Okoboji

We just got home from a wonderful long weekend up at Lake Okoboji with Adam's family!  It was a nice little mini-vacay, and Jeremiah had tons of fun with his cousins.  BUT, before I get to that-- some things from the past couple weeks.

We did end up going to Ankeny's Summerfest last weekend, basically to check it out and see what all the hype was about.  And, we even caved and bought a few tickets so that Jeremiah could ride a few rides-- which he surprisingly went on all by himself!  He's not the most adventurous boy, so we were amazed when he just hopped right on, got strapped in, and was ready to go.  He loved this ride (though he wasn't thrilled when that little girl hopped in next to him):

He loved it so much, in fact, that we waited in line

and he rode it again!

Don't let the serious face and death-grip on the wheel fool you.  He loved it!  Those little vehicles just went in a circle, but Jeremiah was driving and turning that steering wheel like crazy!  He wanted to ride it a third time, but we forced him on the carousel instead.

We've also been enjoying our yummy, local sweet corn lately.  Y.U.M.  So good!  Jeremiah has just started actually biting the corn and eating some, instead of just licking it (again, not the most adventurous boy, and sweet corn was strange to him!).

On July 14, Adam and I celebrated our 5th wedding anniversary!  Where the heck have the past 5 years gone?!?!?!?  We were able to have a date night that night, and we went to P.F. Chang's (somewhere we do not frequent with the little guy!), walked around the pond and mall at Jordan Creek, and ended the evening with dessert at the Cheesecake Factory (I had strawberry shortcake)! :)

So, this past Thursday afternoon we headed up to Spirit Lake for a weekend at Lake Okoboji.  We arrived at our hotel and then went to look around at Arnold's Park and grab some dinner.

Entertaining a 2 year old in a hotel room is fun.

Yes, we brought toys.  The shower cap was apparently more fun.

Friday morning we went to a place called Ranch Okoboji, which, from their website, seemed like a fun place to go.  However the website made it look like a lot more fun that it actually was.  Thankfully, Jeremiah had not seen the website, so he did not have high expectations like we did. 

We paid $8 for J to have a "mining experience."  From their website: "Our newest attraction is Tyotee's Wild Mining Adventure, where kid's mine for rare gemstones, fossils and arrowheads. With lighted hard-hats, the kids bravely enter a dark mine to search for hidden gems.... and pan for gemstones in our sluice. The kids are sure to have an exciting adventure, while discovering an assortment of wonderful treasures. Imagine switching on your miner's headlamp…. then, searching through dark caves for rare gemstones, fossils and arrowheads. Look closely in the cracks and crevices, and you're likely to uncover exciting keepsakes."  In actuality, the 3 of us (J, with his lighted hard hat on) entered a small dark closet, where Adam shined another light on the wall and J looked on little shelves for "rare gemstones."  It was claustrophobic, and J said it smelled funny in there.

 Dorothy and Toto were there, too!

 Showing off his bucket of rocks!

 He did get to keep his rare gemstones, etc, so that was cool.  Also, with our $8 we got access to the outside play area, which made it more worthwhile.

For lunch we went back to Arnold's Park and hit up Bob's (that's the same Bob's as in LeMars, for you NW Iowa people) for some hotdogs.

We spent the rest of the weekend hanging out with Grandma and Grandpa Wissink, Uncle Kelly, Aunt Rachel, Kyan, and Kobe.  We spent time at their campground, which Jeremiah loved because that meant getting dirty, playing with trucks and tractors with his cousins, swimming in the kiddy pool, and going to the park (a park with a wooden train and truck!!!)!

Saturday morning (even though it was kind of cloudy and off-and-on drizzly), we spent a little while at a beach for swimming and playing in the sand!

 Lookin' at boats!

 Digging with Kobe.

 My husband, the floating head (in about 3 ft of water).

Fun in the water with Daddy and Kyan!

Saturday evening we once again went back to Arnold's Park so that we could all enjoy a Nutty Bar (apparently something they are known for up there-- vanilla ice cream dipped in chocolate and nuts.... it would have been a shame to be up there and not enjoy one!).

J with his ice cream, me with my very first Nutty Bar!  It's as good as it sounds, people.

 The 3 Musketeers!

It was sad having to leave this afternoon-- even Jeremiah said "I am SO sad!" as we were getting in the car.  But, we have had a taste of vacation, and we have another one coming up in 2 weeks!  Woohoo!  We won't talk about what comes AFTER that-- I am in denial about school starting up in less than month.  Boo.