys camping! We grabbed the last camping spot available at Stephen F. Austin State Park and headed out west after lunch on Saturday.
Gene and Henry always set up the tent right away.
Our campsite! We had a shelter again, only because that's what was available. It's actually really nice to have a place to stash all the stuff.
We spent some time just relaxing and soaking up the beautiful April day. It was a high of only 72 degrees. If that doesn't get you outside, I don't know what will.
I have never seen so many cardinals in my life as I have at this state park. At one point, there were six males at the campsite next to us, pecking at the ground. My favorite bird...
We went hiking, of course.
The last time we visited Stephen F. Austin State Park was in January. What a difference a couple of months makes. Everything was so green.
We hiked about 3 miles (the boys have so much endurance now!) and found lots of spots overlooking the Brazos River.
Have you heard of nature deficit disorder? I don't think my boys suffer from it!
We found a trail leading down to a little beach on the Brazos.
This little creek fed into the river.
This tree was amazing. It looks like the camera is angled up, right? But really, the tree had fallen over and was growing parallel to the ground.
Besides lots of cardinals, vultures, hawks and other birds, we saw this beautiful butterfly,
a fuzzy caterpillar,
and an armadillo crossing our path!
Armadillos have very bad eyesight so this little guy didn't even see us. We think he was too busy looking for bugs to eat to worry about a few enamored humans.
By the time we returned from our hike, it was nearly 6 o'clock and time to get the campfire going!
Camp dinner: hot dogs, chili, veggies, and chips.
Followed by s'mores, of course!
I love these little boys!
Despite the fact that I completely forgot to pack pillows, we all slept fairly well and woke up to a chilly morning (low of 49!). Gene always gets my coffee going first thing.
Camp breakfast: pumpkin muffins, apples, toast with peanut butter, coffee and milk.
Our campsite was a quarter-mile from the restrooms so it was quite a journey there and back.
Gene took the boys for one bathroom break and let me soak up the beauty of the morning with my coffee. There's nothing quite like sitting around a campfire, listening to the cardinals sing and enjoying the peace and quiet. I even saw a woodpecker on the tree next to our tent. What a way to start the day!
After breakfast, the boys found roly-polies while Gene and I packed up.
And then we hiked another couple of miles.
The park isn't huge and I think we've been on nearly every trail there now.
We saw lots of critters like this caterpillar,
lots of snails,
and even leafcutter ants.
It is a beautiful place.
I'm so lucky to have spent an amazing weekend outdoors
with my three favorite people!
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