Last weekend I followed through on a promise I had made to the boys at the beginning of the summer.. a camp out. We were bummed to find out that the water slides at All American were closed for the season but decided to do the trip anyway. The weather was perfect and I knew it was this weekend or never this year. We took the back roads to Tahlequah and had a fun lunch at a roadside Drive-in in Beggs.
A great drive with the music up and the windows down was relaxing and just what I needed to get ready for the upcoming 24 hours. Once we got to All American we checked in and met Taco, the cute local weiner dog. We were the only family camping that night so we had free reign to pick our spot. The boys picked a beautiful spot right in between the river and the old go kart track. I have to mention too that the family that runs All American was over the top great. I forgot a few things at home (neosporin, flashlights, lol, lighter fluid) and they were more than accomodating. They checked in on us often and were super helpful the whole time we were there. The place is defiitely in need of some updating, but the friendly staff made up for it.
We decided that it would be a fun adventure to do the float trip down the Illinois River that afternoon too. I was not expecting to do this on my own but decided to do it anyway. We really did have a great time. It was hard work, paddling and pulling our raft upstream. We got stuck on a big stick and had to work together to push the raft off of it. And we had to go on a little trek through the woods when I thought that we had passed our drop off spot. But man we worked together and made the best of it all. At one moment Ro took a break from the paddling, laid back on the boat and watched the hawks flying overhead. He leaned back and said "mom, thanks for bringing us out here. This really is the life". Yeah my heart melted.
Once we finished our float trip it was time to set up camp and get situated for the night. I gave Ro my camera while I got the tent up and he had fun shooting random images from the campsite. I love this pic of Hayden below and wonder if this is a common image for Roland. I love it that Ro has the same robot spotting abilities as me too. :)
Once we got settled we headed back to town for a fun dinner at El Rancho diner. Che and I had been here a few weeks before and I knew the boys would love it. We called in our dinner on the table phones and enjoyed the delicious vanilla shakes before heading back to the campsite for roasted marshmallows.
It was a cool night but we snuggled up tight together in our blankets and sleeping bags and slept great. The next morning we got up and had free reign of the place again. We decided to play a round of putt putt under the water slides before heading home. The bolts and plates holding the structure together really did look like robot faces. We all found it amusing that we were being watched the whole time. The local kitty (which we named Burrito to go with Taco) acted as our living obstacle on the putt putt course too.
A great adventure together and although I was tired from all of the physical activity, I was proud of myself for having the courage to take on such a trip on my own with the boys. I know they enjoyed it as well and I hope we get to do many more trips like this again.
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