Once we were settled into trailer park life, we started looking for any chance to get out of the trailer. Thankfully the winter weather on the coast, so far, was incredibly mild and we made the most of it with a day trip to the beach. The State Park is located on Mustang Island just a ferry ride away from Aransas Pass or bridge drive from Corpus Christi. We didn’t put a lot of prior planning into the visit because returning anytime would be easy, so we just packed the car with a few sand toys and lunch. The park boundary covers both sides of the narrow barrier island and consists of beach, marsh/wetland and camping. We decided on actual gulf beach before checking out the bay side.

Unlike other parts of Mustang Island beaches, this section in the park is not scraped and maintained with a roadway and while driving on most of the beach is still allowed, it’s quite dicey without a 4WD. So we opted for the parking lot a short trek over the dunes to the water. I quickly appreciated their policy for keeping the landscape wild. The dunes and drifts in the sand were very picturesque! And it allowed for much of the beach to remain powdery and pleasant to walk on.

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The water was beautiful and looked inviting, but the surf was quite rough and the water was decently cold, so the kids stayed knee deep. I was satisfied with just getting my feet wet! Brr! Sally, of course, had a ball zooming around the kids. lol

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Now that everyone was sandy and salty, we walked about a 1/4 mile to the bathhouse and were pleasantly surprised with how nice they were! But then it hit me that they were completely rebuilt after Hurricane Harvey in 2017. Given that most State Park bathhouses were built no later than the 80s, this was a pleasant surprise! The kids enjoyed showers inside and Sally even got a rinse off in the outdoor area.

We hopped in the car and drove across the highway to a caliche road that snaked alongside a channel that connects the bay to the gulf. We were immediately disappointed that we spent so much time at just the beach! We want to fish this area! The kids really liked that we could have the car nearby (they were sour about carrying our stuff across the dunes), the water was calmer, and there are still beachy areas.

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We got a pretty good idea what this park has to offer! We will definitely go back for some fishing. I doubt we will bother with camping. While the sites looked well maintained and level, they are of course sitting out wide open and actually share the same bathhouse area that the public uses. Since we were there during the week in January, crowds were not an issue; but I could see the bathhouse being miserably backed up during popular times.

Now that tourist season has calmed down in the area, we may be getting around to fishing that channel sooner rather than later! I’ll update this post with a report. 🙂

-Lindsay

After our quaint NYE spent in our newly acquired home on wheels, we woke up on the first day of 2021 to some pretty decent weather and an antsy to get out Momma. Yea, that had already started haha. We quickly decided to start the year on the right foot with a state park visit! Something we hadn’t done since March of 2020! And how convenient we now lived in this new region chock full parks we haven’t hit yet. 👍🏻

We decided on Goose Island, home of the “Big Tree,” for some nearby entertainment. Located on the other side of Rockport, it was only a 40 minute drive and would be easy to experience in a day as it is rather small.

We started our visit after a quick and pleasant check in at park headquarters with a drive across the park to basically the only trail they have. Along the way we scoped out the camping situation and decided quickly it wouldn’t be for us. While each site is ultra private tucked back in a bunch of brush, they are TINY. You basically have a clearing for your tent/camper and a small area to access the picnic tables. It looked so claustrophobic! And I could only imagine in the heat of summer not feeling the breeze and mosquitoes just feasting!

The trail was similar to the campsites as it was cut out of thick brush with occasional sprawling oaks cutting across. But it was well maintained and we enjoyed just stretching our legs. Weston even spotted a buck rub on one of the trees just off the trail and was quite proud of his observation skills. That area of the park also offered numerous birding areas where feeders and water features were set up within view of blinds. I just don’t think we have what it takes to be birders lol!

Back in the car, we drove to the island part of the park and found the opposite of what we had just experienced! Wide open water front campsites, a fishing pier, and a long beachy peninsula to walk out on. And the wind was getting it and we were cold! We opted to skip walking out on the pier this trip. But I would like to come back for some fishing!

On the way back we spotted a CCC building constructed unlike others we have seen before. Known for being resourceful and constructing with what nature made available to them, we’ve previously observed buildings made from limestone, logs, and iron ore rocks. The blocks used to construct this building were made by mixing oyster shells with cement! Too cool!

