Watkins Glen

Let’s camp!!! That’s pretty much what we’ve done the three nights we have been here. It has been so nice to just settle down and enjoy the campground after our busy days in Lancaster. Our first day (the drive up) was lonnng. It was only supposed to be a five hour trip but the navigation had us go a longer way that stumbled upon some bad traffic. It ended up taking us six and a half hours. It didn’t help that we got a late start (didn’t leave until 2PM) because I thought it would be a good idea to go back to that maze before we left. I wanted to tire the kids out a bit hoping they would nap a little on the way…it worked for the boys but Aspen’s eyes never got heavy (she did fall asleep on the way to dinner, stayed asleep while the rest of us ate, and slept the whole ride home). But we didn’t even get to Outback until 9:40PM (they closed at 10…boy were they happy to see us…haha actually, they were really nice) so no wonder she was pooped. She did perk up when we got back to the RV though…in fact, they were all hyper and ready to stay up all night.

Oh…back to the maze. It was a lot of fun, BUT I will stick to taking the kids through corn mazes myself. Marc is too claustrophobic and controlling. I usually just let the kids be in charge and follow them. Yes, sometimes it is scary AND I regret the decision, BUT we always make it out just fine. Marc feels the need to get out…NOW (he even cheated a little and talked to the workers about shorter paths out). But the kids still had a good time and I finally got to try a whoopie pie…YUM.

We couldn't leave without visiting the chicks again:)

Yesterday, we didn’t leave the campground at all…well that’s not true. I messed up our meat for hamburgers (it filled up with water when I was thawing it out) so we had to run to Pizza Hut for dinner. From there we went to Wal-Mart to get some groceries and got lost in window shopping. Marc got carried away and spoiled the kids. Aspen got the bike of “my” dreams. It’s a Barbie bike and it has cupcakes all over it…oh and it’s nothing but PINK. She is so excited to have a bike like her girlfriend Caitlin. She even named the Barbie that bikes with her Caitlin. The boys got a powered razor to share. It is pretty much just Nicholas’s though…Blake tried it once, wasn’t successful, and vowed to never get on it again. Nicholas sure is enjoying it though. He’s even been sharing it with the neighboring camp girls…the girls always flock to him.

Other than that, we were here at the campground all day. It was a perfect day for it too…it drizzled for most of the day. They have a really nice playground here and the kids met some friends while I was doing laundry. The other mom, Samantha, had two boys of her own and really took a liking to Aspen. Our playground party was abruptly ended when Aspen fell and busted her lip pretty bad.

You can get a good look at her fat lip in this picture.

We all met up again at the jumping pillow. What’s more fun than a jumping pillow???...a wet jumping pillow. The boys were already having a blast but it was nothing compared to the fun they had once the rain came. It made the pillow so slippery…they were running and sliding all over the place. They were so wet and dirty but the happiness on their faces was priceless. Samantha and I agreed that the pool was the best place to get them cleaned up (neither of us wanted our filthy boys in our RVs). Our boys played so well together we had a hard time pulling them apart.
I don't know which was more fun for them, the jumping pillow or trying to clean up afterwards.
Our night ended with a movie in the woods. We watched Monster House. I love the set up they have here. It reminds me a lot of the little area Nature’s Way has in the woods for story time. Blake and his friend exchanged email addresses afterwards and decided to be pen pals. It’s so cute watching them create their own friendships (without the help of mom).

Today we ventured out to the Watkins Glen State Park today and walked the Gorge Trail. It was a 2 ½ mile long hike with 19 different waterfalls. It was beautiful. The kids did great, but we did cheat and take a shuttle back down. We had a nice picnic lunch afterwards and the kids enjoyed the playground. Why is it that when they find something to completely occupy themselves I bring nothing to occupy myself? It was too cold for me so I sat in the car most of the time. The park has its own pool also.

That reminds me, Aspen has refused to wear floaties since our stay in Mill Run. She is soo brave…too brave. She is really close to swimming…she can stay afloat, but that is pretty much it. She doesn’t use her arms; therefore she doesn’t really move anywhere. But she is still so excited that she’s “doing it”.

Although I am really looking forward to Niagara Falls, I really don’t want to leave this campground. I wish we were staying at least one more night…everything has been so laid back and peaceful here. There are a couple things I would still like to do here. There is a little hiking trail here in the park with a trout creek that I would have loved to have taken Blake to but I haven’t been able to pull the other two away from their friends at the pirate ship playground. I am sure that Niagara is going to be just as busy as Lancaster…go, go, go.