Our little (haha, big!) family took a trip to Fredericksburg, Texas at the end of June. We picked Fredericksburg because we had never been there, and also because Gramps and Gram were going to be camping at Enchanted Rock State Park. We wanted to be able to spend a day with them… but since they don’t have RV sites at Enchanted Rock, we opted to stay in town.
We headed down on Thursday morning. Our drive was pretty smooth and uneventful. It was our first time pulling the trailer with Van Halen, our new monster truck van. It pulls really well!
Our campsite was at Ladybird Johnson Municipal Park Campground, which is on the outskirts of Fredericksburg near the airport. We felt like the actual campsites were pretty close together, but it was a nice park with walking trails, a river, playgrounds, and a pool. Luckily we stayed in a site with a greenbelt directly behind us so we didn’t feel as cramped as the other sites appeared. 
After a quick set up, we ate lunch and headed out to explore!
Being June in Texas, we got pretty toasty, pretty quickly. Luckily, our campground had a pool! We headed over to cool off before our evening plans. The big boys were excited about the diving board…
We went to Alamo Springs Cafe for dinner to try out their famous burger that was on the cover of Texas Monthly at some point. It was a cute little restaurant with a great outdoor eating area.
Here’s the Texas Monthly cover burger… with bacon and a fried egg added. It was yummy!
We indulged in all the fried things, including fried pickles and fried green beans (in honor of Grandma). Atti wanted to show them off. 
Dinnertime shenanigans…
After dinner, we headed next door to Old Tunnel State Park. This was such an interesting State Park– the smallest in Texas with only 16 acres making up the whole park! The main attraction is an old train tunnel that houses a bat colony and if you go on a good night, you can see the bats emerge at dusk for their nightly feeding. We talked to the park rangers and heard lots of interesting information about the bats and the history of the area and the train tunnel. The kids thought the bats in resin were really cool. 
Our view was gorgeous!
Unfortunately, by the time the bats emerged, it was too dark for us to see them on the upper deck of the observation area. The rangers told us that with all the recent rains, the insect populations have been booming so it’s been easier for the bats to find food. Because of this, they don’t need to come out as early. Apparently, September is a great time of year to see the bats so maybe we will try again.
We did get to see the beautiful Strawberry Full Moon rise for a moment… before it was covered by clouds. 
But I was able to catch that big beautiful moon peeking at me between the trees when we were back at the campsite.
The next day, we started our morning at the Sauer-Beckmann Living History Farm. This place was so cool! It’s an old German farmstead from the early 1900’s. The park rangers dress in period attire and re-enact farm life, completing all the farm chores and answering any questions visitors might have. 
From the farm, we headed down the road to a peach orchard. We had never been peach picking!
I title this photo adolescence. He was mad at me… can’t even remember why now. 
We couldn’t leave the orchard without trying some of their homemade peach ice cream! It was a cool treat after being outside in the heat.
While we were out in the area, we decide to head back over to Old Tunnel State Park to hike the trails as we weren’t able to do that the night before when we were there. On the way out there we passed a sign for Luckenbach and HAD to make a detour. I didn’t realize how close it was! We didn’t stay long– just long enough to walk around, buy a koozie, and watch the local country band play a song. Next trip out here, I would like to make a plan to see a show.
Old Tunnel State Park sure looks different in the day time.
We had fun hiking the loop trail.
Even Archer hiked… he was determined to keep up with the big boys.
We were all hot and tired after our hike so we headed back into town. Fredericksburg is known for its German heritage, so we set out to find some German food for dinner. Dad and Valerie had recommended the Fredericksburg Brewing Company.
We got a flight of their beers to sample. The Enchanted Rock Red was my favorite– and yes, I sampled the beer even though I’m pregnant. I had a literal sip of each one after I ate a huge meal. My least favorite was probably the IPA, but that’s not a surprise. 
For dinner I ordered schnitzel, potato salad, and sauerkraut. 
Chris (and his creepy eyes) ordered a corned beef and sauerkraut Ruben.
I was too full to finish my sauerkraut, so Lorelei stepped in and gladly finished the whole bowl for me!
In true German fashion, we let the big kids take a sip of one of the beers. They were not impressed, haha. And Logan’s anxiety about getting caught and going to jail was so bad, I’m not even sure that he took an actual sip or just smelled it. Archer, on the other hand, grabbed the Hefeweizen while I was digging in my bag and started to drink it like he was a beer drinking pro. He got super angry when I took it away from him, too. 
We couldn’t leave Main Street without visiting a candy store! We let each kid get a bag and fill it with their choice of candies from the bulk section.
Ewww…
They had never had Poprocks, so we had to fix that!
Back at the campsite, the kids and dogs played. Daddy got his hair did…
My sweet Goose was feeling all done with people and outside so he chose to sit inside alone and draw.
When did this kid get so big?
Full hookups meant trailer showers for all! Or in the case of the little ones, a very cramped bath. Sometimes I think Lorelei feels like Archer is her real life babydoll. She’s always trying to give him baths, change his diaper and clothes, or feed him. 
My goal for this trip was to be completely screen free and we succeeded! In the evenings in the trailer once we were done playing outside, we drew pictures and colored, or played card games. 
The following morning, I caught this sweet moment between the big boys… drinking their coffee and enjoying the quiet morning.
After breakfast, we packed up and headed to Enchanted Rock for a day of hiking with Gramps, Gram, Uncle Spencer, and Uncle Jordon. Our last trip pre-covid was to Inks Lake State Park and Enchanted Rock for Chris’ birthday. That was in February, so it was going to be a little different in June. 
We jumped right in and started the Summit Trail hike almost as soon as we arrived. We still had a bit of cloud cover and it wasn’t as hot as it was going to be later in the afternoon.
I’m not going to lie, making this hike while 18 weeks pregnant in the heat with a baby on my back was not fun. But things were all good once we made it to the top. 
And then it was time to head back down. Archer actually hiked down himself part of the way!
When we were done hiking, we went back to their campsite and had lunch. By that time, the sun had come out in full force and there was just no getting cooled off. After my stomach started acting up, we decided it would be best if we called it a day. Being pregnant, I was worried about getting too overheated. Plus, if I had to use the bathroom in the hot port-a-potty again, I would probably just die.
On the drive back to our campsite, we realized that the kids (and ourselves) were pretty sunburned. So any ideas of going to the pool to cool off or going into town to walk around the stores was quickly abandoned. As we got to talking about it, we decided that we didn’t want to be trapped in the trailer, unable to play outside or go anywhere until the following morning when we were scheduled to leave, so we left early. It was ultimately the best decision because it gave us all day Sunday at home to rest and recover, which, after that whirlwind, busy trip, we ALL needed it!
And here’s our Van Halen all loaded up and ready to tow her back home.