Prophetstown State Park, West Lafayette, IN
April 25-27, 2014

Our season opener for 2014.  Prophetstown State Park is one of only a few state parks in Indiana with full hook-ups (at some sites, only).  The park was modern, well kept, and the bathrooms were nice.  We visited the battleground, the museum, the Indian Village, and the Farm.  All were much enjoyed by the kids.  I particularly liked the museum and thought it was worth every penny of the admission fee (which was - we think - $6 for adults and $3 for kids over 3).

Unfortunately we didn't get many pictures from the places outside of the campground that we visited, mostly because we were chasing children, cleaning up their pee, or wrangling them in some other way.  Good times were had by all.  Sarah (I) did an 8 mile run within the park's extensive network of trails, though trails 3 and 4 were only recently added and therefore mainly consisted of a swath of mowed tallgrass prairie.  When the grassy areas gave way to muddy riverbanks (where the Wabash and Tippecanoe rivers converge) ...I just followed the dog paw prints.  At the time that we visited, trails 3 and 4 were marked by vinyl signs, and didn't yet have wooden trail markers set.  Luckily I had GPS and a map.  So I only got lost twice.  Okay, fine, three times.

Our site - complete with frolicking children.

The kids, just settling in to plot out their havoc wreaking schedule.

"We were told there would be cake...?"

Mike was smart enough to shield his cake's candles from the wind.  I was...not so smart.

Candles relit and ready for blowing out.

The visitor's center

Ada auditions for the part of "Max" in How the Grinch Stole Christmas.

We even flew a kite!  The central area of the electric loop made for good kite flying grounds.

A zoomed out view to prove that we flew the kite...

Present opening

No birthday party would be complete without a big bag o' batteries.

Walking back from the playground.  That was a top-notch playground.

Versailles State Park, IN

Versailles State Park, Versailles, IN
September 27-29, 2013

Our last camping trip of the season was at Versailles State Park.  The campground was very nice, but we were in the area for a wedding, so we didn't really get out there to see what the park had to offer.

The younger set - enjoying some freedom before being shoved into dresses.

"You aren't putting this photo in the blog, are you?"

A grim-faced man wearing a loom band bracelet.

Josephine and Anna cut a rug - early enough in the evening that they had not yet been joined by drunk adults.

"Uh, does anyone have anything I can spit this Tootsie Roll into - I just lost my appetite..."

The "How Can God Bless America When We Are Killing Our Unborn" float.  That's right, it's a pro-Life parade float complete with fetus photos.

Josephine and Anna standing in front of somebody's beautifully golden-tanned arm.

"I was told there would be cake at this event...?"

Covert KOA / Gus Macker South Haven, MI

The 2013 Silk on Butter Gusmacker Reunion Tour

South Haven, MI

July 26-28, 2013

The team, before the first game, I believe?  They don't look demoralized yet, anyway...

Yep didn't actually have a basketball, there.  Just for fun.

A romantic walk down the pier

This look is called "Lighthouse sexy"

Taking a long walk down a long pier is infinitely more dry than taking a long walk off a ... well, you know.

Nothing that I love more after a nice run on the beach than picking blueberries with which I can stuff my face at breakfast the following day.  Actually, these fresh blueberries made some KILLER blueberry pancakes that only Brian and I would eat...

The original JUDGEMENT FIRE (TM) at which you will be JUDGED*

Look at those sopping wet fools.

Only Brian manages to look demoralized in this photo.

Tweet, tweet, tweet, little birds.  Tweet out all your feelings...

Besides, the true spirit of camping is doing what you want to do while you are relaxing and not working, right?  Not "getting away from technology."  That's just a silly notion, especially when AT&T has the best nationwide coverage of any cellular carrier...

The JUDGEMENT FIRE(TM) blazes on...

*In the form of malicious tweets.

Turkey Run State Park

Turkey Run State Park, Indiana
June 7-9, 2013

By reserving a spot fairly early in the year, we managed to get a campsite at Turkey Run State Park. The campground and the park were amazing, and the hiking trails were beautiful.  I will admit that some areas were a bit treacherous, only because we, as parents, were each wearing a hiking backpack containing a very heavy toddler - that can quite imbalance you - even when crossing a very shallow creek.  Luckily there were other family members and some very nice Good Sam hikers there to lend a hand.  This time of year, the weather is amazing and the park had many people, but didn't feel crowded at all.

Josephine shows off her "balancing" skills

Yes, there were moments that we stood around just trying to figure out where we were...

Then there were moments where we stood around just to take things in...

This is 'the look'

Our little spelunker

Taking selfies at lunch instead of eating lunch.

This is "The other look"

From Wikipedia:  

The Rosy Maple Moth (Dryocampa rubicunda) is a North American moth in the Saturniidae family. Males have a wingspan of 32–44 mm; females of 40–50 mm. They have reddish-to-pink legs and antennae, yellow bodies and hindwings, and pink forewings with a triangular yellow band across the middle. Males have bushier antennae than females. As the name implies, rosy maple moths mainly feed on Maples, particularly Red Maple, Silver Maple, and Sugar Maple. Sometimes the caterpillars become pests on maple trees. Adult moths do not eat.

This particular one was hanging out on our lantern.  HOW COOL!  And I love how you can see the camper in the background of that photo.

Somebody's butt... Oh my - that's MY butt.

I lens-flare-ya to look directly into that sunlight

The kids, playing in the dirt around our site.  In their defense, it was pretty exciting dirt.

More lichen while we're hiken.  Yes, it is the obligatory lichen with slightly out of focus family members in the background.  I just CAN'T EVER resist these shots.

No gold to be found, just a lot of Giardia spp.

"Look!  A treacherous path!  Let us head up there immediately while carrying young but preternaturally heavy children on our backs!"

Stayin' cool while checking on my hiking-mate.

The best posed family photo out of 15 that were taken this day.  Josephine looks fantastic.

We were tired out afterwards, but the trip was totally worth it.

For the record, the campsite was fantastic, #196.  It was an electric site (30 amp and 20 amp, I believe), no water.  It was very wooded, and it was pretty large, so even though there were campers across from and next to us, the site had a very private feel.  We ended up hauling buckets of freshwater and using a funnel to fill our tank.  This was in the early days before we had figured out that there is usually potable/freshwater to fill your freshwater tank with near the dump station of most state park campgrounds.  Oh well.  If it hadn't been for the typical day's arm workout from carrying the twins around, I might have actually been grateful for the killer arm workout...