Holland State Park

Pretend this next blog is written in Tim Allen's voice:
This is Holland State Park, Lake Macatawa Campground.




We drove in late Friday night to meet up with Gram Bear and Poppi Pruss.
We took this photo in the dark at the ranger station because we needed a map to our campsite - number 85... The only pull thru site in the last loop on the right.





It was a little tricky getting the camper set up in the dark (mostly because Mom's brain was fried) but with the aid of an extremely bright flashlight we were able to get set up and plugged in. Then we slept.
The next day, the Pinnicks arrived.





Good thing Sarah managed to pick the lock on this baby or it would be a very different photo.
And here are the Grans in the Road Trek:




I can't say enough wonderful things about this campground. There was an incredible bath/shower building that had clearly been recently renovated and updated, and there was a water/dump station located near the main entrance of the park. I wish we had realized on our way in that we could fill our fresh tank there on our way into the park. Instead Mike and Steve hauled 5 gallon jugs from the bathroom so that we could wash the dishes.





And you aren't really an RVer until you have at least one strand of lights attached to your awning.





The girls played for hours. Many bug playgrounds were erected and demolished in this time.





Saturday afternoon, we had the twins' birthday celebration.













"Don't mess with my baby sisters or Ill come after you with my brass flower knuckles!"




When the kids are away the grown ups will play... with fire.



Thanks for the clean camper Blue Beacon!






Not pictured, but we managed a stop at everyone's favorite Panera on the way home. Apparently the twins are real tortellini lovers!
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Jellystone Park Chicago

We opened the camping season quite close to home this year! The park, Jellystone Park Chicago, was located in Millbrook, IL, just 30 minutes from home.




Despite below freezing temperatures at night, we snuggled together for warmth and had a great time.



Good thing our camper has:




We selected a spot close to home and flushed the antifreeze out of the tanks. Unfortunately, there were two casualties over the winter... Mom found them in the tub... Ewwww

After cleaning the tub, we ordered a new part for the toilet...


The RV park featured a play set for big kids and for little kids and Ada learned the word "Slide!" Corie sat on Daddy's lap feeling cranky (not a huge fan of the low temperature). Josephine played mini golf with Dad, and we took a nighttime stargazing walk as a family. Those events aren't pictured, unfortunately.

There was a very exciting tree stump:


We call it "The Giving Tree."

As always, the three larger Prusses had a marshmallow roasting campfire for S'mores.







While Mom and Dad were prepping the camper for travel and packing up, the kids engaged in some sporting events.












Though the trip was fun, we were all pretty sleepy and ready to go home on Sunday. Some of us have a harder time "hacking it."




We can't wait to get out there again!

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Summer Vacation 2012 - The Quad Cities

For summer vacation, Sarah, Josephine, Coriel and Ada explored the Quad-cities area.  We stayed in our camper at the Sunset Lakes RV Resort in Hillsdale, IL.
Mike and Hamlet accompanied us for the drive...

En route to the resort...

Then we set up shop in the camper with some toys...

Toys outdoors...

And toys indoors...

A brief moment of kindness between sisters

 After helping us get settled at the campsite, Mike and Hamlet headed back to Batavia and the girls began to explore the area.
Monday, August 6th we went to Niabi Zoo in Coal Valley, IL.  There were great activities for the kids (including a few water misting fans that the kids went nuts over), and a really nice petting zoo.  Josephine went for a pony ride, climbed on some concrete animals, and fed goats.

Josephine riding a pony.

Josephine's favorite chicken.  It's not really a visit to the zoo unless you've seen a chicken...or is it?

The babies...trying to stay cool in the rental stroller.

I spent 10 minutes waiting for this giraffe to stop licking his leg so that I could take a picture that didn't look totally ridiculous.  Here it is.

One of these parrots could say "Hello!"  I spent (and this amount of time I am not disclosing) many minutes going to each parrot and saying Hello in a parrot voice over and over again.  The things we admit on our blogs...sigh.

Josephine's favorite bird in the bird house.

Concrete rhino.

If I had mad photoshop skillz I would have put Josephine's face in both apes.

 We were pretty pooped after our day at the zoo, but that didn't stop us from visiting Monkey Joe's in Davenport, IA the next day.  I don't have photos from that because I was in the baby bouncy house with the twins practically the whole time (not a great place to bring an iPhone).  But here is the "After" photo:

Needless to say, they were tired.

