Cabin Camping at Robbers Cave State Park

If you and your family are looking for a great place to camp in the state of Oklahoma, let me share one state park that is a wonderful option... Robbers Cave!

We are very familiar with Oklahoma's Beavers Bend State Park (and we love it), but thought we would check out the new park that we will be assisting summer camp at this summer. In July 2015 we are headed to Robbers Cave State Park! This visit gave us the chance to become familiar with the park layout and to tour the group site the we will be taking over 30 campers to.

After a four hour car ride, we were happy to settle in to one of the 2-bedroom cabins that they offer (my in-laws even joined us!). We didn't know what to expect of the cabin, but we were pretty pleased with the results! Three nights flew by and we wished we had more time to rest together and explore the park.

Here are a few cabin pictures:

Above is one of our neighboring cabins. Such a beautiful setting for camping in the fall. 

Each cabin has a grill, a picnic table, a fire ring and lawn chairs out front. 

The restroom was clean and well stocked with towels.

The bedrooms had plenty of closet space (and hangers), counter tops, and drawers to hold our "stuff"!

The beds were comfortable. Clean linens, pillows, and thin blankets were provided.

The kitchen was equipped with a coffee maker, mixing bowl, cooking pots and one cast iron skillet, utensils, plates, bowls and cups for six, a set of kitchen towels, a few trash bags, and a cutting board.

Things that we brought along that helped in the kitchen were: 

Dish soap and sponge

paper towels

extra (larger) trash bags

sharp knives

Things we WISH we had brought along are:

a cookie sheet (we actually bought a cheap one while up there)

another frying pan

a couple of larger coffee mugs

a tea pot (we ended up using the coffee pot to make hot water for tea)

It was so cozy having a fireplace to use in our cabin, especially when the high one day was only 30 degrees and the low one night was 16F!

Our two oldest kids enjoyed sleeping on the couch hide-a-bed. I was glad that we brought a few cozy blankets with us, as there were linens provided for this couch/bed, but no blankets.

We all took turns rocking the baby in the rocking chair, stoking the fire and just relaxing.

Besides hanging out in the cabin, playing games, watching movies and eating together, we enjoyed adventuring out and about to explore the park together.

Some of our adventure highlights were:

Climbing down the hill behind our cabin, through leaves and over boulders.

We climbed and "hunted" for wild animals at least twice a day!

The kids LOVED going on short adventures through the leaves and snow!

The climbing was just difficult enough and air just suspenseful enough for my kids. All this talk of outlaws and wild animals had their imaginations soaring! When we got too cold we just headed inside the cabin for a cup of tea in front of the fire  :o)

Going for a family walk past beautiful cabins.

Spotting a pink-backed deer in the grass  :o)

Playing at a park and finding a plethora of icicles hanging around!

Another afternoon, our two oldest kids joined me and my hubby hiking the trail that leads to Robbers Cave. The difficulty level was perfect for us! There were some rocky stairs to climb, logs to hop over and markers to spot along the way. We had a great time!

Following the orange markers...

The colloage above is made of pictures of the actual Robbers Cave, at the top of the trail. 

We explored to the very back of it with flashlights that we packed with us. The kids thought it was great! The view from the cave is gorgeous, at it is set in the top of the hill. 

This is the cave that is historically noted as a former hideout for outlaws Belle Starr, Jesse James, and others.

The morning that we packed up our belongings and loaded up was the warmest morning yet. We decided to park at a day use spot and grill some hotdogs, and try to finish off some leftovers before heading home.

Right before lunch we walked along a nature trail and spotted lots of animals tracks, and even a little den. 

The kids loved running, climbing and exploring. What an adventure!

This state park has so much to offer its guests.

The park and wildlife area covers more than 8,000 acres and includes three lakes. It offers visitors trout fishing in season, boating, hunting, mountain biking, trails for hikers and horses, sandstone cliffs for climbing and rappelling, and fall foliage viewing.

