A few years ago we started aThanksgiving tradition to do something non-traditional for the holiday. We've deep-fried a turkey, had a luau, complete with a roasted pig, smoked turkey take-out from Rudy's (the worst BBQ in Texas!),etc. This year we went camping with Mike and Mindy and family to Enchanted Rock State Natural Area. We had a lot of fun. It was perfect weather for camping...near 80 during the day, near freezing at night. (Needless to say Hazel wore three fleece sleepers to bed to be warm enough.) So we had three days of fun, playing in the fires, climbing trees and rocks, hiking and spending time together. We only had one child fall into a cactus (Alex, who tried to wipe the spines on his hands off on his pants, which were also full of spines. Thank goodness for a kind camping neighbor who lent us some tweezers.)
We hiked to the top of Enchanted Rock to watch the sun set. The Native Americans long ago thought the rock was enchanted because it would groan and creak. (Because of cooling and heating during the day and night, the rock creaks. It is actually taller during the day in the summer by a couple of inches.) 
Everyone at the summit marker.
This is the second time that we have camped at Enchanted Rock. Here is a picture of the kids today...
This is a picture of the kids from 3 1/2 years ago. I can't believe how much they've grown. Time really flies!
The kids were good hikers. On the first day they did about 5 or 6 miles, then another mile and a half after dinner. Another day, we did 3 or 4 miles. They sure slept good those nights! Hazel rode in the back pack with Nate. The kids had a lot of fun climbing on the boulders and finding "caves".
We bought a smoked turkey from Rudy's again (very tasty). Nate make an oven from a cardboard box to reheat the turkey. We also used the oven to reheat pizza the day we arrived, to pop popcorn (the kind you have to shake like mad over heat to have it pop up like a balloon), to heat our sausage biscuits and reheat the cherry pie. I think we'll do this trick again!
Our Thanksgiving dinner!
Post Thanksgiving rest.
