Stone Mountain, NC

Last weekend we packed up the family....destination: Stone Mountain, NC.
We had an AMAZING time camping.   The weather was perfect, river and grounds were beautiful, and fellow campers were so kind and courteous!  It was a packed house at Stone Mountain, but still I was pleasantly surprised by how serene and peaceful it was. 



The kids and I were "exploring" as we stumbled upon this bridge. 



G is still attached to his "snugnut", and brought it along for our exploration.



It was fun to see S in his happy place....FLY FISHING.  Yes, all caps, because he. loves. it.  After returning home I see that this little taste of fly fishing has only scratched the surface and has made him want more.  (He currently sits flipping through a fly fishing book as I type).







We enjoyed hanging out in the river whilst (that's for you T) S fished.  The kids spent most of this time in their suits wading in the water.

Allie was in butterfly heaven...trying to catch little purple butterflies as they fed on the green moss.

G quicklky found a "fishing rod" (stick) and had fun pretending to fish.

I had a book in the car but decided to spend my time chasing the kids with my camera. 



As you can tell, my approach to chasing the kids with my camera went well with G.



Our campsite.  Thanks so much to our sweet Hickory friends who hooked us up with their gear so our trip was comfortable!  Otherwise, the four of us would have been sleeping on the ground in a 2 man tent.



There was a bath house yards away, but S wanted to teach the kids how to brush their teeth in the wilderness. 



BACON.  Enough said.  Pretty sure I saw our neighboring campers looking over their shoulder when the smell of bacon wafted their way.




So, this....this was the fun part of the trip.  The 3.5 mile hike to the summit of Stone Mounain was definitely worth the work.  Allie was a trooper and hiked most of it herself with only short piggy back rides to give her little legs a break. 

G, on the other hand, was a different story.  He pooped out on us on the connector trail to the main trail. He comfortably sat on our shoulders the enitre trek.  Needless to say, it was a nice workout.  My shoulders were sore.






This cracks me up....G and his "walking stick" which WE carried....as he comfortably sat on our shoulders on the hike down.



This swimming hole was our bribery to Allie and her motivation to hike back down the mountain.  I would say this was the kids favorite part of our camping trip. 

The water was FRIGID!  It stung my legs to wade in ankle deep....but the kids didn't seem to mind!

I'm unsure why it took our family so long to take a family trip camping, but I do know this is only the beginning of many fun camping outtings with the kids.