Over this past weekend, I decided to be brave and take the youngest four kids camping.

I didn’t think that one through sufficiently.

Jackson and Rosie provide me with much assistance with the kids than I give them credit for.

I like to plan and I decided that I wanted to leave by 2 p.m. Friday afternoon to head out to Sam Houston Jones State Park in Westlake.

 

Life had other plans for me.

We did end up hitting the road by 2:15 p.m. which I still counted as a success, but we still needed to stop for ice and I needed to grab something for me for lunch.

A certain drive-through in town and I decided to have a run in.

I was asked to ‘pull around’ to wait for my order. That was difficult as there were already cars ahead of me waiting for their food to be brought out.

Long story short, as I made a turn to exit the parking lot, I ended up jumping the curb, which in and of itself isn’t a big deal. The fact that there was a foot drop on the other side and no ground for my tire to make contact with was the real issue.

Thirty minutes and $75 later, a tow truck was able to lift my SUV up enough to place boards under the tire so my car could move. The ice pick up was a much smoother process.

We rolled into the park at 4:30 p.m., which is much later than I had planned.

Luckily, setup of the camper goes pretty quick as Thayer is pretty skilled in assisting me with it.

After the camper was set up the kids decided they wanted to go play on the playground. This was a much-needed activity for them to burn off some energy. The weather had other ideas and we were blessed with a nice steady rain.

We made our way back to the camper. If I haven’t mentioned it before, it’s a SMALL pop up camper. Cabin fever set in quickly.

Lucky for me the rain decided to take a break and we were able to get a campfire going so the kids could roast their hot dogs and get messy with S’mores.

As we wrapped up dinner, the rain started up again and we made our way back into the trailer. The main upside? I was in bed by 9 p.m.

I had planned for us all to sleep a bit late and then make breakfast.

A vehicle with an annoying backup noise had other ideas. So we were up at 8 a.m. to make pancakes on the old Coleman stove.

After breakfast, the kids decided they wanted to head home as their mom and older siblings had made it home from a weeklong trip to Disney World. I happily obliged.

Even with all the issues that arose with this trip, the kids had a blast. I was the one who was getting worked up about them. I need to remind myself that at the end of the day the kids don’t see the wait for the tow truck or the rain as bad things that happened.

They will remember hanging out in the camper and experiencing the outdoors.

Time together means the world to them….sometimes I just need to be reminded of that.