Jellystone!!!

Our third vacation of the summer was at the start of August!  We made the relatively short drive to Indiana, and stayed at Barton Lake for the first time in years!

On night one, we settle in and have pizza for dinner!  We were a little nervous, because we were getting light rain, with forecasted rain for the remainder of our trip!!!

The kids got some kinetic sand from somewhere, but it is a contraband item for me, so it had to stay outside!  The kids enjoyed on the porch for the duration of our stay though!

We enjoyed checking out the new installations, one of which was a giant lite-brite!

Sticky hand battle!  You have to use a sticky hand to capture a quarter.  They divided the contestants by age, and then into small groups.  William and I both made it to the finals, but neither of us were victorious. = (

During a break in the rain, the girls wanted to go check out something that wasn't of interest to William, so he and I walked around to see if we could find a good place for him to use his fishing net.

They really didn't have anywhere for him to toss it into the depths!  Fishing wasn't allowed on the bridges or docks!  We played a round of cornhole near the ranger's station.  William was ahead by 7 points, but I ended up making a comeback and winning the game.

Every time I looked at the horizon, toward the sunset, it was prettier and prettier!

We were playing with the Frisby toy that he brought, and he tried to use a bean bag to knock it from the tree, which ended up getting the bag stuck in yogi's hat.  So, he had to use a handy oar to knock both of them down!

Day 2 was not rainy!  We woke up to sunshine, and were out the door early so that the kids could maximize swimming!  Friday was our cabana day, but when we went looking, the cabanas had not been labelled, which meant that I had to call to get our assignment.  

We ended up at the pool nearest our cabin, because it's the one that the kids were most excited about.

Later, when Billy joined us, we moved to the cabana, which finally had our name on it!  The cabana was in the newest area that opened earlier this summer, and had a fan and a refrigerator!  We even watched a bit of M*A*S*H after logging into Hulu.

The kids did enjoy the splash area for a while, but then they wanted to go check out the big waterslides!

Each of them did the straight drop, but William was the most visible in his bright green shirt!

Around 2, Billy and I tried to get charcoal from the ranger's station, but sadly, they were sold out.  I ended up going on an off campus run to get charcoal.  It wasn't far, but it wasn't fun.  Had I thought about it, one of the girls could have driven the return trip!  While out, I also had to source some worms for Emily.*  Luckily, we were close to lots of lakes, so there was a shop nearby the Dollar General I ended up at.

We were not impressed with our check in or the state of our cottage upon arrival, but I wanted to document the number, for future reference.

On my return trip, I found one of the letter signs that Alice needed for her scavenger hunt!  It was way out of the way, and was just the letter she needed to crack the code!

Billy had to rush cooking dinner, because Candy Bar Bingo started at 7.  It was the saddest of news that they no longer allow outside candy bars (but we never found out the reason) so you had to buy a candy bar from them (at $2/piece) to play.  = (  We paid the money for each of us to get two boards, but it definitely dampened my mood for the experience.

Because of the rain forecast, the tickets to the light wagon were free, so Alice signed up all five of the kids to go on the ride!  We brought lots of glowy items with us, so it was truly free!  As a side note, Alice is not in many of the pictures, because she didn't want to swim.  She attended practically every free event that they offered though!  So, she stayed busy, we just didn't see much of her.

The next day, we started out with Smores!  With the threat of rain still looming, the kids were worried that we would end up bringing home our ingredients again, so we took the opportunity to make them at the beginning of the day!

Next, they swam for a while in the same pool as the day before, but the seats were full!  After a while, we decided to try the indoor pool.  It was a steamy room, so Billy and I sat just outside the door on the deck, in direct view of the kids, but they said that the water was cold in this pool.

After the rush for dinner the night before, there was no time for the chicken, so Billy cooked it up for dinner on night 3.  Emily had an AP Biology assignment due the day after we got back from our trip, so she had to do her worm experiment while we were on vacation.*  Surprisingly, she actually needed this picture for her lab, because they had to include a picture of them doing the experiment!  She was panicked, because we couldn't even recreate it, since we'd tossed the boxes at the campground, but I love taking pictures of my babies!

Once the chicken was cooked, we headed over to the paddle boats!  Even Alice joined us for this outing.

Sunset on our final night.  It was pretty and serene, but it's always sad to be at the end of a vacation.

We had to be out of the cabin by 11, and we were!  In fact, we even had time after loading up to go take some pictures with the Yogi statue!

And a picture from 2019, at the same statue!

Within 5 minutes of pulling into our driveway, I had a load of laundry in the washer, and it still took me 5 days to get on top of it (since we had a day trip to some state parks in the pinky, which created another couple of loads.)

Alice is always at her best when we go to Jellystone, and I think everyone got to do everything that they wanted to do!  We do love Jellystone camping!

later days

 *She did try to dig up worms the week leading up to our trip, but it was too late in the season, and we couldn't find any!

edit 8-30-26: backdated for continuity.

South Haven Jellystone, year 3

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!

The movie our first night was Monsters Inc.  I hadn't seen it in years, but about the time they decide that Boo isn't deadly, the first of our crew called it a night.  I was tired too, so walked back with them.  

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:

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.

Since it was a Sunday, the events were fewer and farther between, so I told the kids they could swim until they were done.  We applied sunscreen twice, but they still burnt. = (  They lasted four hours in the pool!

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.

It was really pretty, but cold!

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

*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!

**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.