Oddly enough, the “Big Tree” isn’t located within the state park boundary and can be viewed by the public anytime. So we drove to it on the way out. While it isn’t officially the oldest or even the biggest in Texas, it is pretty famous, well taken care of and quite impressive. And, really, just one of those Texas bucket list things you gotta do. 😉

It’s too easy to revisit this park, so I’m sure we will be back. I’m slightly intrigued by the water front sites and wonder what fishing with lights at night might be like. But….mosquitoes…perhaps the breeze stays and would help with that. We’ll for sure attempt a pier fishing trip in the near future! And maybe say hi to the tree a few more times.

-Lindsay

By the end of July, Nathan received word that he had been hired. We were officially moving to Corpus Christi. Time to do the big thing we had been putting off for 4 years in order to sell the house…the kitchen. Within the first week of August, we gutted the remainder of cabinets and furdowns, placed a cabinet order, and had all new sheetrock hung. Then it all just stalled out thanks to a cabinet back order that took 2 months to come in! The massive island, huge sink in the mudroom and my instant pot were sanity savers during that time! This also meant listing the house would get pushed back. Oh well. Times of covid.

We busied ourselves the rest of August with packing non essentials and taking loads 7 hours across state to storage. During that time, we made the most of beach fun and visits with Grandparents.

September kicked off with taking advantage of Labor Day weekend to haul some outdoor items to the family property in Rocksprings for safe keeping. My goodness we have really accumulated a lot of crap! But we enjoyed a couple days at the property and around Kerrville as what felt like would be our last family trip for a while.

Nathan moved down to start work September 13th and we kicked off Weston’s birthday fun shortly after that. At his request; his best friend, his brother and he enjoyed a game day at Grand Slam followed by Rounders Pizza and a sleepover.

A few days later, we were headed for the coast to meet up with PawPaw for our dove hunt weekend, and to celebrate Weston with Daddy. We rented an awesome kitchenette suite and a beach buggy in Port Aransas and had a blast being tourists.

Archer came as an additional “bird boy” this year for dove hunting and kept his momma thoroughly entertained. It seems, though, he is hooked and looks forward to this September already. Good timing as Weston may be coming as a hunter in the next year or so!

Things started to get strained as we were still waiting on cabinets to be installed thus holding up listing our home. But I busied myself with meticulously cleaning every space in the house, staging and taking pictures for listing purposes. Finally, on October 20th, the cabinets went in. On the 22nd, Nathan came into town and by October 24th, we had the kitchen completed and the house listed for sale by owner.

Halloween was a wonderful break from reality in the way that it was an absolutely NORMAL holiday. Probably the single most normal day of the year! The kids dressed up, trick or treated door to door in Grandma’s neighborhood, and we hung out with friends. Absolutely perfect.

The beginning of November meant opening weekend for deer season, and with little movement on selling the house, we headed back to the coast to send Weston with Daddy for a hunting trip to Rocksprings. Ashlyn, Archer and myself stayed on Dad’s boat in their absence and participated in a trash cleanup and enjoyed more beach time.

On November 12th, my patience had run out on dealing with spam callers, scam emailers and people asking if I would owner finance/rent to own, so we listed with a realtor. Then we planned Archer’s birthday. He decided he wanted to go fishing for his birthday, so armed with a new spinning rod and reel from Grandma and Grandpa, back to the coast we go! I mean, there are worse places to always be visiting, but by now I was sick of the drive. Regardless, we had fun and Archer got a taste of saltwater fishing.

Our return from Archer’s birthday was rough. On November 23rd, I came back to ETX with an ailing Skye and she passed via euthanasia at our vet. Healing from this is ongoing and maybe I’ll be able to say more about it another day.

We did a fish fry at Grandma’s for Thanksgiving and then attended a wedding in Houston at the beginning of December.

By mid December, my patience (see a theme here 😉) had run out again. Nathan and I were both fed up with the back and forth across the state. The time and money we were spending to maintain our family over the last 3 months was frustrating. Also frustrating was being stalled out on things the kids were accustomed to. Dance, baseball…a place that could feel like home…. SO within a week, Nathan found, bought and secured a spot for a 30ft travel trailer that all 5 of us, a cat, a dog and a lizard could call home…..for now.

We spent a week in the trailer, which basically felt like a camping adventure, and we were on our way back to ETX to spend Christmas with Grandma. The week was filled with all kinds of holiday joy and we crammed in as much friend time as possible. At one point there were TEN kids around my dining table decorating cookies! A priceless memory.

When we returned to our little trailer in Aransas Pass, we came better prepared with necessities from the house and threw ourselves into learning how to be “full time RVers.” NYE was spent playing UNO and eating s’mores gathered around the dinette and that was a wrap on 2020.

