Tuesday, December 23, 2014

Pokagon, the zoo, and some Christmas festivities

With all the activities we have planned this December, we were able to get away from the hustle and bustle for a few days.  We traveled up to Pokagon State Park to take advantage of their buy 1 get 1 free hotel stay.


The weather was the nicest it's ever been, so we went on a short trail to visit a little iced-over pond. The kids had so much fun throwing in chunks of ice and watching it smash over the pond.


Since the toboggan is only open on the weekends, we had to go do that right away. Evangeline didn't particularly like it so she only went twice.


Selah went for her first time but decided she didn't like it before it even began! She screamed at the top but then seemed fine at the bottom. However, she had enough of the toboggan after one time.



Ari and daddy went over and over again, while me and Jim drove the van up and down the hill so they didn't have to carry the toboggan as far. The girls seemed happy just watching them come down.


This was as close to getting on the toboggan as I was going to get, at least this time around!


The pool was a big hit. The big kids kept jumping in over and over then took turns pushing Selah around.



After a while though they would all be cold so we headed to the hot tub to warm up for a few minutes.


Enjoying a special popcorn snack before bed. The last time we did this we were staying in Brown County and had the TV on. So this time Ari said "Yes! Now let's eat popcorn and watch commercials!"


The kids ventured out with papa and daddy while me and Selah took a nice nap.




Another favorite at Pokagon is enjoying some Hungry Howie pizza. Yes, I know we can get it back home, but for some reason the only time we get it is here.


Since we pretty much had the run of the place, we were able to eat at this table just down the hall.


Then every time we walked by it Selah would exclaim "Pizza! Pizza!"


We happened to be walking by this fish tank at just the right time. DNR was about to put minnows in to feed the fish. It was neat to see the fish just swallow them all hole.


We ventured up to Shipshewana and the kids rode the famous handcrafted carousel.


We also walked around to many shops since the weather wasn't too bad.


Then we stopped in the Blue Gate Restaurant for some delicious dinner.


It ended up raining our last day so we weren't able to go on any more trails. But the kids didn't mind going one last time to the pool.


By the time we got back to Indy, the weather had gotten much colder. We hadn't yet gone to our annual trip to Christmas at the Zoo so we decided to just get bundled up and brave the cold.


Someone left this extra stroller so the big kids were thrilled to be able to ride around and not have to walk. And we were thrilled to not have to carry anyone who was too cold to walk :)


We usually don't get many chances to actually pet the sharks since they don't come up close enough to the top of the water, but this particular night Ari counted petting one six times. He was thrilled!


Grandma was able to join us in the freezing cold adventure to the zoo. 


My niece's birthday is Christmas Eve so we usually celebrate it the weekend before. My kids had been counting down the days until her party. It's hard to believe my niece is 5 years old already!


The kids also enjoyed a little Christmas party at church. There were crafts, a snack, and singing.


And lastly the kids sang a few songs at church. They did great!


As you can see Ari gets a little shy on stage.


Evangeline, on the other hand, just soaks it all in!


Whew! And that was our busy week in about 30 pictures. When January gets here we aren't going to know what to do with ourselves!

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