Mount Magazine
School's out for Katie and Nicholas...Nicholas has been out since early May and so all of us have been looking forward to this camping trip. It has been a while since we have gone camping and I forgot how much work it is!!!
Here is the van all loaded up and ready to go...there is barely room for the children!
Our friend Sara joined us for the trip, her parents are serving in Haiti this week.
Day 1 we arrived at Mount Magazine, about a 2 1/2 hour drive south of Rogers, don't ask how long it took us to get there...definitely longer than 2 1/2 hours. :-) It is beautiful and very secluded. There are only 18 campsites at the park.
Tim and I set up the camp, okay Tim did most of the work, I just chased Nathan around. He loves to be outside and the freedom of no fences was too much for my sweet boy! He ran and ran and rode is 4-wheeler.
That night the kids played, rode their bikes and we went on a short hike. Mount Magazine has the highest population of bears in Arkansas. We did smores and the kids got to tell stories around the fire. All around it was a great day and the excitement was still strong.
Day 2 - oh my! My children are soooooooo very loud at 6 a.m.!!! I felt so bad for the other tent campers. I guess we never have to be terribly quiet in the morning and for the most part we are early risers so needless to say, it got a bit stressful trying to keep them quiet. They wanted to start riding bikes at 6:30 a.m.!!
We tried to muzzle them until 7:30 and I finally relented and let them start playing. They met several kids in the campground and had a wonderful time playing.
About 10:30 we started hiking to the highest point in Arkansas, we laugh that it was only a 1.4 mile trail but with 4 children it seemed like 10 miles!
Here are the sassy girls (Sara doesn't like that word but I thought it fit them perfectly).
We found many signs of wildlife on the trail but I am sure that we scared them off with the level of noise that came with our group. The trail was marked with historic sites and information on many different plants. It was very interesting.
My little man conked out and looked very uncomfortable but I don't think he slept much at all the night before...can you even tell that is Nathan on Tim's back?
We had to take a break at the lodge...snacks are a must with my kids and hiking, it is often the highlight for them!
Here are the big kids in front of the waterfall at the lodge.
This is the view on the back side of the lodge, I must admit I was very tempted to toss the tent and check into the lodge, it was beautiful! We have decided we definitely need to go back.
The kids found shopping at the lodge, this picture cracks me up because it is so like my children to find the one shop within 20 miles. What does that say about me??
So anyway, I was on a mission to get to the top of the hill! So off we go...
We made it! We are all smiling in this picture but here is a picture that tells the real story...
We were worn out and still had to get back down the mountain. The trip down was eventful, I took a spill and now sport a huge scrape on my shin (Tim insisted on taking pictures but I refuse to post them!). It is gonna be there for a while.
Back at the camp, the kids continued to play and we got to visit with some of the other campers. We agreed on an early bedtime and the big kids crashed, poor Nathan did not sleep much at all though.
Day 3 We were worn out and decided to pack it up and head home. The kids really wanted to swim but the lake was super crowded and we did not have life jackets so Tim and I did not feel comfortable letting them swim. We broke down the camp, while the kids played with their friends. There was no complaining about going home, I think even the kids had enough.
I love the idea of camping and re-connecting with my family in God's creation but tent camping is tough! I think from now on we will stick with 2 nighters! We are scheduled to go again in June so hopefully we will be better prepared.
Here is the van all loaded up and ready to go...there is barely room for the children!
Our friend Sara joined us for the trip, her parents are serving in Haiti this week.
Day 1 we arrived at Mount Magazine, about a 2 1/2 hour drive south of Rogers, don't ask how long it took us to get there...definitely longer than 2 1/2 hours. :-) It is beautiful and very secluded. There are only 18 campsites at the park.
Tim and I set up the camp, okay Tim did most of the work, I just chased Nathan around. He loves to be outside and the freedom of no fences was too much for my sweet boy! He ran and ran and rode is 4-wheeler.
That night the kids played, rode their bikes and we went on a short hike. Mount Magazine has the highest population of bears in Arkansas. We did smores and the kids got to tell stories around the fire. All around it was a great day and the excitement was still strong.
Day 2 - oh my! My children are soooooooo very loud at 6 a.m.!!! I felt so bad for the other tent campers. I guess we never have to be terribly quiet in the morning and for the most part we are early risers so needless to say, it got a bit stressful trying to keep them quiet. They wanted to start riding bikes at 6:30 a.m.!!
We tried to muzzle them until 7:30 and I finally relented and let them start playing. They met several kids in the campground and had a wonderful time playing.
About 10:30 we started hiking to the highest point in Arkansas, we laugh that it was only a 1.4 mile trail but with 4 children it seemed like 10 miles!
We found many signs of wildlife on the trail but I am sure that we scared them off with the level of noise that came with our group. The trail was marked with historic sites and information on many different plants. It was very interesting.
My little man conked out and looked very uncomfortable but I don't think he slept much at all the night before...can you even tell that is Nathan on Tim's back?
We had to take a break at the lodge...snacks are a must with my kids and hiking, it is often the highlight for them!
This is the view on the back side of the lodge, I must admit I was very tempted to toss the tent and check into the lodge, it was beautiful! We have decided we definitely need to go back.
The kids found shopping at the lodge, this picture cracks me up because it is so like my children to find the one shop within 20 miles. What does that say about me??
So anyway, I was on a mission to get to the top of the hill! So off we go...
We made it! We are all smiling in this picture but here is a picture that tells the real story...
We were worn out and still had to get back down the mountain. The trip down was eventful, I took a spill and now sport a huge scrape on my shin (Tim insisted on taking pictures but I refuse to post them!). It is gonna be there for a while.
Back at the camp, the kids continued to play and we got to visit with some of the other campers. We agreed on an early bedtime and the big kids crashed, poor Nathan did not sleep much at all though.
Day 3 We were worn out and decided to pack it up and head home. The kids really wanted to swim but the lake was super crowded and we did not have life jackets so Tim and I did not feel comfortable letting them swim. We broke down the camp, while the kids played with their friends. There was no complaining about going home, I think even the kids had enough.
I love the idea of camping and re-connecting with my family in God's creation but tent camping is tough! I think from now on we will stick with 2 nighters! We are scheduled to go again in June so hopefully we will be better prepared.
Thank you so much for lovin' on my girl while we're gone! She looks like she had a blast! Love you!
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