Everyone has a 2020 story. I started the year out feeling like we were golden. We already homeschooled, we already liked avoiding crowds, grocery store shortages weren’t all that extreme, we had a thriving garden and a freezer full of meat.  Sure I missed state parks by mid year, but really we were handling the times of covid well. Our story for 2020 won’t be about a pandemic, but rather trying to relocate across the state…during a pandemic. Kicking 2021 off in the situation we are in now wasn’t at all what I had in mind for our future as we rung in 2020, but isn’t everyone saying that at this point? So here’s to keeping on keeping on.

-Lindsay

2020 was a weird one, y’all. And everyone has a story out of it. I’m going to tell ours in cliff notes style with this post.

While we were wrapping up our tri state camping trip, Nathan tested with Exxon for a position at their new Corpus Christi plant as the beginning of a “let’s pull on this string and see what it leads to” venture. And, really, if wasn’t for that developing into more, we probably would’ve come out of 2020 with little tale to tell. Haha

With the rest of March, we managed to purchase 12 new chicks before they went out of stock nation wide and had new windows installed downstairs completing our big house purchase for the year. Or so we thought.

With more and more closing down by the day and the craziness that we were witnessing in big cities starting to reach our small ETX towns, we were forced to stay home more and more. But, never fear! Digital age to the rescue! The kids started participating in a weekly art class stream amongst other interesting streaming programs and made all kinds of masterpieces. Thankfully, Archer and I were able to make a Hobby Lobby run 2 days before it closed down for a month’s worth of supplies!

In April, boredom got the best of me and I started tearing into our downstairs guest room and transformed into an amazing master suite. I really enjoyed the retreat space it created for Nathan and I. We no longer walked out of our bedroom into generally a chaotic mess of the craft/classroom and the kids had the upstairs bathroom to themselves.

By May 1st, I needed a change of scene and time out of the house to keep me from working on it more. Lol! I was getting tired, but couldn’t just sit and rest with so many projects going on at once that my ADHD created. We jumped on the PERFECT opportunity to be the first guests at my former boss turned friend’s rental condo on the Comal River. What a way to pandemic travel, eh? We stayed 2 nights at Froh Haus (check them out on Facebook!) and had a fun and restful time.

When we returned, our friends that we hadn’t seen since the end of February threw Ashlyn a surprise birthday party and I’m pretty sure that was the best day of the year for her.

Mid May, I built the countertop for the massive kitchen island myself and the girls performed their recital routines for Ashlyn’s number one dance fan.

At the end of May, Dad was relocating for his temporary assignment on the Corpus Christi project and Weston and I had the exciting opportunity to be his crew on passage of the “Mother Ocean” to Port Aransas to serve as his residence! Absolutely amazing and empowering experience and as a result, I’ve become addicted to sailing YouTube channels. 😀

On my birthday, Nathan found out he was selected for an interview for the position he tested for 3 months earlier (thanks corona for dragging that process out), and I guess you could say things got real! I started working on wrapping up house projects without going into debt just yet, because that would be pointless if he didn’t get the job. I also experienced my first emergency haul to the ER with one of my kids! A replacement door that was still leaning against the wall, got knocked over by some kids that weren’t supposed to be playing in that room and it fell squarely on Archer’s head. He received 5 staples like a champ and Hospitality ER in Tyler was amazing. Everything turned out just fine, but I don’t think we’ll forget the sight of that much blood coming out such a little dude for quite a while.

In June, miraculously, baseball resumed and for 2 months Weston enjoyed a whirlwind season with his team placing 1st in district and playing some competitive ball at State in Waco. He played catcher for the first time in a few games and while we thought he was pretty good at it, he didn’t like it too much. I guess I haven’t met many boys his age that like all that gear. The state tournament itself was a wonderful reprieve from reality. We rented a massive, secluded house with 2 other families and the outdoor facilities at the ball park made life feel pretty damn normal. Our boys didn’t place and they took it hard, but I love me some summertime baseball regardless.

Nathan’s interview took place mid month in Corpus Christi, so we decided to make a family trip of it renting a condo on Corpus Christi Bay. It was a rushed and exhausting trip as we learned just how far the drive is with 3 kids and the 2 nights we gave ourselves sent us back more tired than when we went. But, Weston found his biggest hermit crab to date and Archer got a taste of surf fishing. And Nathan felt like his interview went well. All we could do was wait some more.

We even managed our annual meet up vacay with my bestie and her family at the end of June. We rented a house on Lake Whitney and had a fantastic time soaking in the clear water and getting drug around the lake on their toy. A little bit of Sahara Dust hanging in the atmosphere made for interesting sunrises and sunsets.

