A Mini Vacation

Since we're probably not going to go on a "real" vacation this year, we decided to take full advantage of our camper and take a few little trips throughout the summer and until I get to be too uncomfortable (just about there!). This weekend, we packed up and made the hour and a half drive to Patoka Lake, which was a new place for us. We had heard good things about it, but didn't really know what to expect.

Let me just say that it didn't feel like we were in Indiana, as Patoka Lake is the second largest reservoir in Indiana and it just seems unreal to have a lake this big practically in our back yard. I spent many summers in Minnesota (land of 10,000 lakes) and I have seen my fair share of enormous lakes, and this one ranks right up there! The whole park, although we didn't want to use up all our gas to see it all, is absolutely wonderful...filled with lots of picnic areas and a huge campground. We chose a campsite very close to the bathrooms/showers and it was very nice and private since there weren't that many other campers around.

Although the weather was a little too hot for big-bellied me, we enjoyed being outside and tried to take in all God's glorious creation without sweating too much. I must admit that we ended up turning the AC on in the camper a little during the day and when I got too hot, I ventured inside for a bit.

Addie had a blast and had a few firsts on this trip. She tried her first roasted "marmallow" on Friday night and the silly girl didn't like it (darn, one more for me!). We also made it down to the swimming beach on Saturday afternoon and although Chris and I didn't bring our swimsuits, we waded around with her in the cool water. She loved the beach and especially enjoyed watching all the other people swimming. There were lots of things to do and lots of different playgrounds to seek out and I think we played on all of them by the end of our trip. She even mastered going down some of the slides by herself (over and over and over again).

After waking up several times during the night with leg cramps and feeling like I had just won the Olympic Marathon, I woke up Sunday morning longing for a hike in the woods. We had been to the Visitor's Center the day before and knew of a short trail that shouldn't take us too long, in fact the trail guide said it took 30-45 minutes to complete. I was pretty proud of us for making it in 31 minutes, even with several stops along the way and going a lot slower than our usual hikes. Of course we're talking about a 7 month pregnant and out of shape me and Chris with 25 extra pounds of Addie on his back...we did good! Addie enjoyed looking at all the different things in nature, especially the fungus which she said over and over. We ended our "vacation" with a picnic lunch by the water, where it was a bit cooler and more shady than our campsite at this time of day. We will definitely make it back to Patoka Lake in the future! Enjoy the slideshow and video clip!