Fall Break (or Bust)

I've been putting off posting about our fall break trip because I'm still bummed that it turned out the way it did, but when I went to pull photos together for this post, it served as a good reminder that all was not lost due to three days of constant rain.

We had been planning a camping trip with three other families for MONTHS and unfortunately due to the weather, it didn't work out as planned. We loaded up the car and headed to Devils Den State Park near Fayetteville, AR for what we thought would be four days of camping, hiking and all-around outdoor fun.

When we left on Thursday, we knew there was going to be some rain in our future, but it looked like it would come and go, then clear up after a day or two. It began raining around 9:30 p.m. the night we arrived and did not stop for three days. We're not talking a little annoying mist, it was a torrential downpour that tested our patience, our creativity in entertaining kids in confined spaces and our brand new tent (which stayed dry, yay!).

Our saving grace was that one of the families we had planned to meet up with lives in Fayetteville, so instead of them coming to us, we went to them. They took in our family and one other, including three rowdy kids in addition to their two children, and we managed to still have fun and catch up.

All-in-all we camped one night (in a terrible thunderstorm), stayed at our friends' house the second night and then headed home a day early. We didn't get to hike a single trail, make a campfire or cook any of the amazing meals we had planned. By day three, Michael had a terrible cold, everything we brought was damp and we were done.

On a positive note, we were thankful our new tent did so much better than our old one and we hope to use it again before fall turns to winter. We're also thankful for friends who are able to roll with the punches and take it all in stride.

Gray entertaining himself on the drive to Arkansas

This was the only bit of exploration we got to do at the park. After we set up our tent Thursday evening, we walked over to check out a nearby creek before cooking dinner. Little did we know the rock we were standing on would be covered in about a foot of water in a few hours.

Another saving grace for the weekend :)

Friday afternoon, the rain lightened for a brief moment and we loaded up some food and games to take cover at a nearby shelter with picnic tables. This creek ran near the shelter and Michael snapped a picture of the rock spillway which at the time didn't have any water coming over it.

Here are Braham, Gray and Liam enjoying watching yet another torrential downpour from the safety of the shelter.

We tried to keep the boys entertained in the confinements of the covered area, but as you can see, they began to literally climb the walls after an hour or so

It also happened to be Rob's birthday, so we passed the time with a little cake and singing. 

We left the shelter area nearly two hours later and Michael ran out into the rain to get one more shot of the spillway from earlier. It gives you an idea of the amount of rain that fell in less than two hours. 

This is the area where Gray and I were standing on rocks in the creek less than 48 hours before. 

So we packed up our clothes and food (leaving our wet tents staked in the ground back at the campground) and took shelter with Matt, Gina and their girls in Fayetteville. Even though we were invading their gorgeous new house, we brought our own food and booze so we were pretty self sufficient. Here I am with Michelle and Gina prepping dinner for the gang.

Liam, Julianna and Gray bless their dinner at the kids' table. So adorable!

Saturday morning we checked the radar and realized the state park was still getting dumped on, so we took advantage of a break in the rain in Fayetteville to take the kids to a nearby park to burn some energy. Here are Gray and Julianna running to the playground.

Michael took this shot of Julianna and it perfectly captures her beautiful spirit

We stayed in Fayetteville long enough to watch OU beat Texas (yay!) and then headed back to pack up our tent in the rain and return home. Gray fell asleep on the 30-minute ride back to the state park and I found him like this once Michael and I were done loading everything up. We were all exhausted and ready to be back in our own beds.