July wrapped up baseball and we enjoyed another trip to Lubbock to visit family. The cousins were thick as thieves, we had tractor rides and Ashlyn learned she loves ribs. As long as Uncle Travy cooks them.

Our first half of the 2020 experience wasn’t too bad! We altered, adapted and overcame pretty well. But there’s even more curve balls to come starting in August…

-Lindsay

***I am FINALLY getting back to my blog game after 9 crazy months off. This is picking up on the tail end of our trip we took in early March of 2020…BCV (before corona virus) 😉 ***

Our departure from Lake Catherine Sunday morning was delayed about 30 minutes when one of the support poles for the canopy popped lose during take down. Thanks to Handy Hubby for a stashed tool kit and Ashlyn’s 10 yr old strength, we got it repaired and salvaged our last night of camping!

On our way back to Texas, we stopped at Crater of Diamonds State Park outside of Murfreesboro, AR. I had read about numerous places throughout Arkansas where you could “mine” for your own gemstones and stumbled across this state park that touted the ability to find diamonds. As the result of a 95 million year old volcanic pipe, lamproite diamonds were deposited and can now be found on the surface of a 37.5 acre frequently plowed field. AND, apparently, is the world’s only public access mining site! We were excited!

But as it turns out, we aren’t built to be diamond miners. Haha! It was probably the mixture of ill preparedness and too high of expectations that set us up for failure. But after approximately 20 minutes of stabbing the hard black gumbo soil with spades a gentleman was kind enough to pass off to us as we were coming and they were going, the boys decided dirt clod throwing was more fun and Sally wanted a walk. As we walked, I noticed parties with SIGNIFICANT mining equipment that appeared to be camped out for the long haul. And after an hour, on our way out, I found out their reason! There is a finders board posted and it seems, a genuine diamond is only found about once a month and usually 2-3mm in size. Lol! And by the crowd we saw in just 1 hour in one day, the mining suddenly seemed more a feat of luck than work. 😉

After a picnic lunch, we loaded back up and made our way back into the great state of Texas via the city of Texarkana.

Another hour on the road and we arrived at Atlanta State Park for our final night of the trip. We had an awesome pull through site surrounded by towering pines with a short walk down a trail through the woods to the bathhouse. The sites were significantly spaced out and even though the park was filling up by the minute with folks getting their spring break started, it was incredibly quiet and you could hear the trees creaking in the breeze. What a peaceful end to our camping adventure!

Once the task of setting up camp and enjoying a simple hot dog dinner was through, we drove to the other end of the park and onto the point that pokes out into Wright Patman Lake to enjoy the sunset. The reservoir is completely surrounded by parks for lake access, so the shoreline is entirely natural and not a single residence to be seen. Again, SO peaceful!

The next morning, after a lovely night’s rest, we broke down camp and found a brief, interesting trail to hit before we headed home. The trail was actually an over one hundred year old road that led to the ferry crossing at the Sulphur River before it was dammed to create the reservoir. The kids got a kick out of it and thought it was crazy that it just came to an end at the lake’s edge, technically continuing under the surface.

Satisfied with our sight seeing, we hitched up to Wanda, headed out and made it to Tyler in time to have lunch with Nathan!

What an amazing time we had! I came off this trip all gung-ho to plan the next one! Go farther! Longer! But, within 4 days of our return, corona virus began it’s global attack and everything went into lock down. Typing this post 9 months after ALL of what 2020 ended up having in store for us is bittersweet. I am SO grateful we had that trip just in the knick of time. I know so many that had to cancel so much. We also haven’t gone anywhere with Wanda since this trip and looking through the pictures makes me miss her and what she enables us to do so much. Looking forward to that again. And soon.

-Lindsay

We left Mount Magazine by lunchtime on Friday and arrived at Lake Catherine State Park south of Hot Springs a few hours later. This camping location put us in a more ideal position for departure Sunday morning. When our trip was originally routed to start in Arkansas first, I had looked at Lake Ouachita State Park to the north of town for the same reason. Ideally, you could try for a campsite IN Hot Springs National Park, but there are only 30 some odd campsites and they are on a first come, first serve basis and I didn’t want to try my luck on a weekend that kicked off spring break for many.

