Ponca State Park

We went camping over Memorial Day weekend to Ponca State Park with our good friends the Packards and the Dinnwiddies. Here are some highlights from our trip.

We bought a cargo carrier in order to haul all of our camping supplies with us. It holds a surprisingly large amount of stuff!

But even with the cargo carrier full, there was barely room for the kids in the back!

We wouldn't travel long distances like this, but it worked just fine for the 2 hour drive.

Ponca State Park is absolutely gorgeous.  We were driving through prairie lands and then out of no where, we drive down a hill and into this gorgeous, lush, park.  It was hard to believe we were still in Nebraska.

These are our campsites.  Dinwiddies' trailer on the left, Packards' in the middle, and our new 20' x 10' tent and covered picnic table.

This tent was perfect for our needs.  Plenty of space to wheel Annie right in.  We put down foam tiles to protect the ground from her chair, and to make it more comfy to walk on.  It all worked fabulously. And with Annie on a double-high airbed, it wasn't too hard to care for her or lift her.

We had a double-high airbed too.  And since the tent has holes in the tent to allow for extension cords, we were able to use the electrical hookups to power the hanging light and Annie's feeding pump.

Molly and Lexie had a great time.

This is the back of our campsite.  It was so private and pretty.

Molly went kayaking on the backwaters of the Missouri River that first day.  It was a bit cold and windy for my liking so I was holding out for better weather, but Molly had fun.

Packards kayaking with Molly

Annie had a great time and did extremely well on our trip.  She loved being outside.

Gotta have a walking stick when camping.

We spent a lot of time at the archery range and had a lot of fun there.  Justin was a bit surprised at my skills, consistently hitting a 30 yard target.

Justin ventured out to another archery station in the woods.  They had foam bears, deer and other animals to hit.

Lexie had to take a shot.

Lexie got pretty good on her own.

But Molly still needed a bit of help.

These are the targets we were shooting at (the foam, not the people).

We enjoyed beautiful evenings around the campfire.

But Sunday morning was rainy until after lunch.  So Packards invited us to hang out with them in their trailer. Annie fell asleep in their lounge chair.

And later, Lexie took a nap there too.  We did puzzles and read books.

We went to a class on Outdoor Survival at the visitor center.  Here Sharon and Molly are learning how to use "logs" to build a shelter.

Sharon helped Lexie do her macrame.  They taught us macrame to make a keychain to carry with us, so we'll always have some rope on hand while hiking.

These three kayakers are our friends just coming in from a 5 mile run down the Missouri River.  The weather was too rainy and cold so Justin and I didn't get a chance, but next year we plan to do it.

Sunday was Annie's 13th Birthday! So we all celebrated together with a birthday cake I took.

She's a teenager!

Before heading home on Monday we went to this popular Oak tree that is supposedly over 300 years old.

Lexie and Jodi overlooking the Missouri River.