Holiday World

We spent one day in Indiana at Holiday World. I knew the kids would like it, but I didn't realize how MUCH they would love it. The first roller coaster we rode was a doozy. That was enough for me for the day! I stuck to water rides.

I didn't take many photos at the park. Once we started in the waterpark, the phone went in the locker. We arrived when the main park opened and rode a few rides before the water park opened.

If you are going to do the waterpark, I recommend arriving wearing your swimwear. You really don't need a towel - you won't be carrying it around with you. You dry as you go and have one towel to share at the end of the day. 

You can't bring any food or drinks into the park. Drinks (water, soft drinks, lemonade) and sunscreen are free.

The food is typical expensive park food. The kids had a lot of fun at the water park. Charlie & Ella loved the rough water rides. Greta preferred to hang with Grandpa in the wave pool. 

The water park lines were super long. After a 45 minute wait at a ride, the kids gave up & headed back to the amusement park. You have to be dry & wearing clothes to get back on the rides.

It was the right choice - no one was in the amusement park & they kept running onto the rides. I think they rode more rides in the last hour than they did the rest of the day.

We spent 6 hours in the park & the kids would have stayed longer. They declared it better/bigger than Elitch Gardens in Denver. Neither park is cheap (especially when you multiply admission by 4). We stopped by Wendy's on the way home & found good coupons for Holiday World - we will have to remember that for next time! 

Indiana Summers

When our kids talk about their summer highlights, Indiana is always at the top of the list. They get some funny looks. That's ok, we will just leave it as our secret.

We spent our days at gymnastics camp,

soccer camp,

and in the pool (though I worked more than I anticipated).

We visited with Grandma's sister.

The kids went non-stop down Grandpa's slide

though the kids did take a break to use the diving board too. We have lots of grumpy Charlie pictures this summer.

We took lots of turns on the tractor and went on a nice long hike along the creek.

We found a turtle and moved him off Grandpa's driveway.

We tried gooseberries (sour!) and laughed when the Amish lady encouraged us to find recipes to use them on the Internet.

Ella's cookies were much better than the gooseberries!

We explored the Farmer's Market and did A LOT of back to school shopping. Thank goodness for extra suitcases and bags fly free!

The kids just keep growing. I think Ella needed an entirely new wardrobe. 

We had an ice cream sundae bar

played with friends 

and took lots of walks.

We would have preferred more sunny days, but we still enjoyed our visit this year.

Little Critters

On our weekend adventures we spotted:
one striped water snake
one jumpy frog
lots of creek minnows (and one shark if you believe Charlie)
a few big hawks
too many spiders
several butterflies
two snapping turtles
lots of stinky geese
one swimming beaver
two great blue herons (one captured above on my phone)
too many sweat bees
several dragonflies
one blue tailed lizard
several ducks
and (if you believe Grandpa) a fox & a wolf.

Hope your weekend was full of grand adventures. And, that you are better than I am about not sneaking a peek at Olympic results before watching the end of the event on TV. 8 pm is just too late for the good stuff to begin.

Oh, the humidity

The unpacking while working & having the kids at home with me was a bit too much to handle. We were very happy we scheduled our midwestern grandparent visit when we did.

This year, we spent a day in Cincinnati visiting a college roommate. She unknowingly helped cross off a summer bucket list with french kiss martinis.

Charlie was a bit bummed to learn that the only boy in the household was a teenager. He shouldn't have been worried - JP treated Charlie like a king. 

There were lots of giggles & piggy back rides among the girls. 

Nick loves the food in Cincinnati. He picked all the restaurants. First stop - Montgomery Inn for ribs.

Four kids + one radio + one embarrassed teenager = car karaoke. Current car favorite? "Payphone" by Maroon 5 (and yes, we were asked what a pay phone was). We heard this song at least 6 times in less than 24 hours.
Second calorie loading opportunity - Graeter's Ice Cream. They have the best "chips" out there. Nick picked black raspberry chocolate chip in a generous serving size.
After sleeping off dinner & ice cream, we spent one hot, sticky day at Kings Island amusement park. This was the premier field trip when I was a kid.
Poor Ella had a hard time because she is so much shorter than Elise, but we managed to get her on several roller coasters.
This was a crowd favorite! We made it about 6 hours in the park before we couldn't stand the heat any longer. Next visit, we will have to hit the water park. We made a wise choice & stopped at the pool on the way home. 
After refreshing dip, Nick capped off his culinary tour of Cincinnati with a stop at Skyline chili. 


This little one was out before we crossed the Indiana border.


What a great start to our vacation!
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Blue Springs Caverns

We had quite an adventure in Blue Springs Caverns. We mined for beautiful gemstones.  This would be such a fun birthday party activity. Dirt. Water. Jewels. What's not to love?

We heard about the heavy rains that transformed someone's backyard into a big old mess.

Eventually, some curious folks discovered the caves.  We loved traveling by boat & the cool cavern air. Ella & Greta especially loved the "cave kisses."

The blind fish were fun to spot.

But, the blind crawfish were a little creepy.

The cave was narrow in spots so passing other boats was tricky. If you are in Southern Indiana & looking for a cool adventure on a hot & sticky summer day, these caves should do just the trick.

French Lick Scenic Railway

Grandpa & Granny Jill sure know how to attract adventure. They took us on a nice train ride, the conductor warned us to hide our valuables because a notorious gang of outlaws had been spotted in the area.  A very nervous Greta quickly gave me her special blanket to hide in my purse. All of a sudden we heard gunfire.

Charlie & Greta were sure it was the bad guys the conductor told us about. After confirming that the bad guys were just pretending to be dead, we de-trained & visited with the actors.

These volunteers are raising money for the Indiana Railway Museum.

The horses and actors were a huge hit.

It was such a hot day for those poor horses (and us!!) - I hope they got lots of cool treats when they were done.

Even though we were on an air conditioned car, it was pretty darn hot. I'd visit the train again in the fall or Spring. The Halloween & Polar Express trips look like fun!

Farmer's Market

One of the kids favorite Indiana activities is to visit the weekly Farmer's Market.  This was our shortest trip - it was hot & we had a second adventure planned - I didn't even take out my real camera.

It's so much larger & plentiful than the little plant sales & burrito stands we have out West. The kids were disappointed that the cloggers weren't performing today, but their eagle eyes spotted a face painter.

Can't you almost smell this basil? We were headed out for another adventure we couldn't get many vegetables. It was so hard to walk by such amazingly fresh produce. I was planning menus in my head as I walked by all the beautiful vegetables.

The kids were thrilled that Nina found some $1 bouquets and that the bouquets withstood 4 hours in the hot car before they were transferred to fresh water. It was hard to send Nick home today, but the kids were happy that he gave them a virtual tour of the house & confirmation that the dog was happy to be home. It's been a great first week and tomorrow is sure to be another jam packed adventure.