Lake Catherine turned out wonderful regardless! Our site was positioned 75 yards to the bathhouse and about 100 yards to a playground at the top of a hill. And it was HUGE! The kids helped me with the essential parts of set up and burned off to the playground. Once camp was set and I looked over the trails map, I found out the park has a waterfall! I collected the kids and we drove to the trail head of the one mile loop to check out The Falls Creek Waterfall. It was beautiful! It wasn’t crowded and there was so much to explore we stayed til dusk.

After dinner, we turned in early as more and more campers rolled in for the weekend. Rest was tolerable that night, but there was this island just off the coastline where the campsites were and geese flocked there for the night and were HONKING ALL NIGHT! Do these things not sleep?? Because I had been going to bed with the kids every night by 7:30-8, I was waking up by 4 or 5 each morning. Which, worked out pretty good for beating crowds to showers especially when in a booked full campground. And, Dad, you wouldn’t survive here. I’ve never seen this in my life, but the shower has a single push button activation just labeled “H” for hot. Whatever the park deems as hot that is. Which is definitely NOT HOT ENOUGH. And it’s shuts off every 20 seconds. Completely insane. Camping ain’t glamorous, but those sites weren’t all that cheap either.

But I digress, haha. After breakfast, the four of us along with Sally loaded up for a day in Hot Springs National Park. Getting to downtown and parking in a free parking garage was easy enough. At 10 am only the top of the garage was left open, so I figured we were in for a busy day. We started at a visitor center where we picked up a map of the downtown area and hit Bath House Row first. Immediately we found one of many hot fountains scattered around the houses. We were thrilled to see the steam and feel the actually very hot water squirting out!

From there we strolled the sidewalk in front of each bath house that were all serving a different purpose except one that still allowed bathing. When we came to the 5th one, my favorite for outside appearance, we learned it served as a museum with all the original equipment preserved. With no dogs allowed inside, but with ample seating available on a large porch, I went with my gut and left 2 kids outside at a time with Sally while I escorted the other rather quickly through the building. That went rather well and all were very impressed with what folks in 1880s through mid 1900s considered a “luxury spa.”

Next we found yet another fountain tucked back in between 2 houses and all partook in a straight from the tap sip.

At the end of the row was Superior Bathhouse that had been converted into a brewery and restaurant. While we’re reading their sign, the hostess poked her head out and reassured us they were dog friendly inside! Hallelujah! Momma had a beer and the kids each had a pint of root beer made with none other than the spring water! I was even able to get a half growler of stout for Daddy!

After our refreshments, we found what I guess would considered the main spring? That area was putting off some heat as it cascaded down the hill side! Then, on our way to the promenade that takes you behind the bathhouses, we saw the wild sight of all these people loading their jugs up at a more modern fountain! They were quick to encourage us to cut in with some of our emptied water bottle and fill up on the “best, most pure water you will ever drink.” It was a hoot! Maybe it’s their secret to longevity.

Our walk along the promenade was peaceful and we encounter a few more spring areas.

We filled up one more bottle “for the road” and called it a day. By the time we’re leaving, the Buckstaff House had a line to the sidewalk for baths and the garage was jam packed with cars looking for a spot. I guess we faired well! On our way out, we drove the mountain road up and down taking in views of the town along the way. There’s a watch tower at the top that looked neat but it was going to cost $32 for us go up to the top and we just weren’t that interested.

We were thrilled with our experience at Hot Springs! I had been wanting to see what it was all about since we moved to ETX and it’s a beautiful place. Even though it was busy, everything felt safe and clean. People were courteous and the area was well organized and easy to navigate. I want to go back with Nathan for a weekend! Ideally, I would book something in downtown and walk everything. You could give yourself a day for the history part, which we did and then another day to hike all of the beautiful trails that branch off the area.

That evening back at Lake Catherine, the kids found a little more energy to hit the playground one last time and I made one more attempt to get a good campfire going to no avail. I’m not having much luck with park bought wood, but I refuse to gather firewood like so many do which is prohibited. Maybe I start bringing my own dried out stuff? We slept much better that night, though! Seems all the extra campers in the area helped absorb geese noise haha.

Sunday morning we would be on way to Crater of Diamonds State Park to dig for diamonds and then into Texas for our final night in another unvisited state park.

-Lindsay

Thursday morning, we left Tulsa after a lovely night’s sleep in a hotel and crossed into Arkansas via Fort Smith by lunch time. I didn’t know much about this town, but when I saw signs for a Fort Smith National Historic Site, my homeschooling self saw an opportunity! It turned out to be quite an educational experience!

