Summer Re-Cap -- Up North

Now that we are well into September I wonder where our summer has gone. And since this is supposed to be a journal of sorts I am going to try and document our summer fun even if only for my sake. Thankfully even though I see hints of red on the leaves out my window it still feels like a warm summer day.

I am going to go back to our first excursion this summer which was right after the fourth of July. We took a long weekend and went up north and stayed with John's parents.

We spent much of the time hanging out on the beach bringing back great memories of exploring the lake and going out in the pontoon when George was little with him towing his toy boat behind on a fishing line. Such a relaxing place.

Being the first weekend after the fourth we took in the festivities at an area bible college for their Freedom Celebration. They have a carnival for kids and bluegrass bands playing and it is a lot of fun. Unfortunately, the night was cut short and we missed the guest speaker and fireworks as major storms came through. The sky looked quite ominous causing our boy who is afraid of storms to throw up continually on our walk to shelter despite our best efforts to calm him. We made a run for it and left right as the rain began and watched as they lit the fireworks in a heavy downpour.

But we did enjoy one of the best fireworks shows we have ever seen the following evening and were pleasantly surprised that this small town could have such an amazing display!

We also had a fun time taking a ride on a steam train. Wow, I actually made it into the photo!



The kids enjoyed taking turns sitting up on the top seats of the caboose, a coveted seat for sure.

 



The train rode out to an old lumber camp and we visited the museum, petting zoo and enjoyed ice cream cones.



On our way home we stopped at a fun amusement park where rides are only .25! Such a deal, especially for our family. My favorite ride is always the Tilt-A-Whirl.



New this year is an old roller coaster that was a favorite of Elvis. It was the boys first time riding one and let me say that they were not prepared for that at all!


I had my zoom lens on the camera and took a picture as they went up smiling...



but on the first drop when I zoomed in on the photo I felt so bad as their faces were all pure terror. (I don't think they want me to share that picture!) They had no idea what to expect. John said riding an old wooden coaster first was not the best idea. They did ride it again however and got used it quickly.

Ah, fun family time. Pure joy!