Take a Hike...with the Claytons!: Meaher State Park, Fairhope, AL

We’ve been home from India for two months and so far everyone talks about how well-adjusted Cora is, and how great Carter and Caroline are with her. But ……………….. the true test of becoming a Clayton is whether or not you can handle camping trips! So yes, Cora has done great, is sleeping well, is eating well, is smiling all the time, is attaching wonderfully … but none of that means anything until we see how she does a few nights in the camper. Here we go!

In typical Clayton fashion, we jumped into this trip late in the process. Our wonderful adoption agency, Children of the World, hosts an annual picnic in Fairhope for families who have adopted from India. It is a good time each year, and this one was even better since it was our first picnic since Cora has been home! We had waffled back and forth about whether or not we would attend, but then settled on the fact that we really need to dedicate ourselves to attending this each year. It’s good for our kids and it’s also important that we give back to the agency and other families who are in the process. So, we booked a site at Meaher State Park on Thursday morning with plans to load up and head out Friday morning (by the way, it’s pronounced more like mayor than it is mee-hur state park).

I did my normal thing at work on Friday morning and left somewhere around 1:00-1:15. Kelly, rightfully so as she leads a house full of toddlers, wasn’t too interested in preparing for this trip (but I did get my bedroom makeover complete haha, whoops!;) -Kelly) during the day so we ended up doing some things later than usual and leaving about 3:30. We crammed all three kids in the back of the truck and prayed that a majority of them would fall asleep at some point (that didn't happen really). The trip was about three hours and 45 minutes and we rolled into Meaher at 7:30ish. In February, Kelly and I had been in Fairhope to visit our agency and stopped by Meaher on our way home, so we were pretty familiar with the park. We even went so far to pick the spot we wanted next to an open field and the playground … and it was the exact one we were able to choose!

Finally got that tooth out and proud of it!

Ohhhh the car ride

Great view!

I can't resist a camping shirt! And these two are trouble!

Set up went great. The kids played on the playground but we realized pretty quickly that you can’t just let Cora have at it on this particular equipment. It was a little too advanced for her age and she remains a little too risky for her age … which meant Kelly and I were less relaxed than we wanted. Eventually the sun went down and that’s when the fun began for us and the mosquitoes. Let’s get the latter party out of the way first: they absolutely tore us up out there. It was night so those stealthy little boogers had a field day with our bloodstream, and we really didn’t see it until the next morning. As for us, we played a great game of hide-and-seek with laser-like flashlights. We hid behind trees and then, very ninja-esque, hunted one another in the dark. It was a lot of fun. Eventually we settled down and loaded everyone up for bed. Night one went great and Cora slept the whole way through (see no napping on the car ride)! She did wake up around 7:00 in a full panic and basically flew out of the bunkbed- literally. It was entertaining to watch, especially since we were working off of a full night’s sleep.

Carter's new bed, Caroline's in his old bunk and
Cora's in Caroline's old bunk!

Or at least I try to be:) Possibly not always exceeding!

Demanding her nails to be painted

Our site that backed up to the playground and pavillion

Saturday morning we simply hung out a little, looked for alligators, and managed to play with all of our toys. We finally started getting ready to go to the Fairhope Yacht Club at 11:00. The picnic was a lot of fun … Kelly and I even got a chance to relive some quality Indian food, which was something we weren’t anticipating. After the picnic closed we made our way to the swimming area. Cora was now taking a nap in the jogging stroller so Caroline, Carter, and I played a lot in the bay. It was a lot of fun and we all ended up staying at the beach area for about three hours! The kids absolutely loved it and were hard sells when it came time to leave.

Going on a Gator Hunt! We realized later that we saw one but didn't realize at the time that's what it was. The next morning we saw three! No swimming in these waters!

Sweet girls!

She may not watch tv with them but she still loves being by them:)

Cora's first COTW picnic- she had a blast!

On the way home we stopped by Publix and got some fried chicken for dinner. Random move, but a good one for sure. We sat under a large pavilion next to our campsite and enjoyed the meal (another advantage of this site). Kelly managed to find the movie Rock Dog at the Red Box so we did a movie night in the camper before bedtime. Once again, everyone slept well. We did have a couple of wake ups this time: Cora once with a random scream and Caroline a few times because a coyote was trying to bite her in the dream she was having. In case you are not aware, Caroline has a very healthy fear of coyotes and wolves, so when one of these ferocious beasts show up in her dream it’s not a good night. Alas, she and we survived.

I love my new shirt:)

On our final morning, we enjoyed breakfast and then basically played (and hunted for alligators) until it was time to leave. Packing up was hot but it wasn’t bad at all. We ended up leaving right at 11:00 and heading home! All in all, it was a great trip even if it was shorter than usual!