We went to Fort Parker with some friends. I highly recommend this park. It's on a lake so there is plenty opportunity for fishing. We actually hiked over to the dam in the morning and saw about 20 fish in the water. We didn't bring our poles with us on that hike and I TOTALLY regret it. You could see fish just chilling out and occasionally biting at small minnows. Next time we go, we are fishing that spot!
The hiking trails are nice, as is the case with most state parks I've been to. And Fort Parker has a playground. The best part, I thought, was that almost all of the camp sites have large shade trees... invaluable during the hot summer months. The park is off the highway so you might hear some road noise... but it's not like an interstate so it's not terribly active. It was only about an hour and half from our place and about two hours from my Mom's house so we might visit it again soon.
I didn't take great pictures because it was a busy weekend! I don't have many to share but here's what I have... As soon as we got there and put John down he was off to find a stick to taste!
The first night was really cold... at least for sleeping outdoors... it was about 45. I think I would have slept better if I would have just left John alone. Every time he made a noise I would try to 'fix' him... I was worried that he was cold, mainly. So I would get him down (he was in the pack-n-play like last time) and put him in between us. The problem is that John hasn't slept with us since he was two weeks old... so being in bed with Daddy & Mommy means it's time to play. So he would go from half asleep to wide awake as soon as he hit the ground. I would start worrying about the other campers so I would put him back in the pack-n-play. He would fall asleep (without crying) and then wake up about 2 hours later and the cycle would begin again. I don't know why I was worried about him being cold, he had two layers on with two quilts in the pack-n-play... I think he was actually warmer than us. However, since we don't sleep in the same room I'm not aware of all the noises he makes at night... it could have been a totally normal night.
After walking around the next day I realized that most campers near us had actual campers, so I decided if John made a few noises during the night it wasn't going to wake the entire camp ground up. John stayed in the pack-n-play and we all slept better the second night!
Here is a picture from the first morning. John was active because he was in between us and so the picture is a little blurred... but still good fun.
So our theory on dirt is that "it don't hurt." And what we decided was that John could play in the dirt and get as dirty as he wanted but when he went down for a nap/bed I (or Steven) would clean him up. John got pretty, amazingly dirty. I had to take pictures because it was unbelievable. He had so much dirt that his diapers were sandy the next day. I guess I could chase him around all day telling him not to put this and that in his mouth, but I'm pretty sure other babies have eaten dirt (in larger quantities) and survived... so I didn't worry about it and it turned out to be an great camping trip.
Crazy Kid!
Anyway... I highly recommend Fort Parker. Bring your fishing poles and your kids! :)
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