Spring Break 2008!

We decided to do something a little different this year for Spring Break. Normally, we're beach people. I thought about a cruise, possibly heading south to Galveston and staying in a condo on the beach, but my son had his first camping trip several weeks ago with friends and was so excited about it that my daughter and I thought it would be fun to spend time out in the wilderness enjoying some serious camp time. She is a devoted Girl Scout, by the way and is pretty good at the whole camping thing, which if you knew my girly-girl daughter would surprise you.

We decided to venture to Possum Kingdom Lake about 90 miles west of our home and rented a cabin for 5 days in the State Park (I wasn't about to spend 5 days in a tent with my kids. I love them, but I have my limits)!

We arrived on Sunday afternoon, unloaded our stuff and ventured outside to explore, meet some new folks, play some games, climb trees and have some fun!




Day two began with a hike through the Palo Pinto Mountains. GORGEOUS! We hiked for TWO HOURS and neither of my kids complained once (miracle)!! They had a ball collecting rocks, searching for arrowheads and dinosaur footprints and hoping we didn't run in to any bobcats.




Once we got back to the cabin after our long hike, Mommy was a little tired and took a nap, but my kids kept on going....they played soccer, basketball, climbed more trees, ran around and collected more rocks (we had quite a collection by the time we left), skateboarded, played on the playground with other kids....on and on and on they went until we made a campfire after grilling out some dinner and enjoyed some delicious s'mores! About 20 minutes after dark, this is how I found them:

Look how peaceful they are. I love them the most when they're sleeping! :)

Day three pretty much sucked! What I haven't mentioned yet is that we were so far out in the boonies that I had no cell service. I went 5 day without talking on my cell phone or texting anyone. 5 days! It was quite traumatic! Couple that with the massive rainstorm we had on Day Three and I was pretty much ready to climb the walls by 10am. We decided to "drive to town" which was 40 minutes away and get some pizza for lunch instead of staying in the cabin all day. That ate up a few hours at least. My poor little girl was so bored that she spent 2.5 hours working on a jigsaw puzzle. She has ADHD, so this is no easy task for her, but in a cabin with no phone and no cable that was about all we had to keep us going!

Thankfully, Day Four brought some better weather and the activity the kids had most been looking forward to: BOATING! We took a boat out for the afternoon and the kids LOVED it! They each got to drive (which was quite exciting for my thrill seeking son and very scary for my daughter). We stopped after an hour or so because it was cold out there on the lake and ventured up to The Cliffs Resort for a fantastic lunch (with wine...yeah)! Back to the boat after lunch and more cruising around the lake! Possum Kingdom is a small lake, but it is absolutely beautiful. The homes are magnificient and the landscape is breathtaking. I'm seriously considering looking at some property there!

We woke up on Day Five and it was time to pack up and go home. I had a blast and I know the kids did, too but I was certainly ready to sleep in my bed again. Camping is awesome, but my back is too old to do it for too long (and if you know me at all, I don't take that statement lightly). I missed my tempurpedic!

Maybe we'll do a cruise next year, but I really enjoyed my spending time outdoors with my babies for 4 days. They're amazing kids and it's easy to forget that when you get stuck in a daily routine. I've done a pretty good job with those two and they make me so proud!