Claire's First Camping Trip

 Claire did an awesome job helping Mommy unload while her Daddy set up the camp! We got to Lake Ray Roberts State Park around 6 pm or so, ready for our first foray into camping with kids (or at least one little one, anyways).... Claire carried quite a few things, including her camping chair, my purse (I was carrying the big bags), a kettle, and the flashlight.

 Some of the pictures came out blurry, it seems like, but I really like this picture anyways. Claire and I played on a rock at our campsite, climbing up and jumping down for almost a half hour (which was great as a distraction while Austin set up the campfire and got it going). There were all kinds of fun sticks and rocks to discover out here far from the city! :)

 Claire wanted to help her Daddy do everything...and she thought the tent was especially neat to explore.

 Claire slept really well in the pack-n-play, only waking up once...which was quite amazing because it was C-O-L-D!!! Good thing we brought a good heavy coat, hat, and mittens for this little girl! The picture above here is of Claire and her moth (it looked a lot like a butterfly) on a little stick that she picked up.

 This picture shows how well the moth blended in. On the ground, it almost looked like all the other leaves!

 When the wings were open, they had beautiful red and orange colors!

 We were a trio of happy campers! :)

 Here is our campsite...we were site #9! It was the best family spot ever...very close to the bathrooms and the parking lot, but still a little ways away so that the parking lot lights weren't a bother when we wanted to sleep or enjoy our campfire.

 After we packed up in the morning to go home, we headed to some of the trails to go for a short hike. There is a trail with the remains of an old homestead chimney left that we decided to take. :) It also helped that it was the shortest trail for Claire's first camping hike.

 A great Daddy and his daughter. :) I love this picture. :)

Claire with her "walking stick" from the hike. It is appropriate that her shirt says "cute and wild" because this was a WILD hike! Claire was VERY tired by this point...our hike took us to about 2 in the afternoon, and she (and Austin and I) were all very ready to take a nap. We loaded everyone up in the car, and drove home. We got back to our house around 3 pm and everyone took a good nap--we didn't wake up until 5! We were very tired, but it was so worth it...we had the best camping trip ever! :)