Since I’m not exactly sure how much time I’ll have at the computer before the boys begin to stir this morning, I am going to dive right into our weekend recap. Let’s get to it!
Return to Jellystone Golden Valley
Right around 5 p.m. on Friday evening, Ryan, the boys, Sadie and I piled into the car and made the 90-minute drive to Golden Valley, North Carolina to spend the weekend at Jellystone Golden Valley. We’ve been itching to return to the family-friendly campground since our summer visit and when the kind folks reached out to invite us to come back again, it was a no-brainer. (Full disclosure: We were invited to the campground and our stay was hosted, however I did not receive monetary compensation outside of our stay for sharing our experience.) We selected this past weekend because we figured we might see some changing leaves and get to experience fall weather and we lucked out with both of those things!
We stayed in a cozy cabin (the Lisenberry Loft Cabin) and laughed because Ryder was livin’ the life and actually had the one bedroom in the cabin all to himself and his pack ‘n’ play. (We typically utilize a spare bathroom or a large closet for Ryder’s pack ‘n’ play but since our cabin had neither, he was king of the cabin! Oh the perks of needing a quiet space away from everyone for naps and nighttime sleep.)
Ryan, Chase, Sadie and I bunked up together in the large loft area which was outfitted with two queen-size mattresses. It was actually really awesome! Chase called the loft his “tree house” (a nod, I’m sure, to his favorite Magic Tree House books) and the set up worked well for our family. We keep saying that one day we’ll get brave enough to attempt tent camping with our boys but I’m not sure if I’m ready to do that until Ryder is out of a pack ‘n’ play so “cabin camping” (if that’s a thing?) is more our jam at the moment. If you’ve tried tent camping with little ones, I’d love to hear how you do it!
We filled our day on Saturday with campground activities and kicked things off with a pancake breakfast at the lodge before saying hi to Boo Boo since Chase’s obsession with characters is at an all-time high.
Ryder shocked us by being all about the characters on this visit as well and wanted to give them a million high-fives. (The kid has no fear, I’m tellin’ ya.)
During an evening dance party with Yogi and Cindy Bear, Ryder followed them all over the place and repeatedly tapped them on their legs for high fives.
The weather on Saturday was sunny and hovered in the mid-50s. It started out quite cold so we were all bundled up in the beginning of the day and shed some layers as the day went on.
Coats naturally came off at the jump pad where the boys practiced their MyGym skills and we all jumped and rolled around.
We also spent some time on the tennis courts and played “mini tennis” and made up tennis court games that the boys enjoyed.
We made sure to stop by the arts and crafts building because the shark glitter tattoo Chase got during our summertime visit was such a hit and we knew he’d be excited for another one. He selected a green lizard glitter tattoo this time and since temporary tattoos have a way of remaining on a child’s body for all the days, please wish me luck on scrubbing the remains of that thing off his arm in a week or two. Chase also ended up painting a ceramic car while we were there and Ryder thought water painting on the purple paper tablecloth was just as cool.
After our arts and craft time, Ryder needed a nap, so we headed back to the cabin for a little down time. Chase and I read a Magic Tree House book together and then the two of us headed off to the lake to attempt paddle boating while Ryan stayed behind with Sadie and a sleeping Ryder. I think we lasted all of 15 minutes in our paddle boat which I probably should’ve expected since I’m pretty sure I’ve enjoyed paddle boating exactly zero times in my entire life. I find it slow and boring and laughed out loud when Chase said, “Mom, that one gets two thumbs down.” Clearly the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree.
We had a lot more success with gem mining once Ryder was awake!
Chase and I also really enjoyed matching his gems to the gems in the little brochure because it listed a fun fact about each gem under the gem’s name. I’m pretty positive we’re now the proud forever-owners of a few pieces of quartz since Chase learned that the quartz he found is the same kind of quartz found on the moon.
We rounded out our Saturday with a tractor ride around the campground (clearly our family selfie skills need some work), a dance party with Yogi and Cindy Bear and s’mores by the fire.
The fire outside our cabin was roaring and the heat from the flames was very welcome because it got quite cold at night.
This is the face of a 16-month-old when he learns that touching those flames is a big no-no:
What a pitiful little expression! Don’t worry, he perked right up when I handed him a graham cracker.
Sunday
We called it an early night on Saturday and thanks to the time change our crew was all awake by 6 a.m. on Sunday. We hung around the campground for a couple of hours and hit up the tennis courts for some outside time before heading back home in the mid-morning.
We spent the rest of our Sunday around the house, assembling furniture for our screened-in porch, packing away Halloween decorations and unpacking from our weekend away.
Now I’m ready to ease back into normalcy and I’m crossing my fingers our crew adjusts to the time change within the next few days. Enjoy the week ahead and, as always, thanks for making my blog a part of your day!
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What wonderful memories you are making with your boys!
Thank you, Valerie! It was definitely a great weekend! Love seeing them have so much fun outside!
The mini tennis court is a pickleball court! Such a fun game!
My mother-in-law loooves pickle ball! I’d love to try it!
