The Last Weekend of Summer Break

I can't believe it, but my kids are all snuggled in their beds getting plenty of sleep for their first day of school tomorrow. I'm feeling a bit emotional knowing that my two little ones are growing so quickly and are now school age... but I'll save all that talk for tomorrow. Let's focus on what an awesome time we had this weekend! I decided that we had to do something fun for our last days of summer, and when I found out Wes didn't have to work- we put the plan in action for some family time. Luckily, we don't have to travel far to experience "the great outdoors," so Saturday morning we drove 7 miles up the highway to one of many great campgrounds on Trinity River. We dropped off all of our camping gear, then headed a bit further up the river and met with Wes' mom, nephew, and brother's family. We all loaded into rafts and floated down to the campground- which took about 3 hours. The kids loved it! Once we got there, Wes taught the kids how to fish, and we all played in the sand until dinner. Wes' dad and sister joined the party for dinner at the campground, which turned out great for being a spontaneous trip. Most of us camped out there- which was fun, until I remembered that I am seven months pregnant and have to use the restroom at least 3 times a night. I wish I would've put our tent a bit closer to the bathrooms! But, we had a nice full moon, and I made some super-fast late night darts through the campground to get to the restroom PRONTO- not just because of my small bladder- but also my RIDICULOUS fear of bumping into a bear. Needless to say, I survived the night and we were awakened at 5:30 to RAIN! It was startling, since we had no cover on our tent, but really exciting, too- all I could think was, the rain will put our wildfires out! Unfortunately, it didn't last long, but it gave me a little hope that rainy season is coming and these fires just won't be able to burn once the rains are here. So, we started our Sunday early, and really couldn't muster up much energy for a lot of recreating today. We made a yummy breakfast, played a little at the campground, cleaned up, packed up, and headed out to a nice swimming hole up the road. The kids played on a rope swing, and we relaxed on the beach and picked blackberries. We were all ready for a nap by early afternoon, so we said our goodbyes and headed home- which was only 10 minutes away! I can't believe we had a family getaway vacation just down the road from our home, no road trip issues, no worry about gas prices... just good- inexpensive- fun in our own backyard.