Shawnee National Forest Trip

Shawnee National Forest

We took a couple days last week to head to southern Illinois to the Shawnee National Forest.  Catching this deer beside the road having an appetizer was one of my favorite moments!

We started our first day with a quick hike through Giant City State Park. The rock structures were amazing to walk through.

And then we were off for a trail ride!  It was hot, but still a fun time.

A is our horse lover, so she was especially happy to ride her horse ~Fred.

Our Tuesday began with sleeping in.....hey...we're on vacation!  Then we took another hike to a place called the Little Grand Canyon.  Obviously by the name, we had to hide a long ways down into a canyon.  That wasn't so bad, but the climb back up....wow...feel the burn!

It was time for a swim after that long hike.  We found this beautiful little Cedar Lake with a beach.

We finished the day off with a hike down to see a natural bridge.  I always worry when we take off on these hikes that you aren't going to see what was described, but this was well worth the walk through the bugs!  Extraordinary rock formations.

We had a great time exploring, but my girls were not happy that they had no internet or cell service for 3 days! Now THAT is roughing it!

A Spur-of-the-Moment Road Trip!

I missed posting the end of last week when an emergency came up for my friend Kelly.  I had to drop everything to help her out!  Her son was in Oklahoma playing in the Junior College World Series 10 hours away from us.  Her husband was coaching a high school baseball team in our state tournament.  She couldn't be both places at once, her husband couldn't leave, she had 2 dogs to worry about, and stress was climbing by the minute!!

Our family stepped in and decided to drive her half way to Oklahoma where her nephew could pick her up and get her to her son's game.  So we all piled in our van Thursday morning at 5:30 am and headed toward Oklahoma!  At 11:00 am we pulled into a Walmart and dropped her off to finish her journey to Oklahoma!

We took advantage of our little road trip and stopped in Missouri at the Meremac Springs State Park.  It was a beautiful little place where a mining settlement used to be.  We wandered through their peaceful park and had a picnic lunch.

I think this little building is a pump house, but it just reminded me so much of a fairy tale!

This cute little deer was just laying in the grass enjoying some grass....

I absolutely loved the lush and green moss on the rocks!

We then headed into St Louis where we hit the Arch, the Butterfly House, and the Zoo.

It was a whirlwind trip, but as always, we made the most of it and had a great time with our family.

Here are a few more photos from our trip:

 At the top of the Arch.

 Silly girls!

 Looking down from the Arch!

 An orangutan having fun playing peek-a-boo!

My favorites, the giraffes!

We're Going to Disney World!!

 
We are so excited that our family is going to Disney World in Florida for the very first time over Spring Break!  Our girls are absolutely giddy with excitement!  They've been pouring over some Disney books we recently purchased at the library book sale (that's why I love 'em).  They've put hundreds of sticky notes on pages of things they want to see.  We'll be there for 4 days, but by the way they are planning, you'd think we were planning on a month!

We'll be staying at the Pop Century Resort, which some friends have stayed at numerous times and tell us it is just wonderful.  We're pretty simple people, so the Value Resorts fit us just fine.  Who cares really....I mean you aren't there to stay in the hotel all day, right?  All I need is a comfortable bed!!

I'm sure hoping that our girls, ages 9 and 10, won't think they are too old to visit the Disney Princess's.  They are just lovely!

I must tell you that I am completely overwhelmed by the scope of everything there is to see and do.  Thankfully for this first trip we are working with a Disney travel agent who can help us "newbies" not to miss anything fantastic!

Has your family been to Disney?  What was your favorite thing not to be missed?