Try using baby oil on the tattoo to help get it off. It usually works pretty well.
Genius! I bet coconut oil would work, too! Ive just tried scrubbing it in the bath tub when I think about it and that does NOT work — haha!
Coconut oil definitely works! Just learned that after two weeks of unsuccessful bath tub scrubbing! Your boots are SO cute! Are they current?
They are Columbia boots but several years old. I checked their website to see if they’re still making them and it unfortunately looks like they don’t anymore.
Looks like so much fun!! I worked at a Yogi Bear campground during the summer after my first year of college haha. Out of curiosity – when did Chase stop sleeping in a pack in play during trips?
I love that! I had a friend whose parents owned one of those campgrounds when I was a kid and I actually got to dress up as Boo Boo a few times. Ha!! 🙂 And I’m not exactly sure when the pack ‘n’ play stopped for Chase on trips but it’s been a while — maybe around 3 or 3.5 years old? He’s on the smaller side so he didn’t outgrow it until then!
We’ve been camping with our 14 month old several times. We have a pretty large (4 person) car camping tent (vs. our much smaller backpacking tents) and we can set up his pack-n-play in it and still have plenty of room for 2 adults. Might be tight with another kid and a dog though! He usually sleeps in the pack-n-play for an hour or two while my husband and I enjoy some adults only time by the fire and then once we’re all in there together he usually ends up sleeping between us. Not quite as restful as a night at home but super fun!
Looks like such a fun fall weekend. We tent camped when my daughter was 13 months and my friend’s son was 8 months….in the middle of summer when it was pretty darn hot! The guys rigged up box fans, oscillating fans, etc. to make us a cool hang out area. They strung up a canopy too. It was fun, but I wouldn’t call it easy! 🙂
P.S. I just had to scrub off a bunch of Halloween tattoos and olive oil worked well!
Hi Julie – this was a nice vacation, however I think it’s dishonest to say you were “invited” but not compensated for reviewing the experience when they paid for your accommodations.
You are smart enough to know the invitation was predicated on you having a weekend summary each week that would include their camp AND on the traffic they received the last time you were paid to be there. My PR firm allocates this kind of deal as “paid marketing” because that is what it is. You should call it as such.
I agree with you Denise. Not to be picky but it should be stated a bit more clearly. Looked like a fabulous place to stay and visit. Adding to our bucket list as it is a bit pricey per night.
It is absolutely never, ever my intent to be deceiving in any way and I thought by noting that I was not paid but we were invited to the camp ground was being upfront about how everything worked. I updated the blog post and am curious to know if this wording reads better to you, as I want to make sure everything is very clear: We were invited to the campground and our stay was hosted, however I did not receive monetary compensation outside of our stay for sharing our experience.
I will absolutely try to make things even more clear in the future and sincerely apologize if this was confusing in any way.
Words like “invited” and “hosted” are words that people use to describe welcoming personal relationships – such as “we invited friends to join us” or “we hosted family for the evening.” To use them in a professional setting implies, at least to me, that the goal is for the reader to not realize this is a paid review (whether money or free product exchanges hands, it’s still paid.)
The industry standard word for this kind of business transaction is – our stay was comped by Jellystone in exchange for sharing our experience. An alternative way to put it that would be more straightforward “we were able to stay there for free in exchange for sharing our experience.” Either one make it crystal clear what took place.
We’ve been camping with our son at 3 months and again at 13 months! He slept in the pack n play in the tent both times, there was plenty of room for us. The only downside was his nap was a bit short the most recent time because the tent wasn’t very dark, but overall it was great! We go to a campsite that welcomes families, try to not go on busy weeks, and pick a spot that’s more isolated in case of night wake ups. We’ve never had a problem, though, and our son loves it! The hardest part was lack trying to take a shower with a toddler (didn’t happen – he was so dirty when we got home!) My parents did the same for me and my sisters.
Silly question – but can you share what kind of shoes Chase is wearing?
They’re high tops from H&M! If you have trouble finding them, let me know and I can try to find a link for you later!
oh my globbb ryder chasing chase, i caaan’t with his face. chase is looking so dapper too
My parents were avid campers before I was born. Since I was a fall baby born in New England, they didn’t take me until I was about 9 months old. They were almost at the campground when they realized they didn’t bring anything for me to sleep in! (so relatable, as a first-time mom myself) So they stopped in a small town in New Hampshire, bought a wool horse blanket (as in, a blanket used to keep a horse warm), and I slept on that. We had that blanket (at least) until I left for college!
It’s a story that always makes me smile when I think of it.
Thanks for sharing about Golden Valley. We are headed their this weekend! We tent camped with two of our three babies and it was definitely a fun experience.
However, once we moved from tent to travel trailer camper we’ve never looked back. Kitchen inside and outside, personal bathroom, bunk beds, separate bedroom, fireplace and television-*for rainy days, we have never looked back. Mountains to the coast at the click of your heels– Charleston, Asheville, Hilton Head on down to the Keys. Girl, Google the opportunities and then pack that tent for backyard camping!