Buccaneer State Park Waveland, Mississippi 3-20-15

Spring Break 2015!!!  I am still determined to get a tank-top tie-dyed SB shirt one year, but I guess we’ll have to keep that dream on hold!  (Side note: speaking of tank-tops, I really did see a guy walking through New Orleans on this trip wearing a tank that said “Swole Patrol.”  Come on, man!)  Anyway, let’s get on to the camping highlights (and lowlights).

Why Buccaneer State Park in Mississippi?  Well, that’s a good question.  We had pretty much determined we would only travel about 3 hours as a maximum … just because there is so much stuff to take with us.  That said, when it comes to a beach trip like this one, you have to branch out a bit.  We decided sometime in November that we would take a beach camping trip over Spring Break, so I immediately starting looking at the usual state parks in the Destin area.  Apparently you have to reserve a spot at those parks about a decade in advance (not really that much but it is about a year in advance).  After having no luck with the Panhandle, I moved to the great state of Mississippi and found Buccaneer!  We did lots of research on it, found that it had been completely redone after Hurricane Katrina, saw that it was right on the beach, and decided to jump on the openings they had!  Having made up our mind so soon, we had a few months of anticipation before the big trip!

Kelly-> On our way! Both kids do really well in the car, basically because its all they've known with all of our Texas trips. I would LOVE to say I am the mom that plays games and reads books in the car but lets be real... As long as Carter has a device of some sort, snacks, milkshakes in this case, and a good nap then we are good to go! Caroline has her moments but we just keep handing toys to her, and so far we aren't killing her brain cells with devices! Look at the weather lineup for the week- can't get any better than that. #aviators

Tuesday morning finally got here and I finished loading the truck about 11:00am.  Yes, that’s right … I said truck!  HUGE development!  My dad was overly gracious enough to allow us to borrow his truck for the trip!  It was so nice having something that could easily haul the camper, and that looked good! :)  It’s pretty rough on a man’s pride when he is setting up his camper in the woods while his minivan is parked right next to him.  Needless to say the truck upped my “tough woodsman” persona.  ***Along with his beard that he has kept since Christmas as I challenged him to be the principal with a beard! -Kelly Anyway, we left about 12:15, made good time, arrived around 5:30, and then the fun began … oh wait, I mean then it all fell apart…

The truck:)

***Reminder if you are reading this, our purpose of this blog is to help us keep track of details... good, bad, and UGLY. Until we are able to upgrade to a camper trailer, its probably never going to be smooth. But hey makes for a more interesting blog right?! -KC

If you have followed our past adventures you know that the first evening/night is always brutal for us. I’m not sure why we are cursed on the first night but that just seems to be how it goes.  We rolled into the park and moved to our site.  It wasn’t bad looking but it also wasn’t what we were hoping for. We had a few more trees and a little more seclusion in mind. With most state parks, you can simply drive around the park, find another spot, and then let the front office know the next morning.  WIth this knowledge in mind, we drove around the 6-7 loops and surveyed what was open.  Of course, Kelly and I had much different thoughts on what was acceptable.  I said this spot and she said that spot … and we danced this routine for about 20 minutes until we both said (almost simultaneously), “you pick!” ***Actually I am pretty sure I yelled at one point "Don't freakin go to spot #7" KC We settled on a spot that was about 200 feet from our original reservation, but this one backed up to the woods and seemed to provide more tree coverage.  (Tree coverage is important to us pop-uppers because we prefer not to run our AC on full blast all the time.  It is much better if you are in the shade and can zip open the screens of the campers.  Much much more pleasant that way.)  

***What is there to argue about choosing a spot you might ask? Is it shaded (especially in the summer)?, but are those trees bringing bugs? Is there a fire ring/pit? Picnic table? Close to the bath house? Level of privacy?! Proximity to the playground. Important stuff!!!

