Cook Forest

Nolan steals a straw from a juice box

Matt and his cousin catch tadpoles

Matthew, dirty and happy

We drove to Cook Forest on the 12th, and had a great time meeting up with Dennis's cousin and his family. If we decide to try camping with our little guys in the near future, it will be at this state park in Pennsylvania. It is only 1 1/2 hours away from our house and has a ton of amenities for the little guys. A stocked children's fishing pond (replete with tadpoles and mud), short hiking trails, and easy access to the shallow Clarion River for swimming.

As a side note, when your husband is sent to find a fishing pole for your two year old- make instructions specific! He returned from the store with a real, adult sized fishing pole. Imagine a 2 year old child equipped with a whip-like pole with a hook on the end. He had a great time, but the rest of us were frantically trying to cast the line as far away as possible so that he couldn't hook any of us! We finally took the hook off and just left the bobber on, since he just wanted to cast and reel the line back in ad infinitum.


Nolan was able to hang out on the grass and had a great time stealing bits of oreo cookie and crawling around with relative freedom. Matthew got absolutely filthy from the watermelon, mud, and oreo cookies he ate. This necessitated a quick dip in the river in a vain attempt to get some of the mud off. Mud from this region of Pennsylvania stains, and stains badly!


We will probably head back to Cook Forest later this year to camp, especially if we can get the rest of the family to join us! I have a feeling late summer/early fall would be gorgeous in this region, and Nolan should be walking well by then. Now we just need sleeping bags for the boys!