The area preserves the remains of 2 versions of Fort Smith. The first was built in the early 1800s as a peace keeping presence between Cherokee and Osage Indians in the area as new settlers moved in. In 1830, the 2nd and larger Fort was built by the US Army as the Indian Removal Act was enforced and it stood as barrier between Indian Territory and Arkansas. In 1863 until 1871, the Fort was under Union control during the Civil War training many United States Colored Troops regiments. We were very pleased with our mid way stretch and lunch break!

Our next 2 hours on the road were quite entertaining and scenic! The roads were twisty curvy and had a quite a few steep climbs. There’s definitely more elevation in Arkansas than I thought! We arrived at Mount Magazine State Park and were set up by 3pm. The ranger at checkin got a good giggle at this Texan with my concern over the reported black bear population, but assured me they were “still asleep” haha!

With the weather forecasting colder at 2500 ft elevation, we took advantage of the 60s and sunny and hit the trail to hike the 2ish mile loop to Arkansas’ highest point. At 2,753ft above sea level, this is the kids highest hike to date!

Along the way, we also scoped out the cabins and lodge that the park offered and were very impressed.

Back at the camper, the sun was going down and the wind was picking up. Like 25mph gusts picking up! We opted for an evening of ease and ate dinner at the lodge’s restaurant. We reluctantly left Sally in her kennel in the camper once again hoping an hour away wouldn’t throw her into a fit. I also adjusted how I zipped the kennel with a carabiner in place. All to no avail. She just ripped her way out this time and was once again wandering the camp site when we returned. Twit. Now the kennel is useless and my dog has a new neurotic trait. I’m now pondering adjustments before our next attempt to the hit the road with her on trip that requires her being left alone at times.

This was a coldest night and the wind made things turbulent at first, but it was also the QUIETEST night of the trip so far and as a result we all slept really well. My trip to the bathhouse at 5 am was lovely with the stars and the quiet woods. When the sun came out, it was still only 38 degrees that morning! We made biscuits in the camper thanks to an awesome toaster oven Grandma gifted me for Christmas and then hopped in the car for some sight seeing.

We checked out a cliff side amphitheater, stood in awe of a hang gliding launch pad and the kids made my momma heart skip a beat as the older 2 walked out onto a narrow outcrop over the valley.

Over on the other side of the park, the temp climbed into the upper 40s and we briskly walked a 1 mile loop trail to a few other scenic overlooks.

After sightseeing, we packed up Wanda and drove 2.5 hours to Hot Springs for the weekend.

We thoroughly enjoyed our time in “the mountains” I feel like Archer really connected with something here. He was really up for anything and asked for his picture with the scenery often. This park didn’t just serve as a strategic stop, it was a wonderful experience! Just the sheer peace and quiet would keep me coming back if I lived in Arkansas. Maybe the bears aren’t that scary ;).

-Lindsay

Tuesday morning, we packed up from Eisenhower State Park and were in Oklahoma by 8:30am. We drove straight north through the state to Stillwater where we sought out “life size” statues of Transformers Bumblebee and Optimus Prime. Thank you, Pinterest, for a fun road side tip!

From Stillwater, it was a straight shot east for about an hour and we arrived at Keystone State Park on the west side of Tulsa. Once camp was set up, we hung around the park fishing in a pond and the kids made a friend on the playground in the middle of the camping area.

Wednesday morning was overcast and chilly, but we were soon on our way into Tulsa for a day of play at their nationally recognized city park. Gathering Place made our list a couple of years ago when it started getting media attention for it size and intricacy. We went with high hopes and had our expectations exceeded. We spent SEVEN hours there. We (me included) played on everything and had an amazing lunch at one of the 2 restaurants on site. I think what we found most remarkable was that all of these designs were in someone’s brain and because of the largest private donation (465 million dollars collectively) to a public park in US history, it all came to life! I suppose I could walk y’all through minute by minute of all the cool stuff we did, but I think I’ll just drop a crap load of pictures and let yalls imagination run with it instead. I’ll start off with a map of the place. The 66.5 acres completed of the total 100 acres they plan on.

Even though we were exhausted, they still didn’t want to leave that day. I had to swear that any and every time we find ourselves remotely near Tulsa, we will always set aside time to play here.

