Mammoth Cave National Park and Jellystone, Mammoth Cave, Kentucky

Labor Day is always a great opportunity for us to venture out a little and see some different sites. This year we took our first trip to Kentucky! We stayed about five miles from Mammoth Cave National Park at a Jellystone RV Resort. This was our first time at a campground that was more about entertainment than outdoorsy things, so it was an adventure for sure.

Carter and Caroline went to school for half a day Friday morning, and then we picked them up ... in the camper! They may be the first kids to be checked out in a travel trailer and though it will likely embarrass them one day, it sure made me and Kelly’s day.

Unfortunately there was a lot of traffic in Nashville so the 4.5 hour trip lasted closer to 6.5 hours. Not cool at all. We still got there in plenty of time to settle in and get ready for Day one.

This park is more like camping on a cruise ship. There are activities like every hour and range anywhere from doing crafts to entering into a hot dog eating contest. It was definitely a new experience for these seasoned campers. The first morning we made it over to the Ranger Station for all-you-can-eat waffles! We essentially stuffed our faces and loved every minute of it. From there the girls painted a few crafts while Carter and I played mini-golf.

We then ventured out to Mammoth Cave to do some exploring. Mammoth Cave is a really neat spot and one that is definitely a site to behold. It is wild how long and intricate the cave is, as well as how cold it is down there. We spent about 30 minutes in the cave and then headed back to the campground. After a little hang out time we worked our way over to the 300 foot long water slide! Everyone rode it multiple times but Carter and Caroline managed over 40 times a piece. Cora definitely had her fill too but she tired a little faster than the other two. We also got some pool time in before heading to the camper for dinner and the Auburn game.

We got the kids to bed at a decent hour and prepared ourselves for day two. We once again headed to the waffle feast before deciding to spend the day at the beach area. The kids put on their suits and we stayed out there most of the day. More water slide, the inflatable playground, some weird looking boats, plenty of fun floats, and of course some chili cheese fries! The kids had an absolute blast, and Kelly and I were worn out.

The girls hung out at the camper while Carter and I went exploring for a bit. We found plenty of fun things to do, did them all, and then headed back to the camper for the evening. Another good dinner later and we were all ready for bed.

On the last day we packed and managed to find more time for some activities. The best of all, though, was playing “friendly fire” as a family! We all had a blast, well except for some crying here and there. Oops.

All in all, it was a fun trip that I’m sure we won’t soon forget. The kids loved all of the activities, even if Kelly and I wish it was a little more secluded. The campground is well taken care of and the staff does everything they can to accommodate. The kids will likely be begging us to go back....

Gulf State Park, Gulf Shores, AL June19

Gulf State Park remix!  We last took a trip to Gulf Shores for Spring Break 2016, and we decided to make our return this summer for our family trip.  We looked around and different campgrounds but knew we wanted to be on the coast. GSP has almost 500 sites and they were all booked forever.  One day I happened to find ONE spot open for the days we were wanting to go, so I snatched it up!

This was an absolutely great trip … other than the heat and humidity.  As usual, we had a rough go the first day because we were getting into camp mode.  We left early Saturday morning, made good time, and checked in around noon. We set up, sweated a lot, walked around, sweated a lot more, and eventually sweat even more.  That evening we spent some time at the awesome pool and then went down to the beach for a bit. The kids love going at night so we don’t have to worry about sunscreen … and Kelly and I enjoy that too.  They played, splashed, ran from waves, built sand castles, and did kid things. We headed back, put the kids to bed, woke up a few times for nightmares, and made it to the morning. Since it was so hot again we decided to spend most of the day at the pool.  This pool is so great and the kids loved being there. Cora even got to take her life jacket off for a bit and practice swimming. It was really good for her. We also found time to make it to the Nature Center for their 10:00am show. We were treated to some baby alligators, tarantulas, and an owl.  The kids enjoyed seeing all of the animals.