So we didn't get a chance to go to the park.

Which is too bad - because I drove all the way there and it was a beautiful park with a fountain, playset, and everything.

On Wednesday, August 8, we went to Le Claire, IA, the birthplace of Buffalo Bill Cody.  We visited the Buffalo Bill Museum.  Josephine even got to do a photo scavenger hunt!

They had some neat historical artifacts.  Including a dog treadmill...

Attached to a butter churn.

I have no idea why this invention didn't take off...

After the museum, we visited Reusable Usables in Le Claire and got to do some Drop in Art.

She was rockin' this bunny smock...

We worked up quite an appetite that day, so that night we indulged in S'mores and Coke.

We had a real campfire and everything...I didn't even stoop to making them in the microwave.

On Thursday, we visited the Albany Mounds State Historic Site in Albany, IL.  It was quite a trek out to the mounds, but well worth it for this view:

This picture, taken by Josephine, doesn't quite do the spot justice, but take my word for it, it was a beautiful forest and meadow near the banks of the Mississippi River.

This is the girls at the entrance to the mounds "trail" which turned out to be a mowed swath of grass.  Anyone who has ever pushed a double umbrella stroller uphill through grass for half a mile in the summer will understand why I had to shower when I got back to the camper.

On Friday, August 10th, our last full day, we went to Clinton, IA.  It was a beautiful drive up the eastern bank of the Mississippi River.  We went to the Felix Adler Children's Discovery Center, a really neat place which is one big enclosed room with a toddler play area in the middle.  Josephine had a blast dressing up like a fireman, playing grocery store, and playing with tons of blocks.  The babies found a toy car to fight over.

Fire lady, Josephine, to the rescue!

"Buy some grapes!  Only 50 cents a bunch!"

Three seconds after this photo was taken they started slapping each other in a fight for possession of the car.

By Saturday morning, all four girls were very tired and ready to sleep in their own beds.  Next year, Daddy is invited...

McCormick's Creek State Park

The Pruss and Pinnick families joined together for a short, weekend trip to McCormick's Creek State Park in Spencer, IN from July 20-22, 2012.
McCormick's Creek was named after homesteader John McCormick, who obtained the land in 1816.  The park is known for its tranquil and restful scenery, where visitors can lose themselves (if you are Hamlet and Sarah, quite literally) on the long and beautiful hiking trails that the park has to offer.

Hiking to the falls with dogs in tow.

 We arrived late on a Friday night and were greeted by a couple of very generous park rangers and a few Pruss's and Pinnick's waving flashlights.

We did a lot of hiking.

Our campsite, #56, was terrible.  If anyone reads this blog and is considering a trip to this park, avoid that particular site like the plague, Rinderpest, Dengue fever, and Malaria carrying mosquitoes.  The entire site was inclined so severely that we needed to borrow additional blocks from a family member because the rear stabilizers couldn't touch the ground.  The power hookup was on the same side as the picnic table, and, in hindsight, we should have just faced the camper the other direction and used an extension cord to go underneath the trailer.
We brought Hamlet with us for the trip, and managed to avoid major dog-nature, dog-camper, dog on dog mishaps which was great!  He slept for 4 days straight after we got home.

These prices will probably seem hilarious in 2035

 Josephine and Anna went on a pony ride.  Charlotte opted out citing the pony's mild left forelimb lameness and a suspicious lack of girth-tightness as her reasons... (or she was just scared and I completely misinterpreted the meaning of "No horsie")

Josephine pictured on "Freckles" who would have been named "Distended Abdomen" if he had been named for his body shape instead of his coat characteristics.

 Mike and Sarah went on a 45 minute kid-free horseback ride through the park while Kate and James went for a dog-hike.  Mary and Steve were kind enough to watch ALL the kids in our trailer while the couples had some down time.  Here's something John McCormick forgot to mention:  the park is much more tranquil when there aren't any kids around.
Oh yeah, and...

Who could forget the token "Lichen on tree with family member walking, out of focus, in the background" photo?  Not me.

We may not get a chance to go back to McCormick's Creek for a long time, but I would highly recommend it to those of you who didn't realize that Indiana had trees that weren't serving as windbreaks for cattle, hogs, or cornfields.