We also enjoyed learning more about the park and it's wild inhabitants at the Nature Center and History Museum that are adjacent to the gift shop. The hands on learning was fun for the kids and there were even some surprises along the way (stuffed bears that growl and live snakes that rattle)!

~~~~~~~~

There are many other things to do at Robbers Cave that we didn't participate in this visit. We hope to try a few of them this summer (or even this coming spring if we go tent camping there).

Here are a few more family-friendly activities offered:

• Horseback riding
• Swimming (they are renovating their swimming pool right now)
• Fishing
• Mini-golf 
• Frisbee golf course
• Paddle boats and canoeing 
• Hiking more trails

Overall, we had a very enjoyable time at Robbers Cave State Park and look forward to returning there soon!

I hope that this information helps you in some way, if you ever plan a trip to Robbers Cave.

Have a blessed day,

From My Home To Yours...

May God bless you abundantly today and always,

Crock Pot Pulled Pork Sandwiches and Homemade Coleslaw

With fall in full swing, I love using my crock pot whenever I can. My favorite is to let a hunk of meat cook all day, walk into the house after being out for a while and the yummy smell of dinner has filled every room! Having dinner done and ready after a busy day is such a gift!

The first recipe was given to me by a friend and she calls it Bar-B-Que Coke Pork. I didn't have any coke on hand, but with our Soda Stream we usually have something in the fridge... and yesterday it was Dr. Pete (that's right... a make-it-yourself-off-brand). Even so, it turned out great!

The second recipe is a mix of a few coleslaw recipes that I found online and I added to. I love a light, slightly-sweet, slightly-tangy coleslaw that's not soupy, but crunchy. I tell you, THIS IS THE ONE! It was so very delicious! But, my husband wouldn't know that, as he despises any and all coleslaw. I just say, "Yeehaw! More for me!"  :o)

Here are two recipes that I tried for the first time just last night! Together they make a great, simple meal.

This is what was left over after my hubby and I ate dinner. PLENTY for another meal (or two)!

Bar-B-Que Coke Pork
(aka Pulled-Pork Sandwiches)

Ingredients:
1 pork roast (I used a 2 1/2 pounder and it was plenty for 4 hungry adults)
1 onion, sliced
garlic salt
pepper
1 can of Coke (or 1 1/2 cups of your favorite dark soda)
1 1/2 cups of your favorite bbq sauce

Directions:
Cut up the onion and lay in the bottom of the crock pot. 
Season pork and place on top of onions.
Mix up soda and bbq sauce in a small bowl and pour it over the pork.
Allow to cook on low for 8 to 10 hours.
Shred meat with two forks and mix in sauce from bottom of crock pot. 
Serve on toast or buns with coleslaw!

And finally, here is my own coleslaw creation...

Meg’s Homemade Coleslaw

 (4 servings)

Ingredients:

1 cup shredded green cabbage

1 cup shredded purple cabbage

1 large carrot - shredded

1 cup mayonnaise

2 tbl apple cider vinegar

1 tsp brown sugar

1 tsp white sugar

½ tsp powdered ground mustard

½ tsp celery seed

Salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

Chop your veggies and place in a medium bowl.

Mix remaining ingredients in a small bowl until well blended.

Pour mixture over veggies and stir together.

Refrigerate coleslaw until served, or eat it right away!

As I type up these delicious recipes and remember all the family fun that we had yesterday, I can't help but think of this verse...

"Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and comes down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow of turning."

James 1:17

Have a wonderfully, blessed weekend,

Fun Flubber Recipe {Thoughtful Momma Monday}

What kid doesn't like to feel goo ooze through their fingers or make bathroom noises at the table?

I know mine do! We had a HOOT laughing and visiting as we played with our Flubber, and made silly sounds  :o)  The play ideas with this medium are endless!

 

Add a tall, plastic cup to the mix and you get OUT LOUD LAUGHS!

(remember playing with Flarp and making rude noises???)

It's quick and simple to make and kids want to play with it f-o-r-e-v-e-r! (which is nice on a cloudy fall day when you are stuck indoors with a cold)

The three ingredients that you need to make this are Water, Glue, and Borax*.

To add color or a bit of sparkle, you may use paint, food coloring and glitter, if you choose.

We made 2 separate batches of Flubber 

Jo's Flubber: 

White glue, water, Borax, and yellow and orange poster paint to add some color

Mo's Flubber: 

Clear glue, water, Borax, green and blue poster paint and purple glitter

To make one batch of Flubber you need to prepare:

• a small bowl with 1/2 cup water in it.
• a medium bowl with 1 cup water in it.
• 1/2 cup school glue (clear or white Elmer's glue works great)
• 1 teaspoon powdered Borax* (20 Mule Team brand Borax can be found in the laundry soap isle at your local grocery store)
• paint or food coloring to add color to your Flubber (we used poster paint)
• glitter to mix in if you are using clear glue (it won't be seen well if using white glue)

Jo mixing in his paint.

Flubber Instructions:

• Mix your 1/2 cup glue in the small bowl with the 1/2 cup water. Stir well.
• To this glue/water mixture, add your paint or food coloring and glitter

• Mix your 1 teaspoon Borax* into the medium bowl with 1 cup water. Mix well

• Dump glue/water mixture from small bowl into the Borax/water mixture and swirl with a spoon or your fingers. You will see it begin to gel together. Wanna see it in action? Check out Mo on our YouTube video!

• Scoop the Flubber out of the water and place into a third bowl or onto a plastic mat, to let the excess water drain from it. Knead the Flubber a bit and it's ready to go!

 

I hope that you and your kids have as much fun as we did. Clean up is easy and if it does get into clothes or carpet, I read that regular white vinegar will help remove it.

To store your Flubber, place in a Ziploc bag to play with another time!

God bless you abundantly,

***Borax is harmful if swallowed and may cause eye irritation if it gets in a child's eye. Please use caution when using this ingredient and wisdom when allowing your children to play with this medium.*** 


I'm partying with some great ladies over at:

 

Freeze-Ahead Banana Muffins

Quick breakfasts and mid-day snacks are great to have on hand! These homemade banana muffins are one of my favorite snacks to pull from the freezer, pop in the microwave for about 25 seconds, and serve to the kids.

If you are feeling kinda crunchy, change up the sugar for honey, substitute a cup of whole wheat flour for a cup of white flour, and add a couple tablespoons of ground flax (my favorite secret ingredient) to the mixture. They will never know  :o)


Banana Muffins 
(a triple batch)

Ingredients:
8-9 bananas, mashed well
3 large eggs
3 cups sugar (or a bit less if you prefer)
1 cup vegetable oil
3 teaspoons vanilla extract
4 1/2 cups unbleached flour
1 tablespoon baking soda
1 teaspoon cinnamon
a dash of salt

Directions:

• Peel the bananas and mash them up well in a large bowl.
