camping!

We took the kids on their first camping trip last weekend. We decided to do just one night, at a state park close to home (Stephen F. Austin State Park) in case disaster struck. It didn't--we had a blast! We got a screen shelter instead of taking a tent. It's like a big screened-in porch. It gave us some more space to move around, some containment, and yet was still "outside". HIGHLY recommend this option when camping with preschoolers.
Hazel settled in right away, playing in the dirt. She didn't stop the entire time we were there.
The highlight (nature-wise) was when we hiked to the Brazos River. The kids loved fishing in the river with sticks and throwing rocks.

driftwood!

It wasn't all smiles, of course. These particular tears were due to a sibling squabble. We also had some pretty serious tears due to fire ants (Jonathan).
This girl takes mud seriously.

Bedtime story reading, and an inside view of the screen shelter. Charlie had taken refuge underneath his mat, so that's why he's not visible.
We were tempted to cancel the trip to work on moving to-do lists and because my (Erin's) allergies had been so bad. I'm so glad we decided to go. It was a wonderful family get-away before the chaos of the big move.