Wapsipinicon State Park

Try saying that 5 times fast! 

Here's a little recap of our Labor Day weekend.  I try to book the campsite in advance, especially over a holiday weekend.  Then people start asking us what our plans are we usually have a few people that invite themselves (which is fine by us) to go with us. Nick and Nichole got wind of our plans and were in so then Nick convinced Jimmy to go too, that's when Jimmy's Parents and sister (they didn't make the picture, because our rule is you have to camp the WHOLE weekend) decided to haul the camper up for two nights.  When my dad heard everyone was coming, he said he'd come too.

Nick, Nichole, Leah, me, Tyler, Harper, Chuck, Gracie & Jimmy

 This trip had EVERYTHING and when I tried typing this out it was all over the place (maybe becuase I'm writing this a few weeks AFTER the fact and I'm having a hard time recalling all the events).  So here it goes, ABC Style:

Our campsite was huge with no one around yet again. I'm starting to think that tent campsites are all around just bigger and more spacious that camper sites. 

A: There were Acorns everywhere. You would be sitting around the campfire and one would drop from the tree like a missle.  They made a loud thunk everytime they would hit a vehicle. Ty and JImmy had fun teasing each other as one would hit their car.  We also played a game where we each put a cup around the campsite and the first one to catch an acorn in the cup won the pot.  Nick claims he won, but no one was around to witness it... :)

B: The camping neighbors next to Jimmy's RV had a bounce house.  Apparently they do no rough it when they camp.  Harper made her way over to the bounce house a few times.

 



C: There were two Ice Caves to explore, yet there wasn't any ice and there wasn't a lot of room for exploring.  They were small and got narrow very quickly so we didn't go too far back there.  The best part was going at night and freaking ourselves out by the bats...





D: Of course it wouldn't be a camping trip without Dumb & Dumber (Leah & Gracie) playing fetch in the water and enjoying every minute of camping.

E: Everyone had a great time. (Cheesy, I know but I couldn't think of an E!"

F: The boys went fishing but didn't catch anything...Nick even hauled his boat all the way up there, but didn't even take it out once!

G:  Our campsite was great.  It was huge and there were no neighbors. That field (behind my dad) was nice and open.  There were a few walk-up-to campsites (see "P" as to why we had to call the cops because there was a strange vehicled down there, where it shouldn't have been)

Nick, My dad, & Gracie starting breakfast

H: One of my favorite activies while camping is relaxing and napping in a hammock. We had quite the setup this time.  Harper didn't like the hammock so much--I think it was too close to the rocking (which she also doesn't like because it makes her sleepy).

Nick in the striped Hammock, Nichole in the blue, and my feet under the flowered blanket.

 

I had a little visitor that woke me from my nap.  How can you resist this face?

I: Harper has been expressing her independency lately. She preferred to have all meals in this chair WITHOUT any help from us. Here she is enjoying canteloupe for breakfast.

J: There is never a dull moment with these boys.  They all decided to see who could climb the highest in the willow tree.  Jimmy, being the lightest won.  Can you see him hiding?

K:
L: There was a nice little lake at the bottom of the hill that we spent some time one day.  We let Harper dip her toes in the water and I think she would have gone in a lot further if we would have let her.

M: My rating of this campsite would be a 2 out of 4.  Everything was great, except the bathrooms--that really brought our camping experience down and because of that we all said we wouldn't come back...

N: This was the first trip we had any problems with Harper sleeping at night.  I think since we were all in the tent together and she would roll over, see us and then scream to get out. Two nights in a row she woke at midnight STARVING, so we ran and got her a piece of bread and she stayed in her pack and play eating bread.  Both mornings she was up at 4 am.  To say Nick was a little annoyed would be an understatement... :) (good birth control, right?)

O: On the rock, playing with a long stick (with the facial expressions of her dada)...

P: The police even made an appearance.  There was this car that was driving around a few times and then drove down into this grassy field/ditch area where cars shouldn't be and stopped.  It had headlights on, the dome lights came on and off, the hazards would come on but it just sat there and no one ever came out.  So after two hours of the car sitting there we contacted the DNR, they didn't come out and it was getting late and it kind of creeped us out so we finally called the cops after the car had been sitting idle for 3+ hours.  Apparently the guy fell asleep in the car.

Q: There wasn't a lot of quiet time this trip.  See the letter N...

R: The boys got this great idea that they would try to walk across the spillway.  Gracie saw them walking ever so ginergly across there and she'd come Running at full speed trying to catch up to them and slide off the edge and then try to do it again.

Nick, Jimmy, and Gracie

S: While in Anamosa we drove by the State Penitentiary.  It's a beautiful old stone building.  Almost worth it to be a resident....

T: We were seeing who could kick the football the farthest and then Jimmy would catch the ball at the other end.  Well he was paying attention too much to catching the ball and not where he was and he fell right into a thorn bush.

U: Harper again was under the weather.  It seems every Labor Day Camping Trip she comes down with an ear infection...

V: I got nothing for this one...

W: We did a lot of walking.  This picture below just melts my heart.

X: I got nothing for this one...


Y: Yuck.The bathrooms were disgusting. That reason alone is why I don't think I'd come back.   Z: I got nothing for this one...

As always here's a list of the 46 State Parks we have left:

Ambrose A. Call State Park
Backbone State Park
Beeds Lake State Park
Bellevue State Park
Black Hawk State Park
Brushy Creeek State Park -here
Clear Lake State Park
Dolliver Memorial State Park
Elinor Bedell State Park
Elk Rock State Park
Emerson Bay State Park
Fairport State Park
Fort Defiance State Park
Geode State Park
George Wyth State Park -here
Green Valley State Park
Gull Point State Park
Honey Creek State Park
Lacey-Keosauqua State Park
Lake Ahquabi State Park -here
Lake Anita State Park
Lake Darling State Park
Lake Keomah State Park
Lake Macbride State Park
Lake Manawa State Park
Lake of Three Fires State Park
Lake Wapello State Park
Ledges State Park
Lewis & Clark State Park
Maquoketa Caves State Park
Marble Beach State Recreation Area
Mcintosh Woods State Park
Nine Eagles State Park - here
Pallisades-Kepler State Park
Pikes Peak State Park
Pilot Knob State Park - here
Pine Lake State Park
Pleasant Creek State Recreation Area
Prarie Rose State Park
Red Haw State Park
Rock Creek State Park
Shimek Forest State Park
Springbrook State Park
Stephens Forest State Park
Stone State Park
Union Grove State Park
Viking Lake State Park
Volga River State Park
Walnut Woods State Park -here
Wapsipinicon State Park -just camped!
Waubonsie State Park
Wildcat Den State Park
Wilson Island State Park