Snapshots of Spring Camping in Missouri

 

A few weeks ago, we took advantage of a school break to go Spring Camping in Missouri.

It rained for a lot of the time we were gone, but I still loved getting away.  The spring rain has made the flowers and trees sparkle with color this year, and it always makes my heart happy to get out and see all those shades of green.

Plus, cold, rainy mornings are a good excuse to enjoy the view from your sleeping bag for a little longer.

We had enough breaks in the rain to get out and hike a bit.

Simon and Ben got lots of time in on their bikes, riding the loops in the campground at St. Francois State Park.

 

Most of the Missouri State Parks I’ve been to have playgrounds.

We spent one of our mornings exploring Johnson Shut Ins State Park.  Taido is going to take a group camping there this summer, so we went to check it out.

Simon and I have been there before with my dad and sister, and it was just as gorgeous as I remembered!

The shut-ins are these rocks where water gets trapped in all these different little pools.  The kids immediately started climbing on and around them, even though it was still kind of rainy.  They didn’t even care that they were getting all muddy and wet. I do love that about camping.

There’s a great new visitors’ center at Johnson Shut-Ins.  We spent a while watching the films and reading all about how the landscape in this area was formed.

Explorers.

Everywhere we went, I was ooh and ahhing over the wildflowers.  The wild dogwoods are blooming and the fields of yellow were everywhere.  So pretty!

 

Back at camp, we escaped the rain under our tarp with books and games.  We wished for the sun to shine, but I finished an entire book and we had lots of time for relaxing with each other.

We also spent one rainy day in St. Louis since St. Francois State Park is just an hour south of the city.

All in all, it was a great getaway.  And now that we have our camping gear all cleaned up from the mud, I am ready to go again!

We forgot our cards so we picked up four new decks for Nertz, which all my kids love to play.  I grew up playing Spades and Hearts though, so I’m ready to teach my kids those.   What card games do you play in the rain?