• Add eggs, sugar, oil and vanilla and mix well.
• Add flour, baking soda, cinnamon and salt in a pile on top of wet mixture. Lightly fluff the dry ingredients together before mixing it in to the wet ingredient below.
• Grease muffin tin, or line with paper cups, and scoop mixture into cups to fill a little over half full.
• Bake at 375* for 18 to 20 minutes. (in my oven they are done in 18 minutes)

I love that this recipe uses oil instead of butter, as using butter in everything can get pretty expensive. Because this is a triple batch recipe, it usually makes 3 dozen muffins. I leave one dozen in a Ziploc bag to enjoy the week that I make them and place the other two dozen in the freezer. I can pull one or two muffins out as needed or just let the whole bag thaw on the counter to eat later. It's wonderful!

And here is a "sweet" verse to feed your soul.

"Kind words are like honey - sweet to the soul and healthy for the body." ~ Proverbs 16:24

May you be blessed with peace and health today! May kindness be found in your words and may they bring life and grace to the hearer!

Have a wonderful week,

Classical Conversations Review Game Day

Our home school journey began a short year and a half ago and it has lead us to a wonderful curriculum/community called Classical Conversations (CC).

We are thoroughly enjoying our school year! My 5-almost-six-year-old always looks forward to our CC community days. She is enjoying new-found friends and other adults who speak life into her.

My four-year-old son isn't enrolled in the CC program this year, but he joins in as we review the memory work throughout the week. I actually caught him singing the Timeline song as he was getting dressed the other morning. He is a hoot!

Our CC community is only in it's second year, so it is a young community. And out of seven families, we had five that were able to attend our recent Review Game Day! We chose to have it right after our Week 10 memory work was learned. We all had such a great time together that we plan to have another Review Game Day at the end of the year!

Our Review Game Day served as a wonderful time for the families to get to know one another better, have some fun together, and review the past 10 weeks of memory work.The accountability that being in community brings is so necessary... especially for this home school momma  :o)

So, without further ado, here are a few pictures from our fun game day and a short description of how each game was played.

The kids were excited to play the games at each station.

My first idea was to have an adult stationed at each game and ready to quiz the children who rotated through their station on one subject of the memory work. 

When it came down to it, with only 5 moms and 7 game stations we ended up splitting the children into 4 groups (2 groups of 3 and 2 groups of 4) and having the moms lead the kids from station to station, switching the subject questions to fit that station's topic. The extra mom (that was me) kept the timer going at 5 minute increments, called out when it was time to switch up the game stations, and helped out as needed. This worked out well for our group!

The groups spread out at various games stations and the timer began!

Geography Race

The younger ages really enjoyed standing at a starting line and once the adult called out a state and its capitol, they raced to the maps that were taped to the wall (with painter's tape) and pointed to the correct state. The adult leader would then be sure that they had chosen the right state.

If they hadn't chose the correct state, they would be corrected and would repeat the capitol and state while pointing to the correct location on the map!

The older kids quizzed each other, without all the running  :o)

English T.P. Toss

"Yes, that is a REAL toilet and NO, please don't use it."

This is a line I use often when we pull out the T.P. Toss toilet from our backyard and set it up for a game. It's a favorite with the kids. Who wouldn't want to throw a roll of toilet paper into a toilet?!?! Haven't we been teaching our kids NOT to play with toilet paper (and the toilet for that matter) since they could walk (or crawl)?

At this station, the kids lined up and reviewed memory work from English and then took turns tossing a roll of T.P. (that was wrapped in duck tape to keep it together) into the toilet. 

Too much fun!

(PS. This toilet isn't used for its intended purpose. I picked this beauty up off a curb and disinfected it for use at our annual Fall Festival carnival games! It's sure come in handy over the years.)

Latin Gun Range

Here the kids lined up, answered some Latin memory work and took turns shooting the tower of cans down, using a Nerf riffle. After a while, loading and un-jamming the riffle slowed the game down and we ended up throwing a ball at the cans instead.

Next time I would like to have two Nerf riffles going, one loading up and one being used. The kids really enjoyed this one, especially all of our boys!

Science Land Walk

Here is a mix of Candy Land and a Cake Walk - we called it Science Land Walk!

The kids would walk around on the colored squares while our Timeline song was being played on a CD player near by. When the leader would pause the song, she would call out a color (or two). All the kids on those colors would then answer a science question together! Younger and older kids had fun with this one.

Math Bowling

I didn't get a good picture of the kids playing the bowling game, but here's one of our youngest CC members being sweet  :o)

At this game station, the kids would sing a math skip counting song and then get to bowl the pins down. Very simple, yet fun!

It did take a bit of time to set up the pins after each child played. It would help to have an extra adult at this station to set up pins next time.

History Ring Toss

What do you get when you mix recycled coffee syrup bottles and a few glow in the dark necklaces???

The perfect Ring Toss game!

The kids at this station would line up and take turns reciting a history sentence and then try their ring-the-bottle skills. I did catch one of the younger groups singing the sentences together and then all at the same time, tossing their rings at the bottles. This helped them get through the past 10 weeks of history a bit faster and no one had to wait in line! Great idea!

Fun Time with Grammy

So.... this wasn't really a game station, but we can't forget to include our smaller CC members in a picture! A big thanks goes out to my mother for coming with us to help with the littles. 

They enjoyed playing the games that other groups weren't using at the time and just running around the gym. What a sweet group of kids we have.

Timeline Limbo

We ended our Review Game Day with Timeline Limbo. I found the idea for using a pool noodle for this game over at Solagratiamom. The kids enjoyed this, but with a 12 minute timeline song, things got a bit crazy.

What started as limbo, ended as "follow the leader around the gym". We were lined up and running, hopping, skipping, crawling, crab-walking, doing cart wheels, and being all out goofy!

It was a blast and we ended up out of breath and laughing! What sweet memories.

