A couple of weeks ago I wrote about my childhood visits to Morraine State Park. On August 2nd & 3rd, they were having a free event up there: The Lake Arthur Regatta. I figured we’d take the kids up Sunday and have some family fun.
It stormed all morning. The worst combination of harsh thunderstorms and unrelenting downpours that I’ve seen all year. Kind of like when I picked the warmest weekend of this winter’s polar vortex to go skiing.
As the afternoon started creeping in, the rain started slowing (a relative term here,) and we decided to head up, fully expecting to have to turn around when we got there. Turns out it was perfect timing. As soon as we pulled into the parking lot, the storm clouds parted and the glorious sun beamed down again. All was right on Lake Arthur.
The first place we headed was the kids’ tent. There was so much to do! We colored some Skippy Jon Jones masks provided by the Children’s Theater (sadly we had missed their performance.) They also had some pretty rad tats.
I helped a toddler use nails and wood glue to build what was supposed to be a heart basket. (That was scary. Especially the real hammer part. But the little one was so proud of their work, it was totally worth it. And I’m the one who decided it would be a good idea to help a toddler work with a hammer in the first place.)
They even got an apron! How freaking cute is this?
They had rock climbing, which looked pretty cool, but I was a little busy chasing kiddos around.
It was so neat to look around and see things I had remembered from my younger days….people fishing…
…people kayaking…
…people enjoying the beautiful land and water to its fullest.
Before we left, we stopped at the picnic ground I remembered from my youth. Everything was the same…the water, the sand, the sticks, the lawn… Except for the trees. The trees were much shorter than I remembered them.
But then again, I suppose I’m a lot taller than my parents remember me.
We left muddy. We left laughing. We left with childhood memories that I hope will last them a lifetime.
Sounds like you had a blast! Great pictures too!
I wish we had such a quiet and peaceful lake nearby!
Haha, shorter trees. I also had something similar when I was 16. My parents and I went back to a place I used to visit as a kid where they had a long death ride. I was so excited to go on the death ride again… Only to find out it was actually quite small and I was way too big to even fit on the damn thing. 🙂
That’s too funny! And my Republic Moto X deserves all the acclaim… I’m not to great of a photographer on my own. :p It’s always an interesting experience to go back to childhood haunts.
That sounds really awesome! I am glad you had fun and got to be a little nostalgic for awhile. It look like some cheap fun, as well. Can’t beat frugal entertainment!
It was! And the whole thing was free. S couple $1-$5 activities, but we were so entertained by the free fun that we didn’t spend a cent. Looking forward to 2015!
Aw, glad you had a good time with your family. I’m sure it’s rewarding being able to see the experience from a new perspective, too.
That’s awesome! It sounds like a blast! Making memories is what it’s all about. It’s great to have those memories that kids will never forget. 🙂
I love that you wrote about this! There’s something awesome about seeing our kids doing the things we loved as a kid. It’s a simple as my daughters wearing a T-shirt I had as a boy … you get to remember yourself at their ages, and what it’s like. Beautiful.