A week before our trip, the website posts the activity schedule online, so we check daily to see how many rounds of candy bar bingo antes we should bring, and if we need to bring anything special. This year, since we went during red, white and Bingo week, they had a campsite decorating event!
One afternoon, while Alice was driving, I went in search of red, white and blue. Since it was the week before the fourth of July, pickins were slim!
Emily was home, and was able to check to see if we had blue crepe streamers. We did!! So I bought the red and white.
I went to two dollar trees in search of blue paper pom poms, but no luck. I did see these super fun accessories, but I am trying so hard to not spend money on single use items that add trash into the world. I loved the USA letters though, so concocted a plan to make our own. More on that later. I did give in and bought the banner and streamers, but passed on the fans and letters.
Juliet colored a red, white, and blue picture to gift to the bears while we were there. It ended up looking a little more French than American, but was cute nonetheless.
Finally, the day arrived for us to pack up and go!!! We can't check in before 4, so it's usually a busy but not hectic morning. I made sandwiches for everyone. As we were packing the car, one of Billy's sandals broke!!! Seems to happen consistently, someone loses a sandal every summer right around camping time! Once we arrived, everyone started unloading the car, while I put things away. Some things have a system, but some things we have to find places for. Since this was year three, we had places for quite a bit, but I had to remember where it was!
I heard the kids playing hangman once the car was emptied, and thought it strange, until I finished and walked over to see that some of the yard sale napkins we brought had hangman designs!
I think the kids went to an event over at the game field, but once they came back, were ready for the first trip to the pool!
The pool is the only thing that they cannot do without me, since there is no lifeguard on duty. I make it a point to take them once each day we are there, with the exception of the day we leave because it's hectic trying to pack up, and I don't want to deal with sopping wet swimsuits and towels in the car. But I digress.
We arrived on a Saturday (very unusual for us mid-weekers) and the pool was packed!!
There wasn't much time between the end of the 30 minutes at the pool and the first ride of our visit. Alice left first, and was the very first person in line for the rides!
William was next out the door, and was a dozen or so people behind Alice.
The rest of us walked over together, Juliet bringing along her coloring page, and we were a group or two behind William. The sun was too much for Billy, and since the ride wasn't covered, he went to order the pizzas for dinner.
Luckily, we all ended up on the ride together, so we all played 'bingo' together, but it was a weird version and not at all what we expected. Also, I don't think there were any prizes.
High fiving Boo-boo on the way out!
After the ride, there was a little time before the first round of Candy Bar Bingo started, so the kids spent some time at the jumping pillow.
At 8pm, we brought our candy ante to do my favorite Jellystone activity: Bingo!!!!
Each of us gets 4 candy bars from a pack of 30, and the kids can choose ante them or keep them!
Everyone won a small pot, except for me and Juliet. = (
Alice* won twice, with her single card!
No one lasted the whole movie, so poor Billy didn't get to finish it!
One more picture on our walk back to our cabin:
And, after lunch, they hopped back in for the pool game, but that was shorter lived. Alice was one of the two heavys! Somehow one of the teams ended up with both her and the other tall/strong girl, so naturally, that team won.
*Alice did wear her dino mask the first day and a half of our trip, thankfully it tapered off a bit after that. It made her happy, and didn't hurt anyone, so I let it go. I was just pleased that she joined in every free event that they offered!
The next morning Alice lead a group to do chalk or jump rope or plant watering at the ranger station, but once they all returned, I offered to take them to the pool. It was so cold out I was in jeans and a hoodie, in the sun; and I was not the only one! We only hit a high of 68F this day. The kids said the water was warm though.
Alice was the only one to go over to play whiffle ball, and her dino mask went with her, but I was proud of her for joining in!
Last year we did a donut surprise, but I didn't sleep well, worrying about oversleeping the donut delivery, so this year we did an afternoon cookie surprise. The kids were really happy!**
The character & her handler were super patient, and posed with each child individually!
Group shot! This is the one that I submitted for the calendar.
The next event was the grain train, they all still fit in one cart! Billy and I passed on the ride.
The next morning, they had a cafe special on an affogato. Our local ice cream store offers them, but I try to go there sparingly, lest I develop a habit of going for ice cream coffee. They are literally on my way home from dropping off the twins each morning, so I don't need the temptation. = 0
I have been wanting to try it out though, so I ordered the chocolate variety. I rather enjoyed it, but not enough to get one each morning, thank goodness!