Next, I rolled down my window to begin backing into the spot.  It seemed like the moment I cracked the window that about 15-20 gnats entered and took up residence on my face.  It happened quickly so I rolled up the window and thought nothing of it.  Big mistake.  Me, Kelly, Carter, and Caroline then got out of the truck to begin the set up process and found ourselves in WWIII with these special bugs people call “no see-ums.”  As Kelly says, I certainly saw them because they were all over my daughter’s hair! ***To say the least. Caroline just had a blow out, so between trying to change her diaper, keep her hands out of it, keep her from rolling over, keep the bugs off of her hair, face, and diaper... as well as off my face. You get the frustration! Donald laughed about it all weekend and kept mocking me saying "I'm going to claw my face off!"  I must admit that this was one of the most stressful and difficult moments we have had camping.  The bug spray was in the camper, so to get to it I had to finish the process.  Kelly was debating whether or not to get the kids back in the truck, but then we realized the bugs were in there too.  All in all, we were losing, and doing so badly.  We walked quickly, made odd movements with our bodies, slapped at our legs/faces/arms/heads/anywhere these bugs may attack, and cursed these bugs we weren’t supposed to see.  A nice man from Maine who was parked in the spot next to us had quite a laugh watching us fight off these pests, all while holding a bug zapper and a citronella candle.  Thanks for sharing…

Alas, the camper was set up and the bugs were retreating, kids were coated with bug spray and had long sleeves and pants on.  It was still daylight so the bad stuff was over and we were about to have a great vacation.  I had one more hook-up on the camper and we were off and running!  I connected the hose to the camper, turned on the water, ran inside real quick to make sure the faucet worked on the sink, and was greeted by a floor full of water.  What????!!!!  Why?????!!!  I ran (some say I was a lightning streak, but I guess it’s debatable) to the faucet to turn it off and then immediately began drying the camper.  I’m still not sure what’s wrong with it but we’ll find out as soon as the mechanic tells me it’ll be about $300 to fix.  Joy.  

While Donald was setting up and dealing with everything- we headed to the playground which was great! If you can' beat the bugs join em! Sidenote- when Carter gets really focused he sticks his tongue out, which is evident in quite a few pictures posted on the blog today!

The night ended with no more tragedy, and surprisingly enough the kids slept perfect on night one.  We all went to bed around 9:30pm and woke up ready to go at 7:00am.  After enjoying coffee and muffins, Carter and I walked to the front office to check in.  I politely told them we had landed in a different spot and she politely told me I would have to move.  What????!!!!  Why?????!!!  Is this really necessary???  This would have made a great April Fool’s joke since it was April 1 but the park wasn’t into joking apparently.  So … we loaded everything up, semi-closed the camper, and moved 200 feet to a location we weren’t happy about.

Everyone must know about these muffins from Costco- thanks Lisa! As you can see about as big as Carter's face and you get a dozen for about $7. I LOVE cooking on there trips and doing different things, but this was pretty nice having these every morning.

As I re-set up the camper in another spot, a nice man named Phil and his grandsons (ages 6 and 4) watched the process and held a conversation with me that brightened my mood.  We talked about many different things, including his 35-year career as a firefighter in New Orleans.  He then introduced his grandsons to Carter and they became instant camp friends!  Carter spent the remainder of our trip looking for his buddies and wondering when they would be coming back to our camper.

Carters buddies!

Next, we decided to head out to the beach for the first time.  Phil told me earlier to turn left out of the campground and drive about half a mile to find the best beach spot.  He was right because we were able to find a nice stretch of sand for the kids to play on.  Carter and Caroline had an absolute blast.  They played in the sand and the water, which was surprisingly not too cold.  Carter built many sandcastles while thankfully Caroline did not try to eat any sand.  It was a lot of fun for us to watch them enjoy the beach so much.  After about two hours of sun and sand we headed back to the camper for sandwiches and naps.  I took a little bike ride down the park’s nature trail and found a cool pavillion right on the marsh.  Full disclosure: I saw gator tracks in the mud and got pretty scared that there was a gator nearby watching me and waiting to chomp me as I left the pavillion.  I ran pretty quickly back to my bike and then pedaled like a champ out of that trail. :)

Carter being Carter and Caroline being Caroline! They could stay out there forever!

Carter is ALL about running and how fast he's getting! So there were a lot of races this trip! I lost this time;(

That evening we went into town to get some necessities at Wal-Mart and then landed at the camper for a simple evening.  Since we basically stay in a mini-room together we all have to go to bed at the same time.  Tonight it was somewhere around 9:00 and once again everyone slept through the night pretty well.  

