Camping at Lake Texoma

We love to camp, especially in the fall when it's beautiful during the day and nippy at night.  We camped last year with my parents and learned all about how much easier camping is with an actual camper.  So we decided to go again this year and headed to Lake Texoma since we live up here now.  It is a huge lake with big campgrounds, a swimming area, and a cave/rock area to climb on and hike up.

We got there Friday night after work and had a quick dinner while the boys set up the camper and tents.  It was misty and turning somewhat cold, and I quickly realized I had not brought enough warm clothing for myself or Harper.  Harper and Taylor went to bed early (she was sick all weekend - turned out she had bronchitis!) and the rest of us sat around the campfire staying warm.  We talked for hours and roasted giant marshmallows.  By the time we headed to bed, it was COLD.  My dad found extra blankets for everyone but it was still a rough night.  I slept in a bed with Harper, who I discovered tosses and turns all night.  She also woke up when I got in bed and wanted to sleep hugging me, which sounds seriously cute but is also seriously not comfortable for sleeping.  Plus, our slippery sleeping bad kept falling off of us and I had to keep waking up to keep us covered.  There was also a ridiculous wind storm going on outside, I actually wondered if we would wake covered in snow from some freak blizzard.  My dad and Harper both work up around 6am and I grabbed my laptop and Taylor's headphones so Harper could watch Einstein's quietly.  However, she just kept laughing and talking to me during the show and ended up waking most people up anyways.

Getting the fire started

Tay and Piper around the campfire

It was seriously cold when we woke up, the couple next to us said that it ended up being about 39 degrees last night.  SO glad we took my parents up on their offer to sleep in the camper with them and not our tent!  Cody made everyone breakfast and we mostly hung out inside until it warmed up a little.  We played around, took a drive to see some of the lake, and found the hiking spot.  We climbed up some of the rocks and found the caves.  Harper loved being outside and hiking around.  She also loved the campfire.  She kept finding sticks and throwing them in, but she did a good job of staying far enough away.  She just kept telling all of of us it was hot and to be very careful.  We relaxed all morning at the campground and played soccer, bean bags, and ate lots of junk food.

Harper and Pop in the cave

Cody and Carleigh on the highest bluff, a little too close to the edge

Carleigh on a rock overlooking the lake

While Harper was napping that afternoon (as well as a few others), we played Jenga and listened to the A&M game on the car radio.  We all laid around and had a fabulous afternoon.  Carleigh and Cody went for a hike and found a way down the bluff to the lake.  Around dinner time, Eric showed up.  He was in Dallas for a few days to get a break from work and life in Austin.  It was so great to see him, it had been a long time!  Those boys work day in and day out on those busses.  So we sat around the campfire and talked all night while we roasted marshmallows again.  Thankfully this night was not as cold and we all slept much better!

Sunday morning, we ate a quick breakfast of campfire roasted biscuits.  We went back to visit the caves once more with Taylor and Eric this time.  And we packed up the camper.  We had a blast hanging out and it was a relaxing day.  Eric came back to Denison with us to see our new house.  We had lunch and watched the Cowboys and everyone napped.  It was the most relaxing we have done in a long time!