Much to our delight, it turned out to be a BIG county park with a lot of space around it so that you felt as if you were in the middle of nowhere. Not to mention the fact that the weather kept a lot of people away so we pretty much had our section of the campground to ourselves.
When it wasn't raining, we took advantage of some outdoorsy type activities. We tried geo-caching for the first time. It was pretty cool, but they never told us that the boxes we were looking for at each sight wouldn't always be boxes. My team only found one because it was actually a box. The other ones were small pill bottles and other such things.
One day was so cold and rainy that we (okay, read "I") just couldn't stand the thought of being outside so I talked my hubby into going to the Mall of America. After all, I said, everyone says we just HAVE to see it. Neither one of us are really shoppers, but we went for three things: the amusement park, the Lego store and the American Girl store.
We had a great time at the amusement park because our kids have never been on rides like that so we got Mr 10 yo to go on the roller coaster and Ms 8 yo, Mr 10 yo and Ms 12 yo to go on the log ride. Then my husband and son went on this climbing thing that is way up above the floor. I was so proud of my son that he went up that high. I know I wouldn't do it!!!!!
As the weather improved, we also did an archery trail and some biking along one of the many rivers/lakes in Minnesota.
It is a blessing to be able to escape for a week into God's creation and just enjoy the outdoors and beautiful scenery that He has created. I know this sounds kind of funny seeing as the only pictures I've put up are of a huge man-made building, but I think you know what I mean :) It is nice to see your children push themselves to try things they've never tried before - and to see the pride on their faces when they've done it and enjoyed it!
During this time, our older girls also had the joy of participating in the Fairy Tale Novels Get Together hosted in a town not far from the Twin Cities. If you've never read the Fairy Tale Novels written by Regina Doman, I would highly recommend them. We love them, and getting to spend the weekend with Regina, her husband Andrew and other devoted "fans" is a definite highlight of the year for the girls.
On Thursday, we went to the premiere of the movie directed by one of the fans of "The Shadow of the Bear". For a no-budget film, it was very good. What we saw wasn't the final version, but I was impressed by the quality of the movie and definitely by the actors themselves. Rose and Bear were my favorites, but everyone did a great job! The movie was very faithful to the book (which I always love) and with a little bit more work, the DVD should be great to watch over and over again. What fun to be part of a movie premiere!
As always happens at the end of a vacation, we headed home with great memories and a heavy heart. It's back to reality; back to all of the cares and concerns of the every-day world. I think I need some kind of decompression chamber to transition me from vacation mode to reality mode. Maybe our adoration hour this evening will help!