A look at us hangin at the camper

Top left to right- Carter just hanging out, Caroline pretending like she eats well- because she doesn't. At all. Bottom- Caroline and I had a great bike ride. Our extravagant dinner of turkey sandwiches. We did NO fun cooking this trip bc we decided not to pack food to save packing space. Big mistake- won't do that again. Our grocery bill was huge with necessities so we did not buy extra and no fun cooking. This has been Donald's dream that we don't do anything extravagant but how much fun is that?! Last pic- this tetherball has been the greatest purchase! It has helped a lot during both kids 18 month wandering stage! Keeps them entertained:)

Day 3 of this journey was set for a trip to New Orleans (one hour drive)!!  I spent some time with Phil the day before and he set us up with a solid plan for parking and for seeing as much as we could in a day.  Kelly and I had both spent time in the city but were looking forward to seeing some things together with the kids.  We knew we wanted to go to Cafe Du Monde for some beignets so we parked and made it to the cafe about 11:15.  It was, as usual, packed.  Getting the double jogger into that place without hitting someone was brutal but we made it happen.  We all managed to get powdered sugar everywhere and it was a blast!  

This sweet man sang "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star" to the kids.  They loved him!

Next, we moved across the street to Jackson Square and took a few photos.  But, our real destination was the Insectarium on Canal Street.  It is an entire musuem dedicated to bugs!  Since Carter has had some bug phobias we decided this would be a good way to conquer a few of those fears.  He and Caroline did great and even had the chance to “pet” a few roaches.  Early in the museum visiti, Kelly made a snide remark about how nasty roaches are (which is true) and Zack the Insectarium worker overheard it.  He took it upon himself to shed a little light on the intricacies of their wings so as to gain some more respect for the roach, and as he said “prevent (Kelly) from providing bias on this boy.”  Man, this dude loves some bugs.  All in all, the bug museum was a good call.  We all enjoyed it and happened to learn a few things as well.

Top left- leaf praying mantis Cool right?!  Below that is Mr. Zack who completely called me out when we walked past the hissing cockroaches.  I was telling Carter we don't really need to look at those, they are gross!  Well Mr. Zack said now hold on just a minute before you bias this young man (too late!).  Then he proceeded to get out the cockroach and show us its "cool" butterfly wings that allow it to fly.  Hissing cockroach that flies.  Awesome.  Pic below that is the cockroach motel!  And the bottom pic is the attempt of me wanting a good pic with my sweet kiddos before we left.  They were clearly over it!  

The roach motel YUCK

They love eachother

Carolines little butterfly buddy in the butterfly exhibit.  By far the best part!

Carters still watching the butterflies 

We made it home from NOLA around 6:00 and set our sights on a late evening beach run!  This was our best decision yet because it was an absolutely gorgeous day.  The sun was setting, the breeze was pleasant, the water was calm, and the moon was full and on its way up.  All in all it was a perfect evening.  The kids ran and played more than they had the day before and seemed to really be free and enjoying themselves.  We loaded up for the camper about 8:00, stopped for brief showers/rinse-offs, and then put everyone down about 9:30.  This time everyone slept well except me!  There were a lot of wind gusts during the night and the camper seemed to be in a constant state of shaking.  For some reason I was the only one affected!  I think it was equivalent to sleeping in a flight simulator but Kelly disagrees. :) ***** OK Donald seems to mix up who slept on what nights. So to set things straight- Caroline had a deep relentless cough the first two nights. And since we are basically in one room divided by curtains I didn't sleep much the first two nights and Carter has his share of sleep talking the first night. Donald does not have recollection of these first two nights- so no I don't have too much pity while he was sleeping in the "flight simulator"???. Third night I actually did sleep while knowing we might blow away because I was that tired. But the kids mostly slept well all trip and lets be honest that's really all that matters to make the trip a success!

I was clearly excited about my new tripod and self timer remote! Love it!   Caroline- give Daddy back his glasses, he can't see!  

Blue-Eyed Girl

Couldn't decide which I liked best!

