Camping with the Clarks

Last weekend we went camping with my sister Carrie and her family up in north Georgia. It was at this really cool state park that was pretty perfect for camping. My other sister Steph and her husband Jose were only able to stay Friday night, then Lee and I were only able to be there Saturday night, but we overlapped for an hour or so on Saturday so we were able to hang out a bit before they had to go. They all even got me a birthday cake since we hadn't all been together since before my birthday. It was a really fun trip, the location was great, it was good to spend some time with my sisses, and Carrie and Andy definitely have the coolest kids I know. So here are some highlights:

Here's a picture of Lee and Drew eating some birthday cake:

Evan became one with the rocks over the weekend, so here's his bed that he made for himself:

Then we all went for a little hike to find the "shoals". I lived in Muscle Shoals, AL for years and never really knew what a "shoal" was other than it had something to do with water (yeah, they tried to explain it in Alabama History, but let's be honest, not the most thrilling topic for a middle school kid)... well now I have experienced them first hand.

Here's me and Alli stopping on the hike for a picture:

Here's me and Lee at an overlook point:

Here's the kids at the first part of the creek we came to:
And here's where the action starts. There were people wading all through the water, it was all really smooth (and pretty slippery), so the kids wanted to get in. And I decided I could handle a little wading so I went in with them. So we waded for a while, but then they wanted to slide. Here's a super cute picture of Drew and Evan first sitting down in the water (it was COLD), I love how happy they look:

Here's the video of their first slide down the rocks. They had to stop first to pose for a picture, so the sliding starts around 28 seconds. Alli was a little more cautious than the other two. She'll do what they do, she just seems to consider it a little more before she jumps in. Her slide down is really funny cause she definitely went for a ride she wasn't expecting. But of course she loved it:



And then I decided to try (with a little peer pressure from Andy. it's his gift). I went a little higher to try to get a bigger slide, but it was a little grassy at the top so I had some trouble getting started. But once I got going it was really fun. The freezing water was the worst part, but it was worth it. Watching the video, it does look a little bouncy, but it really wasn't painful: