John and I have always loved to go camping, and we have patiently waited for the time when the kids would be old enough to go too. John won a gift certificate for a night at Rough Creek Lodge (in one of the cabins), and we felt like this would be a great time to take the kids on their first camping trip!
Now, mind you, I use the word "camping" very loosely. Rough Creek Lodge is a 5-Star Resort just outside of Glen Rose. It has the nicest of everything....beautiful accommodations, pools, fishing pond, hunting, kids play room, gourmet restaurant, etc. But, we told the kids that we were camping in the cabin and they were so excited!
When we got to our cabin, the kids were talking about how much they loved it. Avery said, "Is this our new little home? I love our new little home!" There was a screened-in front porch with two huge rocking chairs and a wooden table with 2 benches and 2 chairs. Directly to the left upon entering the cabin, there was a spiral staircase that lead up to a small loft for the kids. In the loft there were 4 kids-sized camouflage fold-out chairs. I bet they went up and down those stairs a hundred times!
In the one large room of the cabin, there was a queen-sized bed, a twin bed, and a fold-out futon that was large enough for all three of them to sleep across. We had a flat-screened TV with DVD, a mini-kitchen, microwave and refrigerator. There were dishes and cookware in the drawers of the kitchen, and plenty of bottles of water to drink. There was a door beside the kitchen that lead to the outside patio area, complete with a large table/chairs, a hammock between two trees, and a fire pit. Man, we were really roughing it!!
After getting all of our stuff unloaded, we started exploring the area. About 100 yards from our cabin there was a teepee, kids play house, deer stand, and playground equipment. The kids had a great time going in and out of the teepee, playing in the house, and climbing all over the playground! John and I just sat and watched them!
We decided to load the kids in the car and drive over to the main area of the Lodge. After going through the reception area of the lodge, we walked down to the pond and went fishing. The fishing area is amazing. Rough Creek (RC) provides nice fishing poles and there is a refrigerator on the dock stocked with worms. Also, there is every type of lure imaginable. We were worried about the kids being so close to the water without a life jacket, but they did great! The kids each helped John reel in a fish--I didn't catch a thing--which was super exciting for them. Avery absolutely loved it!
After fishing we walked over to the recreation area by the lodge. There was an inflated bounce house, which they raced through a few times, trampolines, and a zip-line for the adults. (We'll do that sometime when the kids aren't there!) And we were lucky to catch the hayride as it was about to leave! The hayride took about 20 minutes, and the kids asked tons of questions about the things they saw. The end of the hayride was the most exciting as the trailer we were on came loose from the tractor! We skidded to a stop and the tractor kept moving! Adam didn't understand what was going on! The driver was apologizing profusely when I stopped him. "Look," I said, "we are from the country ourselves and not the typical customers you have at Rough Creek. This is no big deal to us!" I think he finally felt better about it.
RC also has a children's playroom with ping pong, foosball, air hockey, and other games. Nightly they have babysitters there from 6-10 to watch children while the adults go to the restaurant. We just stopped through and let the kids try to play for a few minutes. Adam loves tennis, so he was super-excited about ping pong!
By now it was time for dinner, so we headed back to the cabin to roast hot dogs and make smores. One small problem, however....the area was under a burn ban. So, thank goodness for the microwave! I heated up hot dog wieners in the microwave and we were good to go!
We played some more on the playground, I washed the kids down, and we all crashed watching "Toy Story 3" in bed.
Adam cried during the night because he said that his foot was hurting. I laid him in the twin bed with me (John was hogging the queen bed) to sleep. I could feel him twitching--I think the poor kid was having leg cramps! Anyway, when Adam woke up the next morning the first thing he said to me was, "Mom, this cabin doesn't have a smoke detector." I just shook my head....Adam believes in safety first!
John crawled in bed with Avery and Aaron as they were waking up. I hear Avery's voice..."Dad, can we go fishing yet?" To which Aaron replies, "I think we can. It's almost dawn." Cracks me up!
After a nutritious breakfast of powdered donuts (Avery ate 11 of them), we set off on a scavenger hunt. I made plastic Ziploc bags for each kid. Inside I put a paper with pictures of different objects for them to find: leaves, rocks, grass, a twig, wildflower, acorn, and a feather. I added the feather because I knew it would be more of a challenge. Little did I know that John would become obsessed with finding a feather. The kids forgot about it, but as we were leaving John said he wanted to go strangle a pheasant that we saw by the road just to get a feather!
We went fishing again, played tennis, walked by the pool, and pet the goats and miniature horses in the petting corral. The kids were NOT happy when we said it was time to go back home! Avery didn't want to leave her new little house, and Aaron didn't understand why they were going to let someone else stay in our cabin for the night. Adam put his head down and pouted the whole 15 minute ride home. When we would ask him what was wrong, tears would well up in his eyes and he would say, "I'm not finished camping."
I have to say it was probably about the best 20 hours we've ever had with the kids. We all had so much fun and the kids haven't stopped talking about it since we got home. The bad part, though, is that when we really do take them camping, they will be completely disappointed. I can hear Aaron now, "Wait a minute...where is our cabin and bed?"
