Happy Fall!
The first day of fall fell smack-dab in the middle of our camping trip to southern Indiana.
And what a beautiful weekend it was!
Our last camping trip was in mid-July with soaring temperatures and lots of Nashville rain.
This trip?
The perfect mixture of sunshine and cool temperatures.
Our days were packed full, so I'm going to go day by day.
We arrived on Thursday, but I didn't get any pictures.
By the time we unpacked and got our campsite all set up, it was time for Nachos and then bed.
Friday morning was glorious!
Josh loves getting up early when we're camping so that he can get a head start on riding his bike
and scooter around the block.
Charlie has become a real camping dog.
Last year I wondered if we would ever be able to take her camping without worrying about the barking and growling and pulling with all her might at the leash...but this year, she is a totally different dog.
Wake up everyone!
Let's get the day started!
I have to be really sneaky to get a good shot of Matthew.
Those faces!
Pop Tart pre-breakfast...
And the traditional Cocoa Pebbles camping breakfast.
Carrie got her ukulele before we left home.
She was excited to be able to spend some time learning something new.
School on the road!
I love homeschooling!
On Friday, we went across the road from the state park where we were camping and visited
Lincoln Boyhood National Memorial.
I love this place!
I remember visiting here as a kid.
We got out of the car in front of the memorial building and looked at the stick-on thermometer on the passenger side rear view mirror. I don't remember how hot it registered, but I do remember that it was hot. The air-conditioning in the building was very welcome!
The end of a "Science Fight."
Right, Josh?
The white snakeroot, the cause of Nancy Hanks Lincoln's death, grows very thickly in the woods around her grave and the farm where her family lived.
To the farm we go!
Would you quit playing around on the train tracks!
See?
See!
Time to move on...
"Hello! Don't I know you?!"
Well...I don't think so.
But we'll play along.
A bare stick.
Not a bear stick.
Hello again.
A school group had just left, so we got the undivided attention of this pioneer man.
We were quizzed and questioned
and put through the wringer.
It's not my favorite way of learning history
(I have this fear of clowns, costumes,
and character actors),
but it worked.
We learned quite a bit.
Trying out the one-legged milking stool.
I can proudly say that those of us who tried the stool
did not fall.
This is the Lincoln Cabin Site Memorial.
It is the traditional site of one of the Lincoln cabins.
It consists of a bronze casting of cabin sill logs and fireplace, surrounded by a stone retaining wall.
Pretty cool.
Where there are kids...and a hill...
We also saw the short film about
Abraham Lincoln's time in Indiana.
President Lincoln and William have something in common...size 14 shoes.
50 years!
The Lincoln Boyhood National Memorial just celebrated its birthday this year.
The Little Pigeon Primitive Baptist Church and the gravesite of President Lincoln's sister, Sarah Lincoln Grigsby and her infant.
This is located inside Lincoln State Park.
After a day of history, we drove into nearby Santa Claus to see Holiday World!
It was pretty exciting to see the roller coasters
from the outside!
It has been six years since we've been here.
Josh was just a little guy...
and Matthew has never been here.
And this picture back at our campsite was
too good to pass by.
It just seemed to perfectly finish off
our day of Abraham Lincoln.
Josh was so amazed by the fact that Abraham Lincoln was only 7 when he entered Indiana with his family...
the same age that he is now.
And to think that he used an ax to help his father cut a 16 mile road to their farmland...
and then more chopping to build a cabin.
It all hit pretty close to home for this 7-year old.
Hot dogs over the fire, a game of euchre with the big kids, and then off to bed. We'd need plenty of sleep for the next day...Holiday World, here we come!
Much love,
