Starved Rock, Camping, and a visit from Eric!

On August 26th, Kevin's cousin Eric drove out from D.C. for one last visit before he gets married to his beautiful fiance, Kayla. We were a little sad that we didn't get to meet Kayla, but super excited that Eric came for a visit.

Shortly after his arrival, Kevin got home from work and we packed up to go camping at Starved Rock National Park. It was dark when we arrived, but we made good time getting our tents up and then me and the girls crawled in bed while Eric and Kevin stayed up and talked about manly stuff.

The next morning I was awoken at 6:00 AM by Lily, who was bright eyed and bushy tailed. She was so cute, singing songs and talking to herself.

After listening to Lily for a little while, I decided to reach my camera over Kevin's shoulder and take a picture to see if he and Brooklyn were really sleeping. Apparently Brooklyn wasn't as happy as her little sister... and Kevin was definitely still sleeping!

To remedy Brooklyn's bad mood (and hopefully give Kevin a little more sleep) I got the girls up and walked them over to the playground that was attached to our campsite.

Brooklyn made fast work of the whole thing. She loved walking on the balance beam and spinning on the flower chair. She also enjoyed climbing up all the obstacles and collecting rocks.

Lily also enjoyed her time at the park. She attempted to climb everything that Brooklyn climbed, loved being pushed on the swing, and even braved the slide all by herself.

Soon the boys woke up, broke down camp, and came and found us. Then we jumped in the car and headed over to the Starved Rock to find some good hikes. After a short consultation with the map, we were ready to go.

But not until Brooklyn staked claim on Eric's shoulders. It seems she had a little crush on him and didn't want him out of her site. ( I deduced this when she whispered in my ear that she thought Prince Eric was very handsome.)

The park was absolutely beautiful! and although we don't really count walking on a flat path as "hiking," it was still nice to be out in nature again.

The girls attempted much of the hiking on their own, but preferred to be on some one's shoulders... which wasn't that bad since it helped us to walk a lot faster.

But it wasn't all work and walking. We stopped several times to goof off and take advantage of photo opportunities.

Which came by the dozens with these clowns!

And of course, because of the little girls who wanted to mimic them.

Soon we reached our destination. The picture doesn't really do it justice, but it was quite beautiful.

The girls really enjoyed being up close and personal with the water.

Especially when we let them play in it!

After a while we realized that the girls were about to expire, so we put them back on our shoulders and hiked back out.

Once we were out, we hopped back in the car, drove back to Lisle, and spent a little more time with Eric before he had to head back east. It was so much fun to see him again and get a little camping in at the same time. Thanks Eric for a fun filled weekend, and good luck with the rest of your wedding plans!