We had talked about making a trip to Montana this summer, but by mid-June we realized it was never going to happen. We were short on both finances and free time. In lieu of that major roadtrip, Nathaniel and I decided to take a mini-vacation up the road to Mahoney State Park. He'd been years ago, but I'd only ever seen the giant flag and observation tower from the interstate. I got online and reserved a room in the lodge for two nights mid-week, and then basically didn't give it another thought till I started packing the day before.
I booked a lodge room rather than a cabin because it cost a little less, and I liked the idea of eating in the restaurant rather than having to cook. As the time neared, though, I got back on a healthy eating kick and so, after double checking that the room would have a fridge and microwave, I actually packed up food for most of our meals, and sort of wished I'd given us the extra space of a cabin and a better kitchen. Our room was great, though. There was a loft bedroom upstairs with two queen beds, so the kids all slept there. Nathaniel and I had a queen sleeper sofa on the main level.
But first! In case you missed it on instagram, just minutes before we were planning to leave, while Nathaniel was gathering fishing gear and I was prepping some pb&js for a quick lunch, I heard a tremendous crashing, sliding sound which turned out to be a huge limb falling from our backyard tree onto the addition.
It was crazy town. We didn't discover the full extent of the damage till the following week, when we noticed the ceiling in our bedroom was cracked. The contractor climbed into the attic then and found that two of the joists that go to the peak of the roof over our bedroom were completely cracked through by the impact of the limb. They have to re-roof one whole side of the addition, replace siding, repair the fence and replace the broken interior woodwork, then patch and repaint our ceiling. Thank God for homeowners' insurance!
Five hours later than expected, after meeting with the insurance's contractor and waiting for some tree limb removal guys to show, we were on the road for our vacation. One more reason I was glad I'd packed food -we suddenly had significantly less expendable income to blow at a restaurant!
Since we arrived late on Wednesday, we had a quick dinner and then headed out to play some mini-golf. Our timing was perfect. We rented our gear just as they were closing the rental shack, so most of the other golfers wrapped up shortly after and we had the course to ourselves. The kids all golfed different holes and went back to re-golf favorites and just generally ran around the joint like a bunch of crazies. They had a blast!
Nathaniel and the older girls spent as much time catching frogs in this little mossy pond as they did golfing. Once we finished the course, they played there while the younger crew ran around the twisting sidewalks and the bumpy golf greens.
The view from our balcony the next morning was lovely and hazy, and the air was cool.
After a breakfast of zucchini bread I'd baked the day prior, we headed out to climb the observation tower, hike a trail, and play at the largest of a couple playgrounds.
Rachel insisted on walking up every step of the tower herself. My legs were tired; I can't imagine how her little legs managed it.
Looking out over the Platte River.
Ruth can never resist a good climbing tree. Just like her dad.
Peter spent the majority of the time we were at the park working on this hole.
Nathaniel spun the tiny merry-go-round horses faster than they're used to, I'm sure. He actually ejected Rachel off her horse on an earlier go. Oops.
After lunch back at the lodge, we headed to the water park. The weather was cloudy and cool, but that worked in our favor, as the park was not at all crowded. I'd heard stories of it being packed. I'm sure it helped that it was a Thursday. We drove by on Friday afternoon, when the sun was bright and hot, and it was insane, with cars overflowing the parking and lines for everything.
We only stayed a couple hours in the afternoon, then went back to the lodge for naptime. Once rested, we grilled hot dogs and smores at a picnic site before returning to the water park for another hour.
I mostly hung out near Rachel while Nathaniel conquered the wave pool and water slides with the older kids. Peter was just tall enough to go on the slides. There were no lines at all while we were there, so they just went over and over, till the wave pool buzzer would sound, when they'd come running to get in on that action. They had a blast.
Friday morning, Nathaniel took the older four fishing while Rachel and I got the lodge room tidied and packed so we could check out. Once the work was done, we went on a walk around the grounds. Our room is the one with towels drying on the balcony.
When the fishermen returned, we wrapped up our visit with paddle boats, a picnic lunch and ice cream at the marina.
They CAN get along when they try! Neither pushed the other out of the boat or anything!
My boat full of cuties.
When we got home, the first thing we all wanted to see was the backyard, with the tree limb removed. I had Nathaniel ask the tree guys to leave me some good sized logs so I can set up a natural play area in the backyard similar to one at our Children's Zoo and they obliged.
So ended our mini-vacation. It was a good time, despite the tree drama. I really didn't realize what a fun state park we have only about half an hour away! There are several activities we didn't have time to take advantage of - horseback rides, pottery painting, an evening outdoor theater, and more hiking. There are also two other state parks right around the same area that we hope to check out soon, too. It's good to explore your local attractions!
1 comment:
Yay!
I like Meg's cowboy boots. :)
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