Category Archives: Parks

Hidden Cove Park and Marina ~Rving with 5 kids (Dallas Area)

We stayed at Hidden Cove Park and Marina just outside of Dallas.

I wanted to stay at Cedar Hill State Park but since it was spring break weekend, they were full.

I may have panicked for a while when I realized I needed to find a campsite on spring break weekend…

Thankfully Hidden Cove had empty spots and was a good price $35 a night for water and electric.

They even had some trails at the park which was nice for running off some of the kids’ crazy energy after the long drive.

One of my kids thought to poke a giant mound of dirt with a stick was a great idea until hundreds of ants came pouring out…

Thankfully none got on her.

She thought they were though and it took a while to convince her otherwise.

Hopefully, she will not poke mounds of dirt again.

These two were pretty adorable.

These are pretty accurate portraits of what my kids are like…

My littlest is really into boots in the shot or glaring.

She thinks it is really funny.

This ended up being a really pretty park!

I was going to share what we did while in Dallas in this post also but it would be too long so I will have to share that next!

I spent Saturday alone with all 5 kids in and around Dallas while Nick was at a conference so it was interesting!

Lake Murray State Park ~Ardmore, OK

We got to Lake Murray on a Tuesday and it was almost empty at Buzzard Roost Campground where we stayed.

There are several campgrounds all around the lake but this one was recommended online and had a view of Tucker Tower.


We got a spot on the end with plenty of room for the kids to play.


Isn’t this an amazing backyard?!

Tucker Tower!

The Nature Center by Tucker Tower was closed on the day we got there but they had a small one at the visitor center that the kids checked out.

We took a hike that started at Pecan Grove.

I meant to go on the nature trail that started there but went on a different trail by mistake.


But the trail was pretty and had some fun bridges.

Goofs.

Here is a look at the campsites.

They have water and electric and have nice pads and tables but not much privacy.

It was really nice while we were there but I am not sure I would have liked it if it was full.

Just keep that in mind if you go there.

I could not resist Tucker Tower at sunset.

The twins are usually a handful so I would not have usually taken sunset pics while they were with me but I could not miss this sight.

And maybe it was the sunset or the water(or the long hike we had just done) but they were pretty calm.

This boys birthday was the next day!

10yrs old!

Love this kid.

We were heading home that day but wanted to stop at the Nature Center and Tucker Tower first!

I am so glad we did because they were both beautiful and interesting!

Tucker Tower is a short walk from the Nature Center.

I told him he had to wait for us.

Mostly because I did not want to be left downstairs with five kids…

 

It feels like a castle!

 

There are two lookout spots on the tower.

One about midway and the other at the very top.

Beautiful views.

Little Bit tried to give it a kiss she liked it so much…

I really enjoyed our stay at this park!

It ended up being a perfect halfway point between our house and Dinosaur Valley State Park!

If you go, make sure you check out Tucker Tower and the Nature Center!

Here is the video I made of our trip.

 

Dinosaur Valley State Park ~Glen Rose, TX

This was actually our second trip to Dinosaur Valley State Park in Glen Rose, Texas.

For some reason, my boys did not remember our last visit…

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My oldest on our last trip in 2009.

No clue why they don’t remember.

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Dino Tracks!

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We went to another park nearby called Cleburne State Park and went on the spillway trail.

The trail wound through Juniper bushes and felt like a maze.

It was beautiful.

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I love how peaceful and calm this looks.

Not like I had just tried to wash a toddler’s pants in the bathroom and tried to dry them with the hand dryer(unsuccessfully).

Really should bring a change of clothes…

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There is a view of the spillway and lake from the top.

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Back at Dinosaur Valley.

You have to walk across these rocks to get to the main set of dinosaur tracks.

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Notice anything in the background?

He was waving his arms up and down while running at them.

I was cracking up.

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We went on the overlook trail next.

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I thought it was not too bad but then Nick pointed out this was not the overlook and it kept going up.

Oops

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The river is so pretty.

Clear and blue.

They have a beautiful swimming hole at this park also.


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At the overlook with the half pints.

I try to get in pics when I can.

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Inside our RV.

The layout has worked really well for us.

The twins sleep right next to where Nick and I sleep and the other three sleep on the bunks.

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I have found that I need everyone outside when I cook in here though.

It can get chaotic really fast otherwise.

One twin sleeps on the couch and the other sleeps on the dinette after it is folded down.

We usually just leave it down and the kids eat outside.

They are messy eaters anyway so this works well for cleanup.

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Our bedroom is pretty much just the bed but that works for us.

This looks totally different right now because Nick needed to replace the floor and some of the walls due to rot.

So we are getting a new bed and floor.

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We went across the river near the campground for our last hike.

There is a whole trail system that we had not been on before over there.

The water was a little high and the twins were not sure about crossing on the rocks.

I thought Nick would have to carry them across a couple times.

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We took the Cedar Break Outer Loop to the Buckeye Trail.

Which gave us a nice mangable length loop.

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Beautiful last hike.

As a bonus, the twins made it back across the river!

Although one of them sat on the shore and insisted she was not crossing…

I had to keep reminding her that she had already made it once so the way back would be easy.

 

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Most of the campsite had these beautiful trees all around them.

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These two.

They are always making me smile.

 

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A true picture of what it is like to have little sisters…

She kept petting him and saying he was a cute little baby.

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That smile.

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Our campsite was near the campground and bathroom.

With five kids I have found being close to those super helpful.

Otherwise, instead of camping, I am pretty much walking to the bathroom with kids the whole trip.

Well, I am doing that anyway.

This way it is at least faster so it takes up less of our trip.

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Sometimes being the littlest is just hard.

Like when you can’t get to the top and slide down.

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She wanted to do a flip so much!

Finally got it!

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Camping with 5 kids is hard.

If one is up, everyone is up.

You feel the bad moods more.

And sometimes I hike without Nick and just a couple of the kids because someone can’t hike right then.

Every time I try to pack for our trips I wonder if it is worth it.

Every trip the good outweighs the bad.

Take the trip, take pretty pictures, soak in a sunset, and choose to remember the pretty moments.

Grow from the hard ones but remember the sweet ones.

Here is the video I did of our trip!