Every.
Square.
Inch.....of the van was packed. I think I've become an expert at utilizing our minimal van space!
Tent snoozing...
First morning breakfast!
The beach was nice, really popular for water skiing and tubing. And sailing of course. Emily could only go out maybe 10-12 feet before it was getting too deep. Most (older) kids would have life jackets on and go out pretty far.
Loading the back of his truck with shells and rocks.
Spencer...our 10 month old Golden Retriever neighbor! I don't know who liked him more, me or the kids.
If we ever lost track of Luke, we knew right where to find him! I went over there once and he said to me "Leave me alone, I talkin' to Spencer!" The kids had fun making sure Spencer's water bucket was filled and his bones were nearby when their family was gone and left him back.
The road to the playground...
Emily found a friend to shoot water at, his name was Luke too!
The whole area was surrounded with wild raspberries, the girls even made campfire pies with some of theirs!
Glow sticks!
The trail to the bathrooms and beach... bring quarters, one dollar will get you a 6 min. shower! The beach area is a public beach as well as the main bathhouses, therefore pay showers.
Our site, A2.
The Goodhue county sheriff dept. would do horse patrols throughout the day and night and if the kids ran up to them, they'd always stop and let them pet the horses and answer questions. They get paid to do it, but it's volunteer basis, and the officers actually own the horses they are riding. This guy thought Luke was pretty funny when he'd say "Hi Zebra!" "Zebra come back!"
Petting Maya.
4th of July isn't complete without sparklers!
Emily and Hannah with their catch of the night, a little frog.
Happy 4th of July!
Lake Pepin marina, waiting for fireworks.
Luke was so fun to listen to during the fireworks, he kept saying "Wooooow!" "Aw-shome!" "That's my favorite!" At least he liked them, cause they weren't that good. Shhh, don't tell the kids! There were a few neat ones, but overall, pretty boring. Is there really good fireworks anywhere anymore? At least the setting was nice, by the lake with all the boats!
Finishing up the sparklers in the morning.
Veggies for foil dinners and sweet corn!
Luke and Sarah. They played so good together. She is the youngest girl in the family with 5 kids that we met. She just turned 4. They have a little boy who'll be 2 soon, but Luke wasn't too interested in him. He normally steers clear of his fellow 2 year old peers...they are too unpredictable for him!
The girls having watermelon together while we were packing up to leave on Sunday.
Luke and Sarah again...
We went up a little ways to Red Wing and over the bridge to drive the Wisconsin side home. We, okay, I, wanted to check out the Laura Ingalls Wilder birthplace about 7 mi. out of Pepin, WI(actually, it was more like Lund, WI).
(click on the picture and you can read the story!)
Emily thought is was neat that we could just walk in! She recognized the lofted area and how it was similar to the house in the tv show, where the girls slept.
*cue Little House music*
Then we stopped at a little (and I mean little) train museum in Pepin and played at the park behind it.
Luke loved the tool box...he kept saying "Papa's tools go in there!"
Too short!
This slide was crazy high!
Luke's turn! Dave was behind him on the stairs....there's no way I would have let him up there alone.
That's it! It was fun! And nice that we were only an hour from home too. Whitewater State Park is next up for camping. A weekend home first though.
