Roughing It!

Well, here is a recap from our wonderful family vacation to Big Foot Beach State Park in Lake Geneva, WI. It was great!

Friday....John, Nancy, Dave, the kids, the dogs, and I all headed out of town about 11 am after filling the kids bellies at McDonald's. It was a 4 1/2 hour drive so we wanted to start it out on a good note. The drive went really well, given the fact that Ava doesn't always ride well. She was a perfect angel and really didn't get upset at all. We made our first stop at the Dells to have lunch at the Cracker Barrel. It was perfect timing we were all hungry and so was Ava. After filling our bellies again, we were off for the last leg of our road trip. We didn't have very far to go...or at least that is what we thought. I should have known the trip would not be complete unless I managed to get lost. Every year I make this trip, no matter who it is with, I manage to get lost. This time I thought I was prepared and had all the directions I needed, but they don't help much when you run into road construction and have a bad address for the final destination. We ended up running into a detour that through us a little off track. Then once we managed to arrive in Lake Geneva, my directions for the State Park led us no where close to where we needed to go. It was quite the adventure. We drove in circles until we finally asked for directions, but even after asking for directions we managed to get lost once again, by the time we arrived we were so happy we finally made it. After talking to the lady at the check in, I felt much better because apparently everyone has a hard time finding the park. The address they have posted is the business office address...nice huh?? Anyway, we made it safe and sound and everyone was happy...that was until we arrived at our campsite only to find out I reserved a site with no running water or electricity. WHAT?!?!? Seriously, what was I thinking??






































At first that is exactly what I was thinking, but honestly it wasn't that bad. We all survived...the bathroom, or should I say hole in the ground with a toilet seat, was really close to our campsite, and it didn't smell that bad until you were in it. The showers, that only sprayed water if you were holding in a button, were very close to our campsite as well. The only bad part about not having electricity was the fact that I didn't have a hair dryer or hair straightener. Thankfully Dave didn't care that I looked like a drown rat for the concert.



So Friday after arriving we set up camp, my Dad arrived not too long after we did. He decided last minute to drive over and spend the night with us too. We ate my infamous "sandwich for a crowd" for supper and roasted smores over the fire before calling it an early night. Our first night sleeping in the tent was not so bad. I was a bit nervous wondering how it would go with Ava, but she was a trooper. Seriously, this girl LOVES the outdoors. I think she would be happy camping every night. Sleeping on an air mattress in a tent didn't phase her at all. She loved it....and so did the other two. Allicia slept most of the night on the hard ground or halfway hanging off of the air mattress. She's a wild woman when she sleeps.















Saturday we woke up fairly early, ate a nice breakfast, and then headed out to try our hand at GeoCacheing. It is our new hobby as a family. We had several caches that we were trying to find. Unfortunately, we weren't as successful as we were hoping to be. The first one consisted of 2 hides. We found the first one, which listed the quadrants for the second find, but we had no luck with the second one. There were trees down where it was supposed to be and it looked as if the land had been washed away.


The second cache we found, but unfortunately couldn't solve the puzzle telling us the code to open the padlock. That was kind-of a bummer, but we really enjoyed looking for them anyway. We're looking forward to a free weekend when we're around home so we can do some searching for caches around Rochester.

After our hike we headed back to camp. Dave and I got ready for the concert and Nancy and John started lunch. Dave and I headed out for the concert around 2:00 pm. The concert didn't start until 7:00 pm, but every year we end up sitting on the road waiting to get into the parking lot. I was hoping to avoid that this year. Unfortunately, we didn't manage to avoid it, but the wait wasn't as long as it has been in previous years. Upon arriving we settled in and took a nap in the back of the van, while everyone around us drank themselves silly. I unfortunately had a really bad headache, so I wasn't so much fun. My headache finally went away just before it was time to head into the concert. Thankfully! So around 6:15 pm Dave and I headed into the concert. It was an awesome concert...even Dave really enjoyed it. I hope he will agree to go with me again next year.















Sunday we slept in, John and Nancy went to church, and by the time they were back we had already started packing up to go home. We were all ready to head into Lake Geneva to see the town and have some lunch.




After eating at Popeye's we stopped at a candy store to have an ice cream cone before piling in the van for the long drive home. Thankfully the ride home went a lot smoother than the drive there. Ava held out until we got close to home. She was a little more restless than on the drive there, but still really good compared to how she usually is. And exceptionally good given the fact she started cutting her first tooth while we were there. I still can't believe how happy she was even while cutting a tooth. She is such a good little baby.