Snack Bingo was about to start as we made our way back from getting our ice cream coffees. Turns out my children anted the chips that I like, instead of the flaming hot cheetos (that we had 50 bags of, and I won't touch!!! punks. lol)
I think Juliet and I were the only two losers, again!
Emily decided to join William in renting a bike this year. They have options that allow for passengers, which is the type Emily almost always chose.
My poor burnt babies! We did go to the pool on this day, but it was a very short visit!
I had written myself a note to put the chairs under the canopy each night, due to bird poop! = 0 The canopy frame also became our towel drying and tie dying dripping rack.
Craft time products!
I always find myself reviewing my blog before our trip the following year, for clues about what we used, and how we set things up the previous year!
My mom bought the bop it toy before our trip the year Leon came with us. It's still one of the favorites, since it's only used once a year, and only outside (on the porch!)
William was able to pedal me from our cabin all the way to the pool!
Alice, Grace and Juliet getting their glitter tattoos!
This chip was shaped like something special, but by the time I got my phone out for a picture it was already bitten. lol.
Grace was my big helper when it came to decorating for the contest. We left before voting, so it turns out we weren't eligible, but it was really fun to decorate!
Emily and Juliet helped me paint some USA letters, since I skipped out on the dollar tree banner. We used cardboard and paint that we had here, and decoupaged some Yogi characters onto the letters. It made me super happy, and glad I didn't buy the banner, since we just recycled the letters when we left.
Yogi's swing was unplanned, but we needed a weight to keep the blue tablecloth from floating up.
The banner I did purchase looked adorable! We kept it in place with magnet clips. = )
The only thing I didn't like was the streamers. They tangled and didn't look very good by the end. I wasn't able to pull them to use again. If I were to buy them again, I would hang them on the screen door.
Grace had been invited to a smore cookout at our neighbors the night we made our letters, but when she got home and saw the letters, of course she wanted to paint too! So, she picked Ranger Smith, since he was the only character not yet represented. She couldn't find a large picture of him, so she transformed a large drawing of George Jetson (from the same coloring book we used!) I thought she did a fantastic job. = )
Out of the birthday bin, the kids picked magnet sand and bubbles. They knew ahead of time that it wouldn't come home with us, but they had a good time with it the entire time we were there! It did have to stay out on the porch though, I didn't want it in the cabin, even camping.
Grace had the fence looking good with the streamers!
This park offers recycling, so we had our own recycling 'center' on the porch.
Juliet brought her lunchable, that had been in the fridge since before school ended, to eat while camping.
Tie Dye time! Alice was helping dye one of my old shirts, from a different park, that had faded. She opted for ceramics over tie dye.
Cooking smores!
Grace and Juliet won at the flashlight bingo later in the night. Sadly, we weren't able to get Grace's flashlight to work. = (
Emily also won, but being the sweetheart she is, gave her flashlight to a little girl who was really disappointed that she hadn't won. So, I had her pose with Grace's so that we could at least remember that she won!
Breakfast on our last full day!
We had to make the trek over to the statue, of course!
Daddy treated^ everyone to ice cream!
Alice wanted to show us a cool rock/cement pile that she found during her exploring. Juliet didn't want to come, so she headed back to the cabin with Daddy.
We found another photo op en route to the cabin!
Last ride of the trip!
We got to have a second round of candy bar bingo before leaving!
This time I won, but poor Juliet still didn't, so I let her call and collect my jackpot.
This event was a new one for us: a candy canon!
We did swim somewhere in there, but another short round. The four-hour stretch seemed to satisfy everyone's swim desire!
I have no pictures from the final day, though Alice (and assorted siblings) did go to the couple of events that they held before we left.
Next year Billy has designs to visit a different Jellystone on the other side of the state, so we'll see if I can make it happen! It was another fun year, I love Jellystone so much.
later days
**I had prompted them that we would not be doing the donuts again this year, and they were all very understanding, despite it being one of the most talked about memories from the previous year. So, finding this middle ground of cookies added a double layer of excitement. = )
^We use our regular system of giving everyone money to spend as they wish while we are there, and then a few group activities, like tie dye, that we discuss a head of time, that do not have to come out of their personal money. This ice cream treat was a bonus, not discussed ahead of time!
edit 7-20-24: backdated for continuity.
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