We left Gathering Place, expecting an easy evening back at the camper. Instead, we arrived on a prescribed burn going on in the park AND MY DOG WALKING AROUND THE OUTSIDE OF THE CAMPER. Apparently, she wasn’t pleased with the length of time we were away and unzipped herself from the canvas kennel in the camper and busted through a seam of Velcro in the tent part. What the actual hell!? The ONLY reason I didn’t murder her was the fact she stayed around the camper. No one called me about her (she wears a tag with my phone number and she’s microchipped), and she didn’t disappear into the woods. That’s worth a few good girl points I guess. Needless to say… between the smoke inundating the campsites and my neurotic dog, I was a little frazzled. At 4pm, I had made my mind up and we booked a dog friendly hotel in Tulsa and received a refund for the unused night in the state park. We packed up the camper and were situated eating leftovers for dinner at a Wyndham by Hilton that I scored for $70 by 6pm.

I still can’t get over the amazing wonderland that’s been created in Tulsa, Oklahoma of all places. I can’t recommend this place enough for every kid or kid at heart. Keystone State Park, on the other hand, could do with some improving. Locking bath houses between 10pm and 6am is a joke and performing a prescribed burn without notice to guests is a joke. BUT! We came to Oklahoma for one reason and it was worth it. I was happy when we crossed the state line into Arkansas on day four.

-Lindsay

Before the full throttle of baseball season kicked in, I put together an 8 day camping road trip for the kids and I taking us to 2 Texas State Parks, the Gathering Place in Tulsa, OK and Hot Springs, AR. I had a basic itinerary in mind for quite a few months, but didn’t book anything until 2 days before we left! The weather had me in fits! But, Mother Nature took favor on us and we had a very successful trip. I’ll be breaking the trip down over a couple of posts with LOTS of pictures.

We started off with an easy 3 hours drive to Eisenhower State Park north of Dallas on Lake Texoma. We had a great isolated camp site in a small cul de sac and setting Wanda back up after a few months off came right back to us. We ate lunch and the boys quickly scattered finding snail shells and digging around the site.

The park is relatively small and narrow along the shore of the lake and the hiking trails were few. There is a full service marina and yacht club within the park that takes up a good deal of space. Along with a patch of OHV (off highway vehicle) trails, but those were closed due to recent flooding.

We selected a 1.5 mile round trip hike to get us warmed up for the days to come and the kids quickly realized how out of practice they were! Haha

We drove to the far end of the park and took in a few more points of interest. We really enjoyed the Lake Texoma over look and couldn’t believe just how big the lake truly is! The kids explored the rock ledge and enjoyed having some free range again.

After a snack back at camp, we walked to the lake shore and did a little fishing, but the kids quickly got distracted by the slate chips scattered all around. 😆

That evening we FINALLY got a decent fire going and the kids cooked their own hot dogs. We turned in for an early night after showering the camp fire smoke off and got a reasonable night’s sleep. Boat and train noises were prevalent throughout the night, but we woke up the next morning ready to head into Oklahoma for day 2.

I was glad we were able to mark Eisenhower State Park off our list, but that was about it for us. If you’re an avid boater or trail rider, this park would have a lot to offer, but that’s about it. Next up, our time in OK!

-Lindsay

This past Christmas, I persuaded Nathan to try out a “less things, more experiences” approach to gift giving and we surprised the kids with a weekend trip in San Antonio taking place a month and a half later. We booked an airbnb house at a great price with close proximity to all of our predetermined experiences. It was a 1940s row style house and we had run of the upstairs with 2 bedrooms, 1 bath, living room, and a bare bones kitchen. I even managed to save $60 on our admission fees to the Zoo and Aquarium by prepurchasing tickets on Groupon. Woot! With all of that set all, we just had to cross our fingers that fickle February weather would cooperate.

We arrived Friday night by 10pm after Nathan got off work and went right to bed. Good thing the house was as expected and we able to do so. Saturday morning, we started off with breakfast at Lulu’s Cafe and Bakery famous for their 3lb cinnamon rolls. Obviously we ordered one of those along with some breakfast tacos. Honestly, I thought we would make good on finishing the thing, but only got 1/3 of the way through it before all threw in the towel. Thankfully, the restaurant is used to this and efficiently wrapped the thing up for us guaranteeing unrefrigerated freshness for a week.

San Antonio Zoo was up first on the list of to-dos and we arrived about 30 minutes before they opened so we got in some photo ops.

The zoo was enjoyed by all but was lacking. It is easy to say that bird species made up a little under half of the exhibits and birds just aren’t our thing. And 3/4 of the Australia exhibit was empty or undergoing renovation. But! Almost all of the animals were extremely active and their reptile house was massive with lots on display. The weather wasn’t very cooperative changing on us overnight and producing an overcast, chilly day with scattered showers. This may have helped with keeping crowds down at first, but the numbers picked up significantly by the time we left around 1:30.

