6th Annual Spring Camping/Turkey Hunting Trip.

So we got back on Sunday from a wonderful time away in the Pennsylvania wilds, at World's End State Park.  We left the Sunday before a little before 11am and stopped for lunch on the way up.  I also had to pick up some last minute things from Walmart and got Joanna a bike helmet since park rules state that you have to wear a helmet while riding around and we couldn't find her old helmet.  She picked out this crazy baby zebra mow-hawk helmet and wore it most of the vacation!

We got to the park around 3 in the afternoon and "moved into" our cabin.  World's end only has rustic cabins but they are pretty nice and have quite the history to them.  Our cabin this year had two actual bedrooms instead of one big room, which was nice for naps and everything.  They have electric but no plumbing and no heat (besides the wood stove).  We had gorgeous sleeping weather though and only needed a fire inside for the first couple of rainy days on Monday and Tuesday.  And we were right across from the bathrooms which are always very well kept.  We had a really good location as far as the kids were concerned they had lots of room to ride their bikes!

Joanna wanted to pull Katy in the trailer so we attached it for her and laughed so hard because she'd pull her around for hours!

Ricky's parents came up with us for the first few days and stayed in the cabin right next door.  The kids liked riding their bikes over to MeeMaw and Pawpaw's for fruit snacks...

you can see the corner of our cabin at the left hand side of this picture:

I sat down to write this post the other day and realized I didn't really remember what we had done on each specific day so this will be just a general overview of our trip I suppose.  Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday Ricky and I were able to go out together turkey hunting while his parents stayed behind with the kiddos.  It was really nice being out with Ricky even if we didn't get any turkeys.  We heard some in the morning and Monday saw a little porcupine clinging to a branch high above our heads.  It's so funny to see them in the woods because you would think they'd find a big sturdy branch to sleep on but they don't!  They seem to get the smallest branch they can and just curl around it.  I think it was Tuesday morning that we were walking in, in the morning, and scared about 4 turkeys off their roosts!  So that was kind of disappointing because then they knew where we were and that we weren't actually turkeys calling to them :/
We went out Wednesday morning again and sat in two different places and Ricky actually saw a hen walking in the woods, I heard one calling close to where I was sitting but never saw it.  We went back to the cabin around 9am so his parents could leave and then my  hunting adventures were done for the rest of the week :P
One of the evenings while his parents were here we had gone somewhere and Ricky spotted this bald eagle flying around.  My camera was not able to capture a good shot of it but it was really neat to watch it swooping around with a fish in it's talons!

We enjoyed sitting around the campfire a lot.  Ricky and his dad had found a whole bunch of free firewood on the park grounds and it was just the amount that we needed.  Chase enjoyed staying up "late" with mommy and daddy and talking about life around the campfire and gazing at the brilliant night sky in the woods :)

I mentioned in my last post about how I was working on some Lalaloopsy dolls for the girls.  Well after Ricky's parents left and I had to stay "home" with the kids I had lots of time to sit by the fire and finish them.  This one is Joanna's and she had picked out all the colors for it, I had had this one mostly made before we got up there just had to finish the arms and skirt.  They turned out super cute I think!

Katy's doll I finished by the end of the trip too and she loves it.  She slept with it every night after that.

Tuesday afternoon we went to Sones pond for some fishing.  The flies were pretty bad and we could only stand it for about an hour but it was fun while it lasted.  The kids kept seeing little newts swimming at the edge of the pond and then we found a sac of eggs by the bank as well so that was exciting.  Ricky's dad caught a little fish but that was it.

looking at the waterfall on the other side of the bridge:

trying to hide from the flies under his hood:

my little cutie pie:

I thought the reflection on the water of the trees was really neat.

The two Rickys:

Wednesday afternoon we decided to take the training wheels off Joanna's bike.  She had been riding around really well on her bike and it looked as though she was ready so with a little encouragement she decided that she wanted them off to try it.  This is one of the first times without them and she's pretty funny at the end:

 

that's typical Jojo, either hot or cold :P

watching her work on her skills:

She actually did really well with it and was zipping around on her own by the afternoon!  And then she was so proud of herself of course :)  so now I need to find her a big girl bike.
Thursday and Friday the kids and I went to the park and ranger station in the mornings.  We love World's  end park and ranger station, they have some very interesting things to look at and learn there. 

