The Swanson Classics: Inks Lake

Last weekend we headed to Inks Lake State Park to camp with some friends of ours. We try to go at least once a year and we need to get better about going more often because it is one of Ethan's favorite things to do and he really thrives in this environment. It is always interesting camping with younger children but we are getting better at it every time we go.

We took Ethan out of school very early on Friday and headed down to the Hill Country. We got there late afternoon and set up our camp before dinner. After dinner we headed to the playground so the kids could play. We were trying to make up for not having a campfire. Drought equals burn ban equals no campfire which equals sad campers but we made the best of it.

Took a pic with Devil's Bowl in the background.

Saturday morning did some hiking and had our first experience of geocaching. This was the first time we had heard of it and it is so much fun. Made our hiking trip much more enjoyable with a treasure to hunt for. We then headed back to camp for lunch and then decided to go see the Longhorn Caverns that was literally a mile from our campgrounds. The caverns were absolutely amazing, we got down to about 135 feet underground. We were able to see some amazing rock formations and we were even able to see a few bats up close. So fun!

First treasure we found while Geocaching.

Inside the caverns. This was at the very beginning and Ethan wasn't sure if he liked it yet.

After the caverns I had the bright idea to carve the kids' pumpkins, however it was very windy and I forgot a few supplies that we needed. It was a bit of a nightmare but it turned out good at the end but I probably wouldn't do it again.

Our finished pumpkins.

Sunday, we did some fishing before we packed up our campsite to head home. It was a good weekend to get away from all of our busyness and relax a little bit. Thanks to the Lopez for being our camping buddies for a couple of days.