On this past Friday morning, we had the truck & trailer loaded and ready to go. Why? We were heading to Waynoka, Oklahoma (up close to the panhandle) for a long Easter weekend camping trip! By 7am, we had both kids loaded (still in their jammies since we had to wake them both up) and were leaving Round Rock!
The trip was 9 hours long, and the kids did pretty good, but we were all certainly happy when we pulled into our campsite that afternoon! We met Justin's parents up there (Mimi & Pawpaw, as they are known by our kids), and they were awesome enough to rent an on-site camper trailer for us all to stay in for the weekend. (It was my first experience with camping in a camper & I must say that I'm HOOKED!) Here was our "home" for the weekend:
Not long after we got there, Justin stabbed his left hand with his pocket knife -- an accident, of course, but certainly something we had never planned for. Thankfully, Kevin had a first aid kit in his truck, so he quickly bandaged Justin up. We thought he was fine until Justin realized that he had no mobility in the last joint & in the tip of his thumb. Scary? Yes... (more on this story to come...)
Nonetheless, after a yummy dinner of hamburgers & corn on the cob, we loaded up & headed out for some 4-wheeler riding. Austin had only had his 4-wheeler for 5 days at this point & had only ridden in circles on our street in front of our house, so we were anxious to see how he was going to handle riding in a big, open space. (I think this picture is adorable -- all 3 of the guys heading out on their bikes... too cute!) Justin's Mom, Wenona, and I (along with Kaylee, of course) loaded up on their Rhino ATV which had two seats & a bed, just like a truck. That was our transportation of choice & we kept up with the guys all weekend!
Little Sahara is a huge state park in Oklahoma that is made up of huge sand dunes. It's great for riding 4-wheelers, and Justin and his Dad have gone there for years. I know they're both looking forward to making many more trips with generation #3 accompanying them!
After a ride down a roadside trail to get to the dunes entrance, we stopped for a rest and a quick picture of Austin & Pawpaw before we turned around & headed back to our campsite. His poor little thumb would get so sore from running the throttle that he'd have to take breaks every now & then... and, within 5 minutes from camp, he gave up on the way back & decided to quit for the night -- his thumb was worn out! So, I jumped on his tiny bike (thank goodness we don't have pictures of that!) & drove it on to camp.
Here's a picture of Justin on his bike, riding back to camp on the first night...
After we got back, it was time to roast marshmallows! Austin LOVES this part of camping, so we quickly found the roasting sticks & went to work. S'mores, roasted marshmallows... we enjoyed it all! And we all just enjoyed sitting around the fire and visiting!
Saturday was a full day of fun for everyone... well, almost. Justin & his Mom grabbed granola bars for breakfast & headed to Alva, OK to the emergency room to have Justin's thumb looked at by a doctor. Come to find out, he had severed a tendon in his thumb that makes the tip of his thumb work, so the doctor suggested that he check in with our doctors down here in Austin once we got home & determine if surgery was necessary. Nonetheless, they were back before noon & Justin said he wasn't in any pain at all, so we were happy for that.
While they were at the ER, Kevin, the kids & I loaded up and went to have a real breakfast at Millers Cafe in Waynoka. It is the BEST home cooking & I swear I could eat there every single day! We ended up eating every single breakfast at Millers, with no complaints from anyone in our party!
The 3 boys went out & rode quite a bit that day, and in the afternoon, Justin & Kevin went out by themselves for some "real" riding while Wenona, the kids & I stayed back at the camper for a game of Scrabble and a nap for Kaylee. We took Austin to the small trails & sand hills at the rear of our campgrounds (which was the perfect place for him to practice riding on his new bike) and let him ride around until he was ready to head back to camp...
That night, Wenona had planned on grilling out some yummy steaks. Come to find out, they ended up being pork steaks & no one really seemed excited about that option... so we loaded up & drove just a few minutes to the small town of Waynoka & ate a Mexican dinner in the old train depot. It was good food and an even better history lesson for all of us! (We had quickly realized that there was a train track very close to our campsite, as trains kept us up most of the night. Come to find out, 65 trains go through Waynoka every day, making their way from Chicago to LA & back again... it was a busy place!) Outside of the depot was an old train engine, so we took our latest family pic on the front of it!
That night, as Justin & Kevin were out riding their bikes on the dunes under the stars, we had some major fun in the camper. After a game of "Yahtzee Jr", Austin & his Mimi played "War" -- he's quite a good card player!
All the while, I was getting Kaylee ready for bed... (we shared a bed, so getting her to sleep involved me faking that I was sleeping until she fell asleep, then I'd get up, put Austin to bed & get ready for bed myself!),
Oh, Sunday... EASTER SUNDAY! The kids were so excited! Mimi & Pawpaw had brought them Easter baskets that they had opened the day before, and they were anxious for the Easter Egg Hunt that we had been telling them about for a few days! I snapped this picture as they were eagerly awaiting Wenona & I to hide all of the eggs around the campsite -- they were so excited!
And so the hunt began... Austin certainly found the most, but Kaylee was pretty good at finding them as well! (I figure next year, she'll really give Austin a run for his money!!)
(This planter bucket was our Easter gift from Justin's parents. It's a Razorback bucket that Wenona planted her home-grown geraniums in! She's sending me a better pic, so I'll post that soon... but I absolutely love it, and I must say it's perfect on our front porch! Thanks again, W!)
After all of the eggs had been found, it was time to dig through the loot! Lots of candy, stickers & money were stashed in the eggs, and both kids enjoyed a few pieces of their candy before lunch...
And, of course, that afternoon involved more ATV riding around the campground. Austin became quite the awesome 4-wheeler rider while we were out there! He honestly looked like a 10-year old on that bike... so comfortable & so big that you'd think he'd ridden a bike for years! We were all really proud of him!!
We loaded up on Monday morning, had one last breakfast at Millers Cafe & headed home to Texas. 9 hours later, we got home and were exhausted from such a busy weekend. We had a great time and Austin's already looking forward to going back again...
Below is a video of Austin showing off his riding skills over this past weekend. It's over 4 minutes long (too long for some of you, which is understandable since it's just a 4-year old riding a 4-wheeler... but to others, I'm sure you'll be excited to watch our little man on his new "toy"), but it is actually about 5 videos all mushed together. Short clips of quite a few different days that he rode this past weekend... I hope you all enjoy!
An update on Justin's thumb? He went to his general doctor today who referred him to a hand specialist at a hospital here in Austin this afternoon. He has surgery scheduled for this Thursday morning where they'll go in, reconnect the tendon that he sliced through, and then send him home. He said that 4-6 weeks of physical therapy will then follow, and then he'll hopefully be back to normal. He's pretty bummed out since he had a camping trip planned this weekend to Big Bend National Park in South Texas with some of his work buddies... looks like he'll be stuck at home with a painful thumb & his wife as a nurse! I'll keep you all updated!
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2 comments:
We went camping for Easter weekend too! Bless Justin's heart. I'm so sorry about his accident and that it was that bad. Hopefully he'll be back to normal soon. Love keeping up with your family. Your kiddos are growing up so fast. You have a beautiful family!
Holy cow! Hope the surgery goes well, but it sounds like a fun trip nonetheless!
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