The Reason For Not Posting

So I had meant to let you know that I wouldn't be posting for a week or so since we would be on vacation.  Obviously, I failed to do that.  So I'll let you know in retrospect that we were gone on vacation.  Unfortunately, we picked the hottest week of the summer to be gone.  At this point in our lives, our vacations mean camping and doing lots of outdoor activities since they are all either free or very low cost.  You will be happy to know that not only did I take our camera along on our trip, but I also took pictures!  So in order to not overwhelm you with the volume of pictures, I will break our vacation down into chunks so you can enjoy our vacation in installments.

Day One:  We left Monday morning once we got the van quickly packed.  Our goal was to be out the door by 9:00.  We were in the van and ready to go by 8:48.  Woohoo!  We had an uneventful drive to Dubuque that included a coffee and donut stop along the way.  We spent the remainder of the morning and rest of the afternoon at the Mississippi River Aquarium and Museum.  It was lovely (and air conditioned!)
There was a kid's water play/explore area where the kids happily spent time having fun.  Here is Ana finding out what different buttons do with David looking on.

Abby built her own little boat to float down the little river

More exploration

Posing in front of the aquarium.  After seeing how huge some of the fish get in the Mississippi, it kind of creeps me out to want to play in the river.

Being cheesy in front of the gift shop

After the museum, we drove to Backbone State Park to where we would be camping for the week.  The day was brutally hot.  Even our air conditioner in the van didn't seem to be cool enough to compensate for the outside heat.

Abby took a nap everyday in the van as we drove from place to place.  She's usually not a napper, but vacations are apparently very tiring.

We arrived and set up camp.  It was HOT.  Ana found a fun way to cool down with the hydrant.

Abby also got soaked.  There was a lake nearby, so we walked there hoping to cool down in the water.  Unfortunately, there is a large gaggle of Canadian geese that have laid claim to the lake and have overtaken the shores.  We wouldn't have minded sharing, but couldn't deal with the large amounts of goose poop and dirt and feathers.  Geese 1, Flemings 0.  We went back to camp and despite the heat, made a campfire and had our hobo dinners for supper followed by s'mores.  David the s'more master hard at work.

Finishing supper with Daddy's help so she can have s'mores

By this time, we were all sweaty and very hot, so showers were necessary.  Unfortunately, the shower room did not have temperature controls on neither the water nor the room.  Hot water and an even hotter room.  We didn't feel refreshed and merely resumed sweating once we got out of the water.  There was not the slighted breeze in the air, the tent was roasting and stuffy.  Aaron and I had difficulties falling asleep, finally drifting off to bed after 1:00 when the temp finally dipped a little bit.  We woke up dreaming of finding a way to move to a hotel for the remainder of the trip. 

But don't worry, not all was miserable.  To be continued...