Petit Jean State Park

After hanging in the city, we headed out of town for all things natural. Petit Jean State Park was fantastic! The kids had fun being kids -- exploring, climbing, and getting dirty. The Bear Cave trail encouraged all of the above.

This little creature was discovered along the Cedar Falls overlook by eagle-eye Nature Girl, Naomi. A stick? A bug? It's so cool!

More rocks for climbing at the Rock House Cave, which is not really a cave, but quite cave-like nonetheless!

It's not camping until there is a campfire and marshmallows. Ours was provided by the state park and led by Rachel, the Park Interpreter (not to be confused with a park ranger). The program was accompanied by story time, too.

I say camping, but I'm not sure it's considered camping since we actually stayed in hotel-quality cabins! Julie and Tony were gracious enough to host all the kids in their cabin so the cousins could finally have their sleep-over! (Danielle lasted the first 2 hours...)

The next morning included horseback riding at nearby Barnyard Friends and Animals. Naomi rode Shimmer -- it couldn't have been a more appropriate name! Naomi did really good by herself, as Shimmer was quite a hungry horse and Naomi had to keep pulling her head up and kicking her to move along.

Danielle and Jeff enjoyed their time together...until the very last tree, when Corey Boy got way too close and squished Danielle's leg. No permanent damage, just a few tears.

Me on Pride. I forgot how much I enjoy riding, even if the horses do just follow the tail in front of them!

Tony and cousin John also went along for the ride, on the incredibly scenic trail. (Look at all those nice trees!)

The cousin togetherness concluded at a neat little park at the Winthrop Rockefeller Institute. Yes, it really had old-fashioned seesaws! (And yes, there was a moment of someone thumping the ground when the other person got off! No harm at all. If adults didn't sterilize everything so much, kids would already know how to handle these things!)

It was a fun time had by all! Thanks Penna's for heading west to join us!