After a full day at the pool, we went to the beach after dark to hunt for some crabs!  This was a first for the Clayton crew and happens to be one of my favorite all-time memories.  Seeing the kids run from crabs and squeal when one came close was just too much fun. Also tossing one on Kelly’s leg was a little more fun than I could handle.  :) 

The next morning Carter had me back on the tennis courts.  It seems like we went out there 10 times over the course of the weekend because Carter had the tennis bug.  The girls came a few times as well and played Hatchimals. We spent even more time at the pool this day and then had some quiet time at the camper.  Lastly, we took a drive and ate dinner at The Shrimp Basket. We also took the kids to Alvin’s for their first beach souvenir experience. Carter and Cora bought beach necklaces and Caroline got … you guessed it … a stuffed animal.  

The last morning was our typical process.  Pack up, do a few more fun things, and then hit the road.  This one will go down as one of the better trips. The kids had a lot of fun and the park was just great.  It was so much better than we remembered the first time.

Cloudland Canyon, Cloudland TN with the Williams April 2019

The 4th Annual Williams-Clayton camping adventure finally made it here!  This trip was scheduled originally for October; however, we had to postpone til the Spring.  Everything worked out great! We love having our friends over for a camping weekend!

Everyone arrived somewhere between 5:00-6:00 Friday evening.  We set up camp and the kids began playing right away. Since the Williams now live in Georgia, it was a reunion of sorts and something our kids were very excited about.  We did the normal hangout, ate well, let the kids stay up later than they need, had good conversation around the fire, and then retired for the evening. Carter's birthday was actually the first night of the trip!

Saturday brought the normal great breakfast that has become a tradition of this trip.  Fortunately the playground was nearby so the kids went up there a pretty good bit. This was our first trip with walkie-talkies and they got put to good use.  The kids had bikes and scooters so they were having a blast. After playtime we all decided to go out on an adventure. We heard there were waterfalls in the park so we figured it would be fun.  We discovered that the waterfalls were too far away for the tiny legs so we just followed a normal trail. The kids enjoyed it even if dad got a little nervous as everyone got next to the edge. Yikes!!

That afternoon/evening, we ventured into Chattanooga to do some exploring.  We played for a little bit and then walked across the bridge. The kids had a lot of fun walking across and looking at the water.  They made up a lot of games. At the end of the bridge we found a really good ice cream place and treated ourselves well. Despite the late hour the kids did really well.  We ended up driving back, letting the kids fall asleep, and then putting them straight to bed.

 

 

Saturday morning the Williams had to pack up and head out.  They played a little while longer and then got on the road around lunch.  We were actually scheduled for one more day at Cloudland so we went in search of the waterfalls.  Fortunately we found them this time. They were a looooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooong way down in a hole.  The first one seemed like 400 steps down and once we found it we were pretty excited. We got to play around a little and basically enjoy the scenery.  It was pretty great. Carter wanted me to go with him to the lower waterfall and I agreed. It was another 500 steps down, which wasn’t that bad until we realized we would have to climb another 900 to get out.  We took lots of breaks on the way up but finally made it. The family enjoyed a lazy evening, went to bed, and then headed out the next morning. All in all, it was a great trip.

 

***Important Add-on... when we got home we went straight to see Gretel at Mayfair (Dr. Russell) and then from there to the ER as she was diagnosed with Type 1 Diabetes on April 29th, the day we got back. Katelyn was talking about how Caroline had really lost all of her baby fat, then as we were talking about it that afternoon I feel like God gave me a lightbulb as I added up other symptoms and I was thinking maybe she had it. She had previously been having extreme thirst, snacking, potty breaks during the day and at night, delirious at night, and now this. I called Katie and thought she would think I was crazy but said no you should take her in. So we did just that. These hiking pictures of her here were tough on all of us... she was NOT wanting to do this and I was having to rotate which girl I was carrying while the boys explored the other trail!

3rd Annual Topsail Spring Break 2019

This was our third annual Spring Break trip to Topsail Hill in Santa Rosa Beach, FL and it just seems to get better every year!  As usual, the weather was great, the campground was pristine, and the times were good. We eagerly look forward to heading back next year!

