Sunday, June 23, 2013

June 18-19 Pete's Retreat



We arrived at Pete’s Retreat & did our normal set up of the trailer. We noticed quite a few mosquitoes & we’re doing the slap dance to kill those blood suckers. They’re pretty big up in these parts & reminded me of south Texas. Speaking of bugs, it seemed we picked up quite a few souvenirs from the Iowa KOA campground. Ever since we left there we have had little black ants everywhere. They’re driving me nuts! Hubby bought some ant traps, but I still see them. Thankfully they seem to be diminishing, but I’m ready for them to be gone. We must have been on an ant hill or something. Anyway, after setting up we decided to walk the campground. Dalton had to pick up rocks & put them in his pocket along the way. We kept telling him to hurry up & as he ran you could see his shorts falling off from the weight of the rocks in his pockets. It was too cute.  I love hearing his “ok mommy I coming” then he turns around & tells us “hurry up mommy”. I could just eat him up. Of course our day wouldn’t be complete without an injury. Just that morning when we left the previous camp Dalton hit his eye on the playground, well we get to this campground & Emry is standing by the window & falls on her butt, but not before hitting her forehead on the window sill. Ouch! She got a mark alright & it stayed there a couple days. Sheesh my kids seem accident prone. Kisses & snuggles made it all better.

As for the campground there was a small pond for catch & release fishing, a putting green, a playground & 2 swimming pools (one for kids & a regular one) & a hot tub.  The pools were great, but the hot tub was a favorite for all of us. Emry tried crawling in the kiddie pool & was splashing the water around. They had fun & were overtired both times we went swimming. The kids played at the playground & Annika liked going in circles on the tire swing. Not sure what’s so fun about being dizzy. I hate being dizzy. Must be a youngster thing. I kind of feel bad that hubby hasn’t had the chance to fish since we left Scott air force base. We really haven’t been anywhere long enough for him to fish. Maybe once we get into the western part of South Dakota he can fish then. Annika enjoys fishing as well so maybe we’ll make a point for them to do that since we plan on doing at least a week out west in that area.

Anyway, I noticed a weird smell in the water & couldn’t put my finger on it and even Annika asked what that smell was. It was like a metallic smell. It wasn’t until I took a shower that night that I saw the brownish water & realized it was rust. Yuck. 2 nights of rusty water was not ideal, but it could be worse right? We could have had no water. Guess we take what we can get & not throw a fit.

I think the best part of this stay was the visit from my cousin Cindy. I hadn’t seen her in several years, 6 or 7 years if my mind is correct & she was only a couple hours drive away. She came with her boyfriend, Mark, on his Harley. I told Annika she was coming to visit & she thought she was going to be a kid. I told her she was a grown up, but Cindy played with them as if she were a kid herself. I was tired just watching them. She twirled them in circles, they had a water gun fight (we all got wet), and she bounced them on her knee.  Mark put a ball in his hand & Annika would hit it with a bat (like t-ball). She was pretty good so I made a point later to get them a t-ball set. Dalton also tried it, but he did more of a tapping the ball, but still ran the bases & had to knock them over as he went. That kid cracks me up. All in all it was a good visit & hopefully we won’t wait so long to see each other again. Annika asked me when she would come over again to play J

That second night the kids wanted to make smores, but the mosquitoes were out for dinner so hubby roasted the marsh mellows & brought them in then the kids made their smores. Dalton didn’t want his so I ate it. I’ve never really been a fan of marsh mellows, but when you put chocolate with them then I’ll eat them. Chocolate makes everything taste better right?

Our next stop is to Bemidji where we will see a bunch of Paul Bunyan stuff along the way.

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