Jelly Stone Park

My dear friend Kammy loves to camp and so generously asked us to come join them in their camper at Jelly Stone Park in Austin, Minnesota one weekend in August.  I first said no -- it was the first weekend after Isaiah's school started, the weekend before Levi started preschool, and Mark could not get away from his store...Do I dare take 3 little boys on a 2 hour car drive by myself to sleep in a strange camper, all while we've got to be on our best behavior in front of company for 2 full days????  Well, with encouragement from my husband and from Kammy - we got up early on Saturday morning and hit the rode.  The boys were SOOOOOO excited and I must admit it was nice to be going on a little "get-a-way" trip.  We made the drive with just a few wrong turns (which I blame on road construction, but really is probably just because I'm not so good with directions!) and surprised Kammy when we called her about 9:30 to say that we were already there!  The boys were AMAZED when they saw the big sign for the campground and all the activities going on around.  We made it to their campground, ditched the van and headed out for fun right away!  First stop - the train rides...

There was a barrel train and then a wooden train that the boys each took a turn on.  They seemed to have fun on them, but didn't want to ride them again...I think there was just too much exciting to see so we made our next stop on the jumpy pillow.  Titus is such an easy going little guy that he was content as could be just hanging out watching all the action.  I did let him down to watch and he thought he was hot stuff! :)

As soon as the pool was opened the boys were more than ready to get in! On my mental list of things to bring, I did so good, but did forget one major thing - the life jacket!  My boys are so fearless that a life jacket in water they cannot touch is mandatory!  Luckily Kammy was able to fill in my void and had jackets that worked for the boys - Isaiah had no clue how, ahem, cute he looked in his little shark outfit.  :)

It wasn't a really hot day and being in a crowded pool with a little baby wasn't exactly my idea relaxing so after a little bit, the baby and I got out to relax and watch.  He even took a good nap in the stroller.   When the boys were ready for a break, we had a snack and they got back in, we went miniature golfing, and they got back in, they watched some Yogi Bear cartoons, then they got back in...and so on all day long!  The weather was a bit crummy and it did sprinkle here and there all day long, but the boys didn't even seem to notice!

It just so happened to be Halloween weekend at the camp ground so that night they had a costume contest and then trick-or-treating all around the camp.  They even had a decoration contest for the best decorated camper and golf cart.  There were some pretty spooky and crazily decorated campers and carts!  As expected, Levi got tired of trick-or-treating pretty quickly, but Isaiah wanted to keep going so the baby, Isaiah and I kept going and Kammy and Levi handed out candy together.  

 There was a haunted house set up that the kids insisted that they wanted to go through, so we let them, it really was pretty scarey and we rushed through it as fast as we could just to get out! :)   Luckily we weren't the poor group with screaming, crying little kids when they got out!  I think a warning meant for kids 8+ or something might have been a good idea!

Although the weather was still pretty yucky - wet and drizzling - we decided to have a campfire after the Halloween activities were over.  The boys had already had plenty of candy, but we figured, what's a little more sugar and made smores!  Kammy had some campfire stores prepared for us and the boys were AMAZED with her stories.  They still talk about the Vinder Viper and The Bloody Finger.  

Bedtime was the part of the trip I was most worried about, my boys know our bedtime routine (which hasn't changed in like 5 years!) and do a good job (most nights) about finishing the routine and going to bed.  Only on the rare occasion have we veered from this routine, but they did do a good job at the camper all things considered.  Kammy had it set up that they would sleep together in one full sized bed, but after lots of tossing and turning, it was clear this wasn't going to work out.  They ended up moving Austin in with Kammy and Steve, the boys each to their own bed and Titus and I in the other bedroom on a mattress on the floor.  The next morning the boys were all excited to still be camping and ready for more activities!  Before the pool opened, we went off to play at some of the playgrounds and other fun stuff to look at. 

But as soon as the pool opened, that's where they wanted to be!  Just as we were getting to the pool, Yogi Bear showed up.  Levi was thrilled!  Another neat thing about the campground was they had all kinds of different bikes that you could check out for 30 minutes to ride around the campsite.  The boys couldn't wait to try them, so we signed up to ride 2 of the small front peddling bikes.  The boys did awesome on them and it didn't take long for them to get the hang of it.  We spent a few more hours swimming before it was time to get cleaned up to go.  The boys were devastated that we had to leave already, but we had school the next day and a big drive ahead of us! 

We finally packed our stuff up, thanked the Nemmer's family and said our goodbyes.  The boys were in tears as we headed to the van to get home...but had me talked into another round of miniature golf before we left the campground :).  The ride home was uneventful and I was so glad that we went.  We all decided we are definitely going back next year -- and bringing daddy!!