camping=s'mores + amusement park + playgrounds + beach + blackberries

So, continuing on from my last post...

We took a week off at the end of June for a camping trip vacation. We headed to the Syracuse NY area where Hubs' family lives and camped at a nearby state park. I have to say, this place is beautiful. Hubs grew up going there every year and I am glad to admit all the 'hype' was true. :)

Green Lakes. Really, the lake is green.


My father-in-law has a really nice camper that he set up for us to use.

The park has several trails for biking and running. They even put a very cute little playground near the public bathrooms in our camping area.

It is quite a hike to walk to the beach front/lake area from our campsite. We walked it with the girls and once we were there, they played on a rather large playground near the beach. We ended up having to carry them most of the way back. We made sure to drive down to the beach after that. :)
It wasn't hot at all while we were there, we've been in a heat wave ever since but it got down to the 40's there a few nights. Good thing our camper had an option for heat! I was glad for the cooler weather, I think the muggy, hot weather would've been much harder with the kids/on the kids/for the parents...
Beach Front and Playground:





My in-laws surprised us with tickets to an amusement park (Darien Lake) 2.5 hours away, close to Buffalo, NY. So we took a day and headed to the park and it was a cool, windy day which was perfect because there was hardly anyone at the park. :)
We had a blast! We started at the kids rides and after they had gone on all the rides once, my in-laws said they'd watch the kids (including our niece) while Hubs, his sister and I took off for all the roller coasters. It's been years and let me just say, we had so much fun!!

Yes this is the same ride as the one above. Emma didn't clear the ride next to this one so we made sure she stayed content. :)



I absolutely LOVE Rachel in this picture. :)

There was a roller coaster for 'older' kids and Emma barely cleared the height requirement. I was apprehensive with letting her go on it because I don't trust her to stay put so Rachel went on it first and reported that she thought it was too fast for Emma. Emma however was rather insistent so we thought we'd let her try it sitting with Rachel. We thought maybe it would scare her a little which would be good for her. Boy were we wrong. She has this look on her face the entire time, grinning from ear to ear. Everyone was cracking up including other parents. This kid is trouble!



And lastly, we discovered blackberries on the other side of the trees near our campsite. The girls had a blast picking them. They filled a whole cup and we brought it with us to my mother-in-law's house on our way home and made a very delicious dessert with them.


And yes we had a firepit and had s'mores. I found some gluten free graham crackers to use. And yes there was a nature center and Rachel was able to make crafts.
And yes we had a marvelous time and hope to do it again next year!!!