Summer Camping 2021 - Fairfield Lake State Park

I started writing this post a couple of years ago and just now got around to finishing it. This camping trip started on June 2, 2021.

We were so excited about getting to camp with the Jboys again this summer. It has been a few years since our last camping adventures. You can read about our past trips HERE. We only had a couple of days to camp so we stayed fairly close to home.

The boys were so kind and helpful to each other.

The boys set up camp for us.

I was happy to have high ground when it rained while we were sleeping. The boys' tent flooded.

The lake, clouds, and light was beautiful.

Chicken fight!

The boys spent a lot of time playing in the water. The sky was overcast so the water was cold. D and I did not get in to swim.

This picture says Summer to me. 

Of course we had to have a campfire with hot dogs and s'mores.

We went into Corsicana to wander around and have lunch. 

We spent part of the day at Freestone County Historical Museum.

The volunteers who ran the museum were very helpful and let us look around for a long time. 

One of the volunteers asked if we would like to tour the other building on the property. We had to get the boys to pose in the jail. 

Unfortunately, the volunteer had A LOT to say about everything. The boys grew very tired of listening. We expected to be at the museum for about an hour and ended up leaving after almost three hours.

They sure were happy to get to lunch.

Back at the campsite, we had two hammock stands that five of us shared.

J3 was the only one who did not join us for an afternoon nap. He had a separate hammock set up between two trees.

We went for an afternoon walk in the rain.

It kept raining off and on throughout the day.

D was definitely not wearing the right shoes for the muddy trail.

We caught up with them and made them pose for a couple of pictures.

I love the way this one looks.

After a while, the boys took off on their own.

When they were about 5 minutes ahead of us, we heard them yelling, "Come quick!" Not something you want to hear out in the middle of the wilderness. We thought one of them had been hurt. They had found a giant snake crawling up the tree. It was slowly crawling into a hollow hole in the tree.

When we got back to the start of the trail head, the boys decided they wanted to take another trail. 

We definitely got to experience wildlife on this trip.

This spiderweb was across the pathway from our campsite to the restrooms. We all managed to miss getting a faceful of web.

This pretty little copperhead snake was right near our campsite. Yikes, they are venomous. Luckily, no one got bit.

It was a short getaway but we really enjoyed ourselves. Unfortunately D, I don't remember any catch phases from this camping trip or a lot of other details.

Scavenger Hunt Revisited

In 2014, D dropped the Jboys off at our house for the day. I created a scavenger hunt for them to work on. You can see it HERE. In 2020, J3 spent the night so I recreated and added to the original scavenger hunt. I am catching up on blog posts from the past several years that I never got around to writing. The hunt on this page happened on July 30, 2020.

When Boogs and J3 got up in the morning, I had a scavenger hunt ready for them. At age 14, the boys wanted to spend all their time playing video games but I had other ideas. The first four clues and hiding spots were the exact same ones I used six years before. The first clue was taped to the fridge so they would see it when they got up in the morning. 

Clues that were exactly the same as the previous scavenger hunt.

They quickly decoded the second clue and went outside to look under the rocker on the front porch.

                               The clue lead them to look in the trees.

Next, they went to the fire hydrant across the street. They weren't really sure they wanted to continue. Then Boogs realized these were the same clues and hiding spots from the last hunt. 

Boog yelled for J3 to look under the mailbox while he went to the last scavenger hunt's next location. Unfortunately, there was nothing in the old tree stump this time.

They had to decode the clue J3 found taped under the mailboxes.

The clue told them to go to the little park. At the park, the clue at this bench said, "The OTHER little park." So they had to keep walking.

They found the right park then had to go to the bee tree.

The bee tree clue, a picture of a troll and three goats, led them to a third park.

It took them a few minutes to figure out the clue and go to the gazebo at the park.

Finally, the last stop on the hunt. The final hiding place held a note saying I would take them to Half Price Books and let them pick out a book I'd pay for.

They were not impressed with the little squish balls that were attached to the final note.

The boys said they had some fun on the treasure hunt and were happy to go to Half Price Books. I was happy to get them off their devices and make them walk about three miles this morning.  Yay!

Cutesy the Elf 2022 Days 6 - 10

We had fun seeing Cutesy's antics this week.

Day 6 - Cutesy brought an "interesting" dinner idea for Boogs, Creamed Possum. So gross! Cutesy found this lovely treat here on Amazon. Boogs thought it was disgusting and funny.

Check out the motto: Help keep our roadsides clean, eat more possum

The tagline is my favorite thing about this can - You Squish 'em, We Dish 'em.

On Day 7, Cutesy found mini boxes of Tic Tacs and spelled out his own name.

Day 8 - Poor Cutesy was trapped by the evil purple minion who left a message for Boogs to put away his laundry.

Day 9 - Cutesy was hiding under the Christmas tree with a new set of pajamas.

Day 10 - Cutesy must have been rummaging around in one of the Christmas bins in the attic and found this holiday origami set. I think Santa left that in Boogs' stocking a few years ago. It's good to see Cutesy reusing some things.

What adventures has your elf been up to this year? If you would like to see pictures of Cutesy's previous visits, click HERE for his Pinterest board or click the "elf" label at the end of this post.

Cutesy the Elf 2022 - Days 1 - 5

Cutesy the Elf is with us for his 12th Christmas. In 2011, I had no idea that Cutesy would be visiting us for so many years. My 16-year-old son has declared Cutesy to be a "family tradition" that has to be honored every year. He said Cutesy has not yet reached retirement age.

Cutesy the Elf came back to visit on December 1st. He brought along an advent calendar of 25 Teas of Christmas. 

Boogs really likes teas and was pleased with this advent calendar.

Every year, Cutesy brings back the same little Christmas tree with a new ornament. Cutesy had to replace the burnt out string of lights this year. The tree also has some of the ornaments Boogs made when he was little, like the popsicle gingerbread house.

Every year, Cutesy decorates Boogs' bathroom with lots of Santas.

Cutesy made sure the toilet paper was decorated to look like brightly colored Christmas lights.

Last year, Cutesy brought Boogs a Haunted Halloween Gingerbread House. This year he messed up again and brought an Easter Peeps Cookie Coop.

Every year, Cutesy finds a way to block Boogs' door. Usually he blocks the door with some kind of balloon decoration. This year he changed it up and made a tree out of paper. Boogs had to crawl out of his room this morning.

Boogs has grown taller than his dad during the past year. I can't believe he is already 16.

If you would like to see over 200 of Cutesy's past adventures, you can see them HERE or click on the "elf" label at the end of this post.

White Elephant Gift

 I love looking for things to take to a White Elephant Gift exchange. Last week, I stumbled across this book - Crafting With Cat Hair.

I bought felting supplies last year and knew I had to do something with this book. I am allergic to cats so I used sheep's wool to create a cat finger puppet with wet and needle felting techniques. 

I think it turned out pretty cute. In our White Elephant gift exchange, no one knows who brought each gift. I am not going to tell everyone that this finger puppet is not made out of actual cat hair. 

I put the finger puppet in a cute little gift card holder and will wrap that up with the book.

Isn't it cute? To soften the blow of receiving a "cat" hair puppet, I placed a $10 gift card for Summer Moon Coffee underneath the HoHoHo tissue lining.

What fun gift ideas have you used for a White Elephant gift exchange?