 

We took our time getting ready on Saturday and had most everything packed for the Sunday morning departure.  Traffic was fine and we ended up pulling into spot #11 at 12:30. Once everything was set up, we headed down to the beach for our first taste of the perfectly calm ocean.  The kids did their usual … Carter and Caroline ran from waves and Cora played endlessly in the sand. Kelly and I joined in on both and also found time to lay down and relax.

Monday was more of the same but with an earlier beach trip … and it also included a lift on the family favorite Topsail State Park shuttle!  We came back and had some awesome sandwiches that Kelly made before Cora went down for nap. Side note: Kelly rocked the food for this trip. We only ate out once and had our fill of good meals the whole time we were there.  It was pretty great.

Kelly's meals:

Breakfast: Quick meals- kids favorite chocolate donuts, bananas and yogurt and steel cut oats with berries and walnuts for us... on our cooking mornings we had pancakes, sausage and eggs

Lunch- Sandwiches, hotdogs, tacos, introduced the kids to ritz crackers and squeeze cheeze! They weren't as impressed as they should have been!

Dinners- making taco meat before was huge... we ate them the first night and had them throughout the week, also had chili hotdog night and bratwurst night.... sooo healthy!

Tuesday the kids pushed back on going to the beach.  It was mainly because Carter got really sunburned on the back of his legs (mommy and daddy had a miscommunication on who was going to apply … ouch).  Caroline was more interested in making a return trip to the pool, even though the water was too cold to get in. We went anyway and ended up sitting around the pool while the kids acted out different sea animals.  It was pretty fun.


Caroline's crab stance, Kelly and Cora's bike ride, Kelly got her tabata workouts in, the kids played so well together with puzzles, coloring, a scavenger hunt, sitting by the fire, cleaning dishes, playing tag, uno, go fish, soooo much fun!


***It must be noted that the kids did the dishes this trip. Kelly, being the old Environmental Science teacher, likes to help our environment when we can... which unfortunately means more work. But now that the kids are cleaning the dishes rather than us throwing away paper plates, it worked out quite well! They have quite a system down made of three parts, one for each kid!

That evening we headed into Rosemary Beach for our annual trip to Pizza by the Sea. The kids always do so well there and we enjoy their variety of options. The night was cooler than we were expecting but it still worked out for us.  After dinner we headed to Seaside to complete our other annual tradition: buying 75 cent sea animals from Sundog Books. We usually end up spending about 20 minutes deciding who should get which animal, how many they are allowed to get, etc. It’s all fun for the kids and they really look forward to this.  Unfortunately, Caroline realized on the way home that she had left Moo-Moo (her stuffed animal cow) at Sundog. Kelly called the store, they found Moo-Moo, and I headed back the next morning with the girls so we could reunite the two. It was an adventure for sure.

For our last full day, we went back to the back and soaked up even more time on the sand.  Even though the water was cold we managed to all head out there for a bit. The water was calm all week but this particular day was incredible.  Since it was so nice, we stayed a little longer than normal … long enough for Kelly to rock Cora to sleep on the beach!





We also went for some Ice Cream and Pecan Jacks!  That is some good stuff!

Later that evening we went fishing for a bit.  Our rods are not in the best shape and kept malfunctioning, but somehow Caroline’s new princess fishing rod she got for Christmas managed to reel in big one. Caroline had been telling us her line was moving but we really didn’t believe her because everyone else’s hook had been getting stuck on lily pads.  Surprise surprise. Once we got some pictures, Carter took over. He said he knew how to hold the fish to get him off the hook, and he was right. It was a classic evening for sure.

The final morning was normal last day stuff, with the exception of the incredible breakfast we cooked!  Pancakes, sausage, eggs, and avocados. Yummmmmmmmmy! It was pretty great! After eating, we started the cleanup process and managed to get it done decently quick.  Since we had been there four nights there was a lot more to clean up this time.

All in all, it was another great trip to Topsail.  We’ve been there three times for a total of about 10-12 days, and we have yet to experience a bad day.  The weather is always incredible and the campground is always the best. We have some very fond memories from this place and we are looking forward to more in the future!