Ft. Richardson Camping

We decided to take a fall camping trip back to Fort Richardson State Park since we were not able to camp there in October as we had planned. Unfortunately, our friends, the Sterns, had to withdraw at the last minute, but I suppose we can forgive them ;). I enjoy this park because it is very pretty, the sites are set up well, and you kind of feel like you are in the middle of no where even though you technically are close to somewhere.
Claire loved climbing up and down these stairs, but one thing she did not love this camping trip was sleeping. She is extremely congested, and I am sure that has something to do with it, but normally she will throw in the towel eventually. Not this time folks. I didn't get her down for the night until about 10:30 last night. She slept until 1:45a.m. and then she was up for the long haul after that. My parents even put her in their bed to try to get her to go to sleep, but all she did was play with my dad's phone and tell him to stop if he tried to take it away from her. She did fall asleep briefly at 5a.m. which is when Davin woke up mad coughing and congested. I got him back to sleep about 6a.m. just in time for Claire to wake up and start crying again. I gave up then and told Doug to go put on the coffee. Needless to say, everyone was just a tad bit tired today, but we still had a good time and made the best of it.
The boys enjoyed playing their new horse shoes game outside with their Dad and Grandpa. They also played some soccer and rode their bikes.

Davin enjoyed playing on the stone wall at our camp site.

Mid afternoon, we drove up to the historic Ft. Richardson to see the sites, historical markers, and tours. This part of the park was closed last summer due to an infestation of bees, so we were not able to see it then. The boys seemed to like the hospital the best. Ethan did not like these old toilets.

He was also unimpressed with the hospital beds in the one large hospital room, and said the medical kit was pathetic. I guess he wouldn't have done well in the 1800's.

Davin wanted to go in the kitchen and play with the dishes.

Davin was very intrigued with this statue of a Civil War soldier. He kept telling random people who would come into the room to watch out for the dead soldier. I told him it was just a statue, but we did also visit the morgue so maybe he was just having a little fun!

This is what was left of a guard house.

There were several other buildings that we got to visit that were perfectly in tact like the old bakery, some of the soldier barracks, the Officer's house, and the weaponry storage facility. I still think the boys favorite was clearly the hospital.

After we returned to the camper after visiting the fort; Davin, Claire, Doug, and myself decided to hike one of the trails that leads to a playground. It is a very pretty, and very easy hike that is only a mile long. Ethan was so tired that he just wanted to stay at the camper and play Uno with his Grandma, and that is what he did.

This trail looks very different in November in comparison to last July.

Davin and Grandpa had to have their walking sticks.

Claire feel asleep briefly on the hike. Poor little girl! You can even see all the dried up boogies all over her nose and face.

Davin enjoyed swinging high, and playing on the slides.

Claire also woke up and enjoyed swinging as well.

I did not enjoy having to carry Davin all the way back to the camper because he was too tired, but I did it anyway. Claire was getting super fussy again, and was still not going to sleep so we decided it would be best for all of us to pack her up and bring her home so she could be put to bed in her own bed. The boys stayed behind with Grandma and Grandpa for more camp fire fun. They were planning on smores (of course), and popping popcorn over the camp fire.

It was a really fun day. Hopefully we all will get a good nights sleep tonight!