Some teenagers were hanging out when we got there and left before we left.  After they left we noticed they were drawing crosses in the sand for Easter and wrote our kids names in the sand because they heard us playing.  Dear Lord, please oh please let our kids be like this when they are teenagers!  Train them up in the way they will go and even when they are old they will not depart from it Proverbs 22:6!

Day 4, our last day at Buccaneer, started with the usual wake up and muffin enjoyment.  We quickly got dressed and went straight to the beach for a few final hours of fun.  It was just as a fun of a morning as we made more sandcastles and memories.  The kids have really taken to the beach and water … it’ll be fun for future beach trips!

Hot mess!

Sandcastle racetrack

This is the result of asking for a good pose!

As always, taking down the camper is not fun.  It is stressful and causes me to sweat more than I would like.  ;)  See ya next time!

Rating: After much consideration, we give this park a: 8.9 Our location wasn't private or shaded, but lack of trees helped with the bugs.  Pretty far from home (the way there took us 5.5 hours, on the way back 7+ because of traffic.  Different parts of the park were more private than our location.  Not all had firepits or picnic tables.  Great playground and 2 minute drive from the beach (which was pretty empty during the times we went) took this up pretty high!  Also had disc golf course and nature trail. Waterpark will be open in the summer.

Wind Creek 9-19-14 #1

Finally!  After a summer of moving and living in three different houses, we finally got to spend some time in our camper!!!  It has been too long, and way too many good opportunities to enjoy the outdoors have passed.  Nonetheless, we are back and Wind Creek State Park was a great place to get things going again!

Ok, truth be told … I was a little worried that all of Jack’s parts would work this time around.  Since we have been on the go this summer we have had to store our camper outside and my parents’ house.  That means it spent a lot of time in the Alabama sun and rain.  But hey, never doubt Jack, because he came through in the clutch like he always does!  All parts worked wonderfully, and possibly better than ever!

We loaded up Friday afternoon about 2:30-3:00 and hit the road somewhere about 4:15.  I drove ahead about 30 minutes while Kelly waited on Carter and Caroline to finish their naps.  We have found, despite the extra gas, that driving two vehicles is the way to go.  There is just way too much stuff involved in camping to stuff it all in one car.  Anyway, I arrived about 5:45, checked in, drove around the campground looking for the best site, and finally settled in for setup at 6:15 or so.  The park assigned us a space but said we could go to any site that was not occupied.  I found one that met all three of our hopes: on the water, shaded by trees, and far away from anyone who would hear unsuspecting toddler rants.  After spending about 20 minutes working on my own, Kelly and the kids arrived and our adventure was on.  Carter seemed very excited to get this camping trip going and Caroline fell in line with lots of smiles.  Setup was surprisingly easy and pretty much a non-issue.  Despite having not set up in 4-5 months, everything came back to me pretty quickly.  We were good to go about 6:45 and even had the grill running for some evening hot dogs!  

We ate our hot dogs together and then began getting Caroline ready for bed.  She went down super easily in the pack-n-play and shocked both Kelly and me with the ease at which she fell asleep.  Meanwhile, Carter and I began working on a fire because he was determined to eat some marshmallows! On the drive down he asked if we made sure to bring the marshmallows, hotdogs, and cheetos:)  The fire was ok even though our wood hasn’t yet fully dried, but it was good enough for Kelly and Carter to have their s’mores.  Carter also insisted in Daddy telling him a story by the fire and he was completely enthralled.

After eating too much, we were busy admiring the stars above and the calm water in front, when Carter announced that he was tired and was going back to the camper.  Kelly and I looked at each other like we were dreaming because this 3-year-old NEVER decides to go to bed on his own.  Needless to say, we followed him in and assisting him with getting ready.  I went to the camper expecting an easy night-time process but then found out that the s’mores had gone directly into Carter’s bloodstream and now had him hyper.  We read some books and goofed off for a while before I moved to my side of the camper.  All in all, it was a smooth first night (never happens for us) and everyone slept well (not really, I never sleep well the first night:)-Kelly).  

