A Weekend Getaway

We took a trip to a state park with Chris's family this weekend. We have been here three times now, so it is becoming an annual fall tradition. There is a lake where we can fish, trails to hike, playgrounds, a lodge, and more... I see it as a weekend to just relax around the cabin! It's nice to have a place where Caroline can get out and enjoy the fresh air with her extended family. And the cool fall weather made sitting around in the cabin - talking and eating and sipping hot chocolate - just perfect! Cecilia and her cousin, who is just a few months older than her, enjoyed playing around on the floor.

There was no shortage of people to read to Caroline! She had plenty of people with whom to interact and talk (her favorite activity!!).

This next photo is really funny:Yes, those are donkeys in the wastewater treatment area. There were also some goats and three emus behind the fence. I am going to send this photo to Neal Boortz for his Redneck Scrapbook with the title "Redneck Zoo." I did ask the lady behind the front desk in the lodge about it... she said the animals are to "keep the grass down." So, they are actually redneck lawnmowers... The woman said that it was hard to maneuver the mowers around the pond. Chris's guess is that somebody fell in while mowing, so they remedied the problem by replacing the mowers with random animals.

Caroline really enjoyed the playgrounds. There was one near our cabin, and this better one outside the lodge. It had this merry go round thing, swings, a broken seesaw, and a climbing structure - old-fashioned jungle gym style.

There was also a good old metal slide - wheeeee!!

Here's Cecilia with her buddy - a dead stuffed wildcat in the lodge. She squealed and kicked her legs at it every time she saw it. There was also a fox and another bobcat-type animal that she enjoyed seeing. I think she thought they were alive - she usually only reserves that squeal for my parents' cats and a baby doll of Caroline's that has pretty realistic eyes!

And here's a view out of the bac of the lodge, taken from the top deck. Such a gorgeous view!! The lodge had been recently renovated, and it was quite nice inside and out. I kept thinking how nice it would be to come back when Chris and I are old and our kids are grown up, and just spend a few days hanging out here in the fall beauty, sitting by the fire in the lodge fireplace...