Camping on Beaver Lake

When we moved here in November, we knew we were pretty close to Beaver Lake. We never imagined we were literally 15 minutes from the lake! Much less a great camping area that also has a lot of day use area as well!

After planning with my Dad to go camping/boating, we looked in to campsites and picked Hickory Creek since it was close to our house and we knew we'd be taking the dogs back to the house during the day when we were out on the boat or off swimming, etc.

We arrived at the campsite around 4pm on Wednesday and started setting up. Our plan was to stay until Sunday morning (with me being flexible in case the kids were getting cranky and needed a nights sleep at home...which was never needed). Here's what our site looked like when we got our tent up. Dad's tent is behind me and I don't have a picture.

Here's Austin happy that we were set up!

Thursday mornings sunrise. YES, I was up at sunrise everyday! Brian and Dad went out to fish every morning and somehow, Colten thought it was a perfect time to get up as well.

Happy Baby. Really, he was so good while camping. There were a couple of rough nights trying to get him to sleep, but other than that he was great!

He was trying to get out of the tent to get to the grass. This kid LOVES to pull grass and try to eat it!

One of the fun things of camping is the food and drink that you normally don't get that much of. Soda galore, plus marshmellows every night! Of course, you have to notice the carrots I did bring along to provide a LITTLE bit of healthy nourishment for my family!

Checking out the map of the lake for the best fishing spots. We caught a few fish here and there, but they were all too small until Saturday morning. They caught a few fish that could be kept and those were fried up for breakfast. We heard that the fish were a little confused about the water level dropping (they were letting water out of the damn consistently).

Another sunrise...this time with fog on the water. I told you I was up for every sunrise!

Some Daddy and Colten time.

Austin loving the water. He got a life jacket and loved being able to float. In fact, we got him out in deeper water where he couldn't touch. This wouldn't have happened just a few weeks ago! He's definitely growing up and getting braver!

A rare picture of me...with Colten. My hair isn't fixed and I don't have makeup on. Your lucky I even let you see it, but it is a pretty cute picture.

Papa and Colten. Giving Mommy's arms a much needed rest!

Daddy and Austin in the water. Austin was working on floating on his stomach, he would kick his feet up and lean forward. Again, would NOT have happened just a few weeks ago! Don't be decieved by how the water looks. It was REALLY gross. We were so spoiled by the ocean in Hawaii! Because of the dropping water level, the bank was muddy and the water was mucky. But we had fun in the water anyway!

Love this picture of Austin as he was being carried up the bank by his Daddy. He has such a great smile!

Papa's sidekick. Austin had to sit by Papa anytime they were sitting. Oh, and he had to have one of the green chairs. Austin fished like a pro, but for some reason I don't have a single picture of this! He was casting great, but never caught a fish. He had fun anyway!

The packing up to go home.

We had a lot of fun, but camping is exhausting! It was great to get out of the house for a while and get outside! We had some great days (despite an afternoon of rain that showed us that our tent leaked!) The nights were nice and cool and most of the days were warm enough to swim, but not too bad when we were just sitting around. The kids did great, even with staying up late and getting up early. We had a few cranky moments on Saturday, but nothing too bad. I think they really enjoyed being outside a lot and getting dirty!

We will definitely be camping again...soon!