Friday Ricky took the day off hunting because his back hurt and he was tired of getting up at 4:30am on his vacation :P  We all went over to the ranger station where we found "Miss Jane" who told the kids stories with her puppets and talked to me about gardening and other things :)

We were getting lots of critters and birdies at our porch all week. This cute little wood thrush would come very close to us and made the kids very happy.

I was worried about the chipmunks trying to run in the cabin and would try to remember to pull the door closed but the weather was so nice that it was mostly always opened.  Thankfully they stayed out, unlike some of our neighbors chipmunks :P

One day during the girls' (and Ricky's) nap time, Chase and I rode our bikes down to the creek and put our feet in the water and then went on a little hike up a little trail.

you know I can't resist taking pictures of flowers :P

unfortunately after I took the last picture my camera died and then I spotted a really pretty purple trillium flower but wasn't able to photograph it :(  And we also found a garter snake along the trail and I almost caught it for Chase to look at closer but it slithered into a hole in the ground and eluded us.

I think it was Thursday night that we drove up to the vista to have a look around.  I am always awestruck at the beauty of these "hills"

my new timeline photo:

we took the long way up to the vista and had stopped at a little creak to let the kids splash around and explore a little.  We ran into the same problem with the flies though and didn't stay long.

the vista is up so high that you actually see hawks and birds flying below you, it's pretty neat.

There were two fisherman in the Loyalsock creek... can you spot them down there? :P

One of these trips we'll stay up there for the whole sunset but it wasn't to be, this time.

Either Friday or Saturday we went to Hunter's Lake for some more fishing and splashing around.  We had been driving around our "new" suburban the whole trip and it was looking pretty filthy by the end from all the dirt roads :P

Hunter's lake was really pretty and there was a lot of shallow area for the kids to play in and find snails and all sorts of little things.  We didn't catch any fish of course.

Joanna found so many little snails it was crazy:

I thought the water looked so clear here that it looked like he was just walking on dirt and rocks not in the water:

can you spot Katy taking an accidental swim? :P

The kids had just so much fun.  It was the perfect trip... except for our suburban breaking down on us and leaving us sit on the side of the road on the last night of our trip :P  I'm still trying to work out all the details of getting it fixed and back to us, that was quite the ordeal. We were very thankful to the great helpfulness of the locals up there, and thankfully we had taken both vehicles up with us and had a way home!
Sunday morning we packed everything up and hit the road, getting home around noon.  Ricky and I unpacked and cleaned up the rest of the day while the kids got reacquainted with our house and all the fun things that they missed here:

Like picnics on the porch, the trampoline with Dominic, their little "puppy" Bolt, the tire swing and sand box and tea parties in the butterfly garden :)

 Monday was a pretty busy day as well, I had to drive over to my sister's first thing in the morning (stopping at the bank and Walmart beforehand) to get my doggie and her puppies that she so graciously kept for me while we were away.  We stayed and hung out with them for a while and got home around 3:30 I believe.  The kids really love playing with their cousins!  Although I only got this one picture of Chase holding one of the kids  it was very nice to hang out and catch up a little :)

Shortly after we got home we had to go out again for Chase's hockey practice.  He had needed a new stick so we stopped at play-it-again and got one and the nice man even taped it up for us. Chase picked out tape that had skull and cross sticks wearing a hockey helmet... cause, you know, he's tough :P

He did really good on Monday night and his skating skills are improving each time.  I really like this program that we're doing.  They have lots of different drills that are fun and challenging for the kids and teach all sorts of great skills.

Tuesday and today I've been trying to get back to our normal schedule with school and everything, and working on this monstrous blog post :P It may take me a few more days though, Chase is super excited about school again and not distracted at all [sarcasm].