NY Vacation--Hiking

The rest of our vacation involved camping in KOA cabins and visiting the New York History Museum. The kids and Joseph thought the camping was great fun!  There was a nice play ground at both campsites.  There were swimming pools as well so both activities were in high demand with my kids. While Joseph took everyone to play, Edie and I would make up the beds and then join in the "fun." Cabin camping is the most I'm willing to do and even then, I don't enjoy it.  I just don't see the appeal to sitting around a campfire, trying to cook outside, eating in a dirty environment, etc.  Maybe if we had better camping equipment we could eat things that aren't cooked over a fire, but I don't think I want to invest in the equipment to find out I still don't enjoy it.  i just tried not to think about how dirty my kids were, especially at meal times.  Edie and I would take walks through the camp.  It was interesting to see the different camping set ups that campers had.

Camping and Hiking

This was our tiny cabin.

Sand pit.

I thought this little tire swing horse was cute!

Lincoln and Annika are evenly matched when it comes to the see-saw.

Any of my family recognize this book?  Rebecah LOVES it!

Our first night I wasn't feeling very well so Joseph and Kimball went on a hike that wasn't toddler friendly while I put the little ones to bed.  Rebecah and I then hung out on the porch swing until the men got back and I could go to bed early.  I was disappointed to miss out on this hike after seeing the pretty waterfall pictures.  Joseph said it just wasn't possible with the little ones.  

We did do a hike the next day as a family. It was supposed to be a "short" 0.6 mile trail, but it was a little more involved than we realized.  We had to help the little ones more than we expected, but I think they still enjoyed the outing.  Everyone got a little hot and sweaty so that led to some complaining so I broke out the snacks that I packed to help boost morale!

This sweet girl got the "wounded warrior" award.  She is one tough redhead!  She was very independent on our hike and wouldn't agree to being carried unless there was just no way she could do it on her own.  She would fall down and just get back up and carry on with her little elbow swinging back and forth!  She was dirty and her legs were covered in scrapes and bruises, but she didn't complain!

We saw this little lake with the rocky cliff back ground as we were driving.  We turned around so we could explore it.  The water was really clean for being a lake.  We made note of the location for when we are in the Adirondacks in the future.  It was beautiful!

New York State History Museum

Our last stop on our trip was Albany to visit the New York State History Museum.  Kimball learned about this museum at school so he really wanted to visit.  We weren't able to stay very long, an hour and a half, because the little ones were tired, but it was fun to explore.

I think it's cute that they are petting this turtle!

It must be a 2 year old thing to put a magnifying glass right up to ones face.  

Here Lincoln and Annika are doing it...

...and here is a picture of 2 year old Kimball doing it at a park in Arkansas!  

Kimball learned a lot about the Native Americans in school this 

past year so he was excited to see those exhibits.

It was interesting to see the exhibit of 9/11. I would have liked to have read 

more of the display signs, but the little ones were tired.

I know I posted this picture in Edie's 9 month post, but it was when

 we were leaving the museum that I took the picture.  

We had a nice mini-vacation and hopefully we can continue to explore the beautiful state we live in over the years we live in New York.