Day 2 began with some great weather.  It was cool in the morning and overcast for most of the day, thus preventing things from getting too hot.  I went outside and put some cinnamon rolls on the grill, and they turned out really well!  We devoured those in no time and then Carter and I went to run some errands. Everyone woke up happy and excited for the day ahead!

Before we hit the stores, we had to spend some quality time at the playground.  Carter created some game consisting of saving a princess and beating bad guys, and had anyone at the playground who would listen playing with him.  I can’t even count the number of times I rode that horse into the castle.  After princess-saving, we went to the Dollar Tree and Winn-Dixie and came back with more toys than we did with items we needed.  Carter found some soldier gear that he had to have at the Dollar Tree, so went went for it. 

While we were out, Kelly inflated all of the bike tires and got the new bike buggy setup for later in the day.  We then took a family bike ride to the playground and enjoyed some time together on swings, slides, and unsafe equipment (yes, unsafe … these sets were old and not very trustworthy).  

One of three playgrounds

 I love both of my children equally, BUT Caroline is just so much fun to photograph right now!

 Directly across the street from the playground was a beach.  Carter wanted to head down there and that’s where the craziness occurred.  He and Caroline won the battle vs. Mommy and Daddy and we walked away with two kids with soaking wet outfits (one of which did not handle this well).  There were no swimsuits involved with this jolly ole time together (and Mommy forgot to pack extra clothes for the first time EVER).  

Once we finally made it back to the camper, we had a picnic with more hot dogs (we were clearly creative with our meals this trip) and succeeded in putting the kids down for nap.  I had personally been looking forward to these two hours because I wanted to experience having nothing to do!  It was great as Kelly and I sat around by the water and watched college football games on my phone. Kelly actually got a short nap in our kayak.

Once Carter woke up, we took the kayak out for a 15-20 minute tour of the campground.  Kelly also took a round with the kayak before calling it a day.  

Also have to mention how great Caroline did this trip.  As she gets older, each trip is going to be a little bit different. We just never know what each stage will bring with her being so little.  But she slept like a rock, and so far we have brought the swing to ensure great naps (hence bringing two cars)!  She loved playing in the pack-n-play and the camper which is great since we didn't exactly want her to crawl on the dirt and rocks.  She didn't totally love the bike rides but we are breaking her in.  Luckily we now basically know what to expect with Carter and he gets so excited about our trips and really understands what we are talking about when we say we are going camping!  He LOVES the idea of sleeping in the camper and that we will get to eat marshmallows and our traditional chocolate doughnuts in the morning:)He loves getting out his toys that we have designated just for camping and is always ready to go on an adventure.    

 We next went to the day-use area of the park so we could get some ice cream, but the ice cream shop was closed.  Instead, we managed to walk around to more playgrounds and also climb to the top of a tower that looked out across Lake Martin.  It was fun being up so high, but also a little scary with young ones at our feet.  Instead of cooking again, we drove into Alex City for dinner and ice cream.  Everyone went to sleep easily again and we all had another good night’s sleep.

Some bedtime reading

Day 3 was just as good, but it was also a good bit warmer.  Today we had donuts and sausage and didn’t think twice about being unhealthy.  We piddled around for a few hours and did whatever we wanted, and then Kendall showed up with her pontoon boat!!!  It was by far a highlight of the trip to have a boat pull right up to our shore!  

We hopped in rode 10-12 minutes to Kendall’s house on the lake.  The Williamsons gave us a tour of the house and we were super impressed with all they have done to the house!  It is a great home! Kendall took us back home on the boat and we began the take-down process.  

Before we packed up, I grilled some hamburgers that fell apart on the grill.  No worries because we just turned them into philly cheese steaks since we had hot dog buns!  

They tasted better than they look!

Kendall's hotdog plus philly combination

All in all, Wind Creek may actually be at the top of our ranking. It met quite a bit of our criteria: good amount of shade, being on the water was an added bonus, quiet and private campsite, things to do- playgrounds, lake, biking, ice cream shop even though it was closed for some reason, very clean facilities and also such a bonus it is only a little over an hour away! Hopefully in the future we will stay here and Donald and Carter can go to an Auburn game- while the girls go hang out at the Williamsons;) Overall we give this a 9.2 on a 10 scale.