Alum Creek State Park

Alum Creek State Park Our first CAMPING trip, well official camping trip while we visited parks in Central and Northwest, Ohio. The weather outside was that perfect fall *crisp* weather that we all look forward too, at least for us fall people. A sweatshirt and a hat was perfect for this trip. 

Now, we did learn from Stonelick State Park that when you are adventuring through the woods with just regular old tennis shoes they get WET when it is drizzling and therefore socks get wet and feet get cold. We updated our littles' shoes so this time around they wore their "official hiking boots" and their feet stayed warm all weekend. 
Mishansha Boy's Girl's Hiking Boots Anti-Slip Water Resistant Sneaker Kids Running Walking Shoes by Hakendas
We stayed in a cabin at Alum Creek State Park and it was beautiful!! This was our backyard. Here is what we packed for our trip. Keep in mind that our youngest isn't quite two years old yet and therefore still sleeps in a pack n play and uses diapers.

Adventuring:

• Adventure Backpack (see backpack post)
• Water bottles
• Hiking shoes
• Appropriate clothing (hats, warmer clothes, and flashlight)

Activities:

• 2 buckets (one for each boy) with 2 toy brushes to clean rocks we might find on our adventures 
• This is a fun activity that is low maintenance. You use the rocks you find on your hike. Later, you can clean them in your bucket with water and a little dawn dish soap and use the brushes to get the dirt off.
• 1 truck per child, 2 small containers of play-doh
• Ball (for outside)
• IPAD for before bedtime

We really didn't pack much, as far as toys go, for the boys. I always carry my mini "drawing" kit when we go on hikes which includes colored pencils and paper. So... between that, one jar of play-doh each, buckets, and a ball they were fine and had a BLAST all weekend. It really made me happy that they can enjoy being outside and not needing a bunch of toys to be entertained. I feel as they get older this will be something harder to keep instilling in them.

Staying at the cabin:

• Pack n Play
• Foldable Cot
• Food and snacks
• Hot dogs, pretzels, apple sauce, and (we had a mini fridge and a mini microwave... and toddlers so we brought microwavable mac n cheese... a fam favorite.)
• Sunscreen and bug spray
• Clothes (weather appropriate)
• Foldable chairs (A MUST HAVE!)
• Picnic blanket

Those were the big items, but I am sure I am missing one or two. We found new things on our #guentheradventures and new words were discovered at this park including: walnut and sweet gum (fig. 5) which is something that falls from trees. The boys, as usual, found sticks. Watching them using "walking sticks" is about the best thing to see as you are walking around on our journey through the park.

Alum Creek State Park is by a beautiful lake so we made our way down to the lake and Marcus (the husband) taught the boys or I should say tried to teach the boys to skip rocks. Now, every time we see a body of water the boys look for rocks to throw into it. Jeez!

We will definitely be coming back to this park. Below is a brief bio provided by OhioDNR:

Located near Ohio's capital city, Alum Creek State Park is a popular boating and camping destination. Visitors can spend the day jet skiing across thousands of acres of water or find a quiet cove to fish or paddle. Perfect for swimming and sunning, the beach is the largest inland beach in the park system. The park's large campground also offers boating access and nature center for campers. Visitors with children can try the family-friendly mountain bike trail for children or the half-mile Storybook Trail." provided by OhioDNR.

As we travel around to the different parks (in Ohio) and I research for different adventures and things to do when we visit the parks it reminded me of my friend from elementary's blog.

This friend of mine has traveled to all 50 states - ah!! 

So cool!!! I would love to one day be able to say that I have traveled to all National Parks!! I did put that on my wish list for Christmas this year was to a get the national park passport and when the boys build up their stamina (heck, when I build up my stamina!) and they get a little older we plan on starting to go around and visit those parks as well. Here is the guide written by Andrew and Kim, check it out: Andrew and Kim's National Park Guide and enjoy!