A Camping We Will Go...

My parents invited us to go camping with them in Palo Duro Canyon this weekend, and it was very exciting. The original plan was to stay up late and watch the meteor shower that was supposed to happen, but we all crashed and didn't get to see much. Oh well! :) We did, however, have several adventures---both planned and unplanned.
We got out to the camp site Saturday evening. The kids were trying to be "big helpers" while John and Dad were putting up the tents, so Mom and I decided to take them down to the creek nearby to play until camp was set up. As we were walking on the road to the creek, a big rattlesnake crossed in front of us about 20 ft. away. I saw it and yelled at Mom (who was carrying Caroline) to stop, just in time. She freaked out, the kids freaked out, and we stayed back until we saw the snake slither into some nearby shrubs. I saw a camp close to where we were standing that had several college-age guys hanging out, so I asked if any of them had anything to kill a snake with. One of the guys was apparently a snake hunter. He ran in, grabbed a shovel, and went straight over to where the snake was. Within 5 minutes, he had killed the snake by cutting its head off, buried the head (so no one would touch it and get poisoned), cut the rattle off and put it in his pocket, and displayed the snake's body for all to see (at this point we had drawn a crowd of campers). The guy let all of the kids around him touch the snake while Mom, Caroline, and I stayed in the background. ICK!!! :) We continued on to the creek and the kids played for a bit there.
During our stay, we saw wild turkey, countless fascinating bugs/insects, deer, and even a curious prairie dog. Caroline did great-she slept as well as she does at home. Thanks to John we had a nice fire and made smores. Mom and Dad cooked a wonderful breakfast Sunday morning, and John, the kids, and I went on a great hike. John carried Caroline in her sling on the hike, and she slept the WHOLE time! Thanks to Mom and Dad for inviting us and for sharing in our adventures!
The wild turkey--they were actually quite tame
The snake before the guy got ahold of it (center of pic)...
And the snake after...yucky!
Playing in the creek
Caroline trying out the water too (she LOVES water)
A sweet sister pic
The Campfire Master with a mouthful of sunflower seeds
Christian and Caitlin enjoying the campfire with Pappaw