~~~~*~~~~*~~~~*~~~~

Overall, we had a great time reviewing our memory work together and getting to know each other better. The advice I would give to other CC parents who would like to plan and host a review day is:

• Be prepared, but be flexible. It's great to have a plan and to be organized. Even so, some games won't play out like you planned or you may have to substitute other items in the game (like at our Latin Gun Range).

• Get the word out! The more help you have, the better. And the more kids that can have fun reviewing their memory work is wonderful too! 

• Try it once, and then fine tune it for your campus. What worked for us, may not work the same for your group. Splitting up the kids by age group worked well for us. I think we will do that again. That way they are reviewing their work in a similar way to how they learn it in class. Also, this gives those kids going for Memory Master a chance to really review and be challenged by another adult. 

• Just HAVE FUN! Sometimes, as parents, we like things in order and very controlled. This is a chance to have fun with the memory work and to make review feel like you are just playing some games with your friends! The kids did their best during the review and they each received a small candy prize. We really enjoyed being in community and eating lunch together at the end of the game time. Work hard at preparing your Review Game Day and then have fun!!!
 

Thank you for stopping by! I hope that our first attempt at a Review Game Day will encourage you to try something fun with your CC community. May God bless you as you lead your children and as you work with others around you. May our mission in life truly be to know God and to make Him known.


Have a great week,

Shared on A Wise Woman Builds Her Home,  Half-a-Hundred Acre Woods, and A Little R and R