We had a great weekend camping at Lake Herman State Park. We'd never been camping there before and were really hoping we wouldn't be disappointed. We weren't for the most park. We've really been spoiled having Lewis & Clark Recreation Area because it's a beautiful area with large, shady sites, clean facilities and terrific beaches. We had a nice spot at Lake Herman with a lot of trees (yay shade!) and open space in the back so the kids could run around a lot. There was even a grove of trees so Cole could search for kindling.

Camping with small children is never a relaxing thing to do, but it's usually a lot of fun. We went hiking on a trail right next to our campsite that borders a pond, we played at the campground playground, and we went swimming in Lake Herman. That was probably the biggest disappointment because Lake Herman has a bit of an algae problem, so the water had a bit of algae floating on top and had that lovely smell. We didn't stay in the water long.

We spent some time in the nearby town of Madison, too. Madison is where Cory's dad grew up and where Cory spent much time visiting his Nelson grandparents. Cory's uncle (married to one of Myron's sisters) is currently mayor of the town of 6,500. One of the first things we did was go to the cemetary where Cory's grandparents are buried because Cory wanted to find their grave stones. Unfortunately the only directions Myron had been able to give us were to turn right at the main entrance. That's a lot of space to search! We looked for about an hour before giving up. I'm going to check with Cory's aunt and uncle and possibly the cemetary association to track those down. We also stopped at a small museum at the old train depot, but unfortunately it was closed (strange for a Saturday during the height of tourism season). Cory's Grandpa Nelson was an engineer for the railroad going through Madison, and his name is up on a plaque at the depot. The plaque is outside, so at least we were able to see that.

We had friends come for a couple hours Saturday night. We sat around the fire, toasted marshmallows and made s'mores, and the kids told each other ghost stories in the camper. Accalia and Cole were so happy to have other kids there for a while. It's almost not fair that usually our first camping trip of the season is with our families where nearly all of the cousins are together. We still somehow managed to find plenty of fun things to do.

There's nothing too unusual going on this week. We're heading to Mankato for the weekend much to the delight of the kids. Cory and I are even going to attempt to have a meal out by ourselves. I think the last time we did that was either before I was pregnant with Ella or when I was pregnant with her.