Tag Archives: Texas

Homesteads and Flops ~Dallas, Tx

 

First off after dropping Nick off at his conference (and navigating downtown Dallas), was a trip to the Creation Museum in Glen Rose, Tx.

We went to Glen Rose in January and wanted to go to the museum then but it was not open on the days we were there.

It is a small museum and some of my kids were restless and not doing well so we did not stay long.

I liked the ark replica they had. I was a bit disappointed in the museum overall though.

We stopped by Dinosaur Valley State Park since we were right there but it was crazy due to spring break so we did not stay there long either.

I was really starting to think this trip was a total bust.

We got lunch and I started the drive back to Dallas, planning to kill some time at the Cedar Hill State Park.

I decided on this park because we have a state park pass so it was free.

After paying for the museum that we did not even stay long at, I did not want to spend any more money.

I had no clue there was a homestead at this park!

It was quiet, peaceful, and crowd-free.

This beautiful place basically redeemed the day.

I love history, woods, and quiet.

So this place was a like a balm to my soul.

I felt like I could breathe again and there was plenty of space for the kids to run around.

The old buildings were beautiful.

See? So relaxed and happy.

I need open spaces like I need chocolate 😉

Anyone else ever feel like that?

This place was called the Penn Farm Agricultural History Center and it was a great stop if you like outdoors and history!

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!

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.

Kids… adinoDSC_0335 adinoDSC_0348 adinoDSC_0355

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!