As some of you may know, this past week was fall break and we had been planning a camping trip for the last few months. The whole family packed up and traveled to Natural Falls, in eastern OK, with some friends of ours from church. We left out Thursday morning and made a day of the trip which took us almost to the state line. The kids did well on the trip although they were anxious to be there from the minute we got in the car. We stopped in Tulsa for lunch which was a nice break in the trip. We arrived mid-afternoon to find we had 2 awesome camping spots. The entire campground was really great, wide open and roomy. Since our friends have a pop-up camper they just spun theirs around on the slab and we had a great little mini-camp between our campers. We had a great fire pit which we kept pretty busy with fires in the morning and evenings. The weather couldn't have been more perfect with cool evenings and mornings with a nice warmup and sunshine during the day. Friday morning we hiked up to the natural falls which was really pretty and just about the right amount of hiking for the whole gang. Even Addi was able to make the trip and did a surprising amount of walking on her own. Our friends have 3 boys so Addi was a little outnumbered but she loved all the attention. Being the youngest and the only girl, she pretty much gets everything she wants and then some. After our hike it was time for lunch, then our afternoon consisted of time at the camp playground which was great, games with our friends, snacks, and just hanging out at camp. Next thing we knew it was time for dinner. Yes you guessed it, we ate well on this trip. The boys were always hungry and we were challenged to fill them up. Our friends introduced us to dutch oven cooking with a great mexican casserole dish which we loved. Our friends are relative experts in the area of camping, and I mean camping without amenities. I admit I am a little spoiled with my camper which connects to running water with a bathroom readily available. Anyway we had a blast cooking and eating which consumed a great deal of our long weekend. On Saturday Mark and I took the opportunity to take our friends and our own children to New Life Ranch, which is the place where Mark and I met. For those who have never heard of this place, it is a Christian camp in eastern OK that is an awesome place for kids, families, retreat groups, and just about anybody looking to have a great time in the great outdoors. We got to eat lunch with some of our friends from our camping days back in the summer of 1995. After lunch we took a little tour of the new stuff at the ranch and wrapped up the day with some canoeing which was by far the kids favorite part of the day. After a little freshening up we drove to Springdale, Arkansas, and met Mark's parents for some chicken at the infamous AQ chicken house. As long as I've known Mark, this was my first trip to the chicken house and boy was it good. The kids ate like horses and we got our money's worth. Sunday was just a lazy morning spent mostly eating, packing up, eating, loading up, eating, and heading for home. The trip home was long as they usually are when your vacation is over and you're thinking about the week ahead. I can truly say that it was a restful and rejuvenating time, spent with good friends, just taking some time to appreciate all we are blessed with. It's back to the grindstone this week as we finish out the fall semester. I know that before we turn around again the holidays will be upon us. It seems we are in for some real changes in the weather this week. As I sit at my computer composing this it is storming outside and it looks like snow with the ground covered by hail. We drove through the front on our way home today and the temperature dropped about 15 degrees between Tulsa and OKC. It was nice to unload in the cool. We arrive home safely around 5:00 and had everything unloaded by about 6:30 but it will likely be days before I have it all really put away. I am saddened that the trip is over as I usually am but have great memories and stories to tell for it. I am happy to say we escaped with our most severe injury being a spill Garrett took into the concrete picnic table. In his haste to roast his marshmellow he tripped on the concrete pad and went nose first into the concrete bench. He is still quite swollen and bruised and I honestly wouldn't be surprised if it's broken but we'll see. I guess we'll be in for a trip to the pediatrician later this week. Having broken my own nose as a child, I know there is nothing they can do about it until the swelling subsides anyway. We were just happy to get it to stop bleeding which proved to be quite a challenge in Garrett's state of drama after the fall. I knew he was going to be ok when about 45 min later after some recovery time in the camper he wanted to know when he could have a smore. All in all, an awesome fall break!!
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