Happy Thanksgiving!

For Thanksgiving we were going to spend the day with our friends here in Dallas, but last minute there was a death in the family and they drove to Utah. Trying to decide what to do, my visiting teachers came over and said they were going camping--what a great idea! So we packed up the car, Nate planned our Thanksgiving dinner, and we drove to Lake Texoma in Eisenhower State Park.
It was so nice to get out of the city (especially when we found out Dallas is number 350 on a safety scale out of 355). Even if it wasn't a mountain, being up in the trees reminded us of Idaho--I would move back to Rexburg in a heartbeat.
Mackay had so much fun! Almost too much fun according to my standards and patience level. We picked up a new tent at Wal-Mart on the way, since the only tent we have is a two man for backpacking, and our sleeping bag is a queen size. (Last time we mixed this equation I got the cartilage in my nose dislocated). And it would be even worse with three of us. Nice, new, clean tent we layed out for the first time, and Mackay insisted that she had to walk all over it with her dirty shoes.
Once we got the tent up, Mackay insisted that she needed inside. "Great idea", I thought--keep her in one place. So, I took her shoes off and let her run around 'til her heart's content. Except for 5 seconds after I took her shoes off and put her in, she wanted to get out. So, I put her shoes on. 5 seconds after putting her shoes on and getting her out of the tent, she wanted back in the tent. This was a long process, so I finally let her keep her dirty shoes on and make cute little Mackay-size footprints all over our new tent.
Other fun activities were picking up rocks and throwing them and trying to touch the dutch oven and fire.
To get her energy out we went on a little nature walk. It was so beautiful!
When we got up there the weather was t-shirt weather, so that was so nice to have a warm Thanksgiving!
Unfortunately the ground was covered with leaves, and underneath was a very uneven ground.
For Thanksgiving dinner Nate made Cornish hens with Vermouth sauce in the dutch oven, potatoes, and, of course, stuffing. It was delicious and right before the rain started, so we were grateful. It rained all night, which was fun since we were in the tent, but when Mackay got up it was a different story. We left our chairs out overnight, so there was no dry place to sit. It was pretty cold, so Mackay wanted to be held at all times. She had to eat her snack standing up at the wet bench, and in between every bite she wanted to walk around. To get off of the cement platform that held the bench, Mackay had to lay on her stomach, and then scoot herself backwards until the edge. That worked fine the night before when it was dry, but when she tried it in the morning, she covered herself with mud. The rain started again while Nate was trying to make breakfast, so that was eaten in the warmth of the car.
Needless to say, we left a little earlier than planned. But it was so fun being in the outdoors again and at least feeling like we were in mountains even if we weren't. Mackay will be more fun to take in the outdoors when she is a little older or we have Chad with us. But until then, we will probably continue camping anyway.

"Say, 'Cheese!' Mackay!"