After eating our packed lunch in the park, we hopped on the train and enjoyed a leisurely ride around Brackenridge Park.

With a couple hours till our dinner plans, Mom and Dad had their time with beer sampling at Ranger Creek Brewing & Distilling and Islla St. Brewing. Islla St. made the must revisit list for us. Apparently they rotate their taps weekly and we were there on IPA week (my favorite) and their variety was phenomenal. Now Nathan wants to chance a stout (his favorite) week sometime.

Dinner was lined up at The Magic Time Machine. We picked this place after reading about it online for its whimsical decor and wait staff that dress up like pop culture characters. It was quite an experience! So much so, I didn’t get a. single. picture while inside. The restaurant itself reminds me of something the Mad Hatter and Dr. Seuss would make up with randomness on the walls, ceilings and floors. There were ramps, stairs, twists and turns everywhere. Many of the tables were tucked in little coves surrounded by more randomness. Our server was a young lady dressed up as “Jessie” from Toy Story and she was adorable staying in character the whole time. “Major Pain” came by the table and gave the kids crap about their butt chins and told them to get jobs.😂 “Thor” was the bartender and we caught glimpses of Jasmine, Ace Ventura, Beetlejuice, Starlord, Elsa, Shaggy and Deadpool. Quite eclectic! And as you may have guessed, the scenery is really what this place has going for it. Cheese pizza and french fries for the kids, catfish platters for mom and dad. Meh. But the kids left just mesmorized if not a little over stimulated haha and you should have seen the crowd waiting for a table at 7pm.

Sunday morning started with, yep, leftover cinnamon roll for breakfast and we were off to the Alamo! This visit was mostly for Ashlyn and her increasing interest in history and historic buildings. Besides, remembering the Alamo is always a good idea. The boys found interest in some of the larger than life statues and weapons that were on display, while Ashlyn dove right in reading all the plaques and reliving the history.

Once again, just as the crowd began to file in there, we were on our way out. We did a quick detour over to the Menger Hotel, wandered through the courtyard and peeped in the window of the bar where Theodore Roosevelt made a famous recruitment stunt for his “Rough Riders” regimen by riding his horse into the bar and inspiring the men.

After lunch and a short rest at the house, we hit 3 more breweries! Freetail brewing, Kündstel Brewing and Blue Star. The final brewery turned out to be located along the more recently developed river walk section north of downtown. 4 out of 5 of us were totally down for a stroll! 1 out of 5 (Daddy) opted to drive lol! We walked about a mile past residences and popped up just before the main river walk attraction where Nathan was parked and waiting. 😄 Dinner was at the house and we were all in bed by 8.

Monday was go home day, but after one more experience! The San Antonio Aquarium. Once again, we arrived right before they opened and were one of 8 families in the entire place for the first hour. The Aquarium turned out to be a funny thing. There were probably 10 actual tanks with fish. Everything else were exhibits with actual animals. And quite a mix of them! Kangaroos, chickens, iguanas, a sloth, cavies, rabbits, groundhogs (one was actually hanging out in a tree! What?), llamas…the list could go on. And pretty much everything was up for grabs, literally. Touching all of the critters was encouraged. But, wait! There’s more! For $3 extra you could FEEEDDD the critters! Oh wait! For $20-$40 more you can HOOOLLLLDDDD the critters! Geez Louise. The kids got the “can i’s” out of their system fairly quickly and were happy with the 2 finger touch encounters. Soon a few caretakers came around and actually offered up some hand feedings for free and the kids were thrilled with that. I guess they figured the critters have to eat one way or another and if the place isn’t swamped enough with customers, why not share the fun. I approve. After 2 hours I started tapping my foot ready to get back to the country and pick up the youngest child from the kennel. While the Aquarium didn’t meet Mama’s expectation, it way surpassed the kids’ and Daddy’s and they proclaimed it as the best thing we visited the whole trip! Lol!

Everyone really enjoyed our winter break for the change in pace. We don’t do city vacations very often and we definitely won’t be due for another anytime soon. It was AMAZING never having to drive longer than 10minutes to all of our destinations, but the noise of staying in the city! Wow. Sleep was definitely lost. We did a bunch of touristy stuff, but were lucky/efficient with our timing and always managed to leave just before a crowd showed up, but I still was done with people after 3 days haha. All in all, the kids loved their Christmas present and said it was the best time. We may just have a new thing. 🤞🏻

Now for some time in the woods!

-Lindsay