After having a crazy September with Michael and I going to Maui and then going to his Water Conference at the end of the month; we wanted to fit in one last camping trip with the kiddos. Thankfully the weather was so nice!
When we were all packed up and ready to go Charlie came along to say goodbye to us!
Sweet boy!
We'll miss our Charlie!
We were headed south so we stopped at The Country Cousin for lunch. They have chickens and I just had to take a picture of this chicken on a swing! I texted it to Kim and told her they were slacking....their chickens don't have a swing!
We ended up reserving a site at Seaquest State Park right outside of Castle Rock. Ella was obsessed with the sunlight shining through the trees!
I picked this site based mainly on the pictures online where it looked like there was enough level ground for the boys' tent. It worked out perfectly!
I even loved how the trailer was positioned up a little bit above the main area of camp!
After our previous camping trip to Taidnapam in July, I ordered a bunch of stuff online from Camping World. One of those things was this little side table for Michael to use while cooking. It was perfect and it barely weighs anything and it folds up so small!!
I also got the cushions for the picnic table benches The were a little skinny....I think they are made more for those metal picnic tables....the straps that came with them wouldn't reach around, but thankfully Michael had a container full of bungy cords so we made it work! I also got the rope lights that we hung around the pop-up canopy!
Just a couple steps through the woods from our site was this awesome field that a huge playground on the other side. You can barely see the kids standing in the background on those big dirt hills. Those were just compact dirt. It's honestly all kids need. Zeke was so bummed he didn't have his Hot Wheels cars with him.
There was also a couple horseshoe pits. We just had to get the horseshoes from the ranger at the front check-in area.
Daddy and his older boys!
Almost every time the sunlight was coming through the trees Ella had to take a picture...she so cute!
Of course she wanted a turn playing against Daddy as well!
We were in site 9. Site 10 which was right next to us was really nice too. It'd be nice to come back with friends and stay again sometime.
Our site from the road. Because of the way the parking was angled it was really very private!
Love the big tall trees!
One of the days we drove into town only about 5 miles down the road and we ate Mexican food for dinner. On our way back to the site we tried to find a place that we could see the lake. We knew there was a lake right across the main highway from us, but we didn't know if we could access it. We did see some signs for a boat launch so we followed them. That's all it was though...no park for the kids to play at or dock to walk out on. Come to find out after our trip at Mount St. Helen's Visitor Center that's right across the highway from the campground there is a whole boardwalk that goes out to the water. We'll just have to check that out next time!
My main goal for this trip was to honestly do nothing and go nowhere. We went out that one time for dinner and after that we just hunkered down and stayed at camp. We had such a busy summer I just wanted to have some rest and relaxation with my family.
While we were playing games, Owen was wearing his hat backwards and I told him to take his glasses off. When I met Michael he was only 16 years old and he was wearing a baseball hat backwards. Owen and Michael aren't the spitting image of each other, but they do have many similarities.
Then we took a picture with his glasses on and he liked that better and I have to agree...I love Owen's glasses! He's such a cutie!
Years ago Ellen gave me these cute red and yellow baskets. I use them all the time for camping. We just rip off parchment paper to cover the basket and then after dinner just toss the paper...no dishes!
You can also barely see a couple other purchases I got from Camping World in teh background. It was finally time to move from the small kid camping chairs to nicer ones. I got myself one of those big saucer type chairs. It's right behind Ella. We also decided to get a propane firepit.
We knew there were some trails around so it was time to stretch our legs and go on a walk.
Taking a picture of the map in hopes of not getting lost!
Even though the weather was nice I hate being cold so I was wearing jeans over a pair of leggings. I figured since the trail was in the woods it would be shaded and be colder. Well after we had been walking for while I couldn't take it anymore I was too hot. I decided to take off my jeans. The kids thought I was nuts. Of course I still had my leggings on underneath though!
We came across SO many huge ant hills! It was crazy!!!
Some of them were over 3ft in diameter maybe even bigger!
This one was off the trail so it's harder to see. It's right in the middle of the picture!
Such a pretty walk!
More ants!
Someone carved a heart in the moss!
During these hikes the other kids are usually with Daddy trekking through the forest while Owen is slower so he's my buddy!
The walk ended up being WAY longer than we thought it would, but it was fun. We were all ready for it to be over though! :)
More sunlight streaming through.
There were a few squirrels around our site. I had been encouraging Ella and Zeke to make a cute house for them and then leave them a food offering. They weren't interested at first, but they finally came around.
They had so much fun using all sorts of stuff they found in the forest to make this cute house. I love how the walkway up to the house was even lined.
They put some bread in the house! The squirrels even started coming around to get there food while we were still there.
It wasn't a crazy busy trip and that's exactly what we needed. It was only 3 nights, but it was so refreshing. On our way home we dropped the kids off at Ga-Ga & Pa's since Michael and I were leaving the next day for his Water Conference in Kennewick.
Ella was so worried that she was going to miss out on her sunflower blooming so I promised her I send her a picture. We all love sunflowers!!!
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