Where has IndianaAnna been all month?

I am back after 3 weeks of vacation and traveling, followed by a busy few days getting my boys ready for school and celebrating the youngest's 7th birthday.  Did anyone miss me?  We had a wonderful time on our travels, but it sure is nice to be home and sleeping in our own bed.

Here's a few photos showing what we've been up to for the last month.

• Week 1 of vacation, the boys and I went camping with my parents at Gooseberry Falls State Park on the shore of Lake Superior in northern Minnesota (while Rob was a medicinal chemistry workshop at the University of Minnesota).  
• Week 2 of vacation, we visited family in Minnesota.  Both Rob and I are from Minnesota and all of our immediate family members still live there. 
• Week 3 of vacation, Andrew stayed with my parents for "Camp Grandpa and Grandma" while Rob, Robby, and I flew to Reno where we rented a car and drove to Calaveras Big Trees State Park.  The next day, we drove to Berkely to visit Rob's advisor from his post-doc days followed by a stop at the Jelly Belly factory.  Then, we were in Davis, CA for a couple days so Rob could attend and speak at a celebration in honor of his graduate advisor.  We finished up the trip with a day at Lake Tahoe.  

Gooseberry Falls State Park

Robby on the shore of Lake Superior

Exploring the tide pools at Gooseberry Falls State Park

Andrew in Gooseberry Falls 

Chilling our feet in the cold water of Gooseberry River

Swimming in the mouth of Gooseberry River, where it drains to Lake Superior 

Making banana boats for dessert while camping 

Family Time

A little pellet gun action in the morning on the Sammelson family sheep farm

How many cousins can you stuff onto a loveseat?

Fishing with cousins

Cousins checking out a caterpillar

40th anniversary party for Anna's parents

 California

Not too nauseous after a morning of mountain driving.  We made it to the top!

"Mother and Son" giant sequoia trees

Sitting on the "Big Stump"

Learning about how new compounds are tested on flies at UC Berkeley

Private wine and chocolate tasting at Jelly Belly

Robby waiting for Daddy's talk to begin

Robby and I didn't understand much of this talk!

People in California have cool things like pizza ovens in their backyards

Too much party

At Lake Tahoe, we were all taking a lot of photos.  Its even prettier than I remembered!

Birthday brownies to celebrate Andrew's 7th.  (Recipe from http://www.thesweetslife.com/2012/08/fudgy-cosmic-brownies.html)

First day of school - 1st and 5th grades

The Island Muncie

Have you ever been to The Island Muncie?  Its a fantastic little oasis in Muncie!

Order a cold treat, find a comfy chair in the sand to relax, and just chill out with the sound of the waterfall in the background while you wait for someone to deliver your refreshing snack.  What could be more relaxing than that?  Oh, except I was there with two high-energy boys who wanted to chase a couple bees they spotted.  Yeah, not so relaxing.  But still fun!  Plus we got to mark another item off our Summer Fun List.

We each ordered something different and they were all absolutely delicious!  I had a pineapple juice float, Rob had a root beer float, Robby had a brownie turtle sundae, and Andrew had a mango smoothie.

The Island Muncie is open daily from 5pm until dark during the warmer months of the year.  Parking is in the trailhead lot on McGalliard, just west of Olive Garden.

Summit Lake State Park Nature Scavenger Hunt

I didn't sign the boys up for any day camps this week and my husband has been away for work all week, so the boys and I are continuing to make progress with our Summer Fun List.  Today, we headed down to Summit Lake State Park to take a 2-mile hike and then play on the beach and in the lake.

In an attempt to make the hike more interesting, I created a nature scavenger hunt (see below) so we would have specific things to look for as we hiked.  It didn't quite work out as planned.  The boys kept fighting over who would get to carry the clipboard and who would get to mark each item off.  For future reference don't expect a group effort: bring a separate checklist, clipboard, and pen for each child!

Another problem we encountered was that when we left the house I forgot to grab the bug spray... and boy did we need it!  More whining than I thought possible went on and on and on about how annoying the bugs.  

Luckily for me, I finally caught a break when the boys realized there were ripe black raspberries all along the edges of the trail and they began to pick and eat as we hiked.

We were lucky enough to see a baby deer very close to the trail and counted that as our four-legged wild animal!

A Trip to Pine Lake Waterpark

This afternoon, I decided the boys and I just needed to get out and do something fun, make some progress on our Summer Fun List!  Even though the weather was a bit iffy, we decided to head to Pine Lake Waterpark.  

I first heard about this waterpark last summer and have been wanting to visit every since.  The park is located out in the middle of the countryside, a few miles west of Berne, Indiana.  The drive took us about 55 minutes from our home near Ball State.  It cost $20 for the three of us to get in.

We all had a blast for two hours despite the fact that it kept raining on and off.  Finally, the fun came to an end when a storm came in and lightening was spotted.  We changed out of our suits and made it to our car just in time to avoid getting downpoured on!  We will definitely visit again and hopefully for longer.  

Double slide!  

Beach area - bring your own sand toys, the sand is very soft and great for digging

A crowd gathers every time the 30-foot high platform is opened for really brave jumpers

Robby on the teeter totter 

Andrew on the platform

How many waterparks include a rooster that keeps crowing?

Robby on the 20-foot platform and Andrew on the 12-foot diving board

Robby on the zip line 

Andrew jumping off the zip line

Storm clouds that ended our good time