For Paige: Swimmin' Soups and Sun Scream

I (Randy) took a week off and we all had a great week together. We did some 'camping' (Iowa style) at a camp owned by a couple of stakes out here. It has a lovely river that Anne was enjoying swimming in and looking at all the little fish. Ruby and Anne also had fun riding in the mini handcarts they have to help you load your gear from the parking areas to your site. When we got to the camp we were the only ones there, but I had noticed when we registered that there was one other family. But since there are a ton of camp sites, I figured it would feel like we had the place to ourselves. After unloading the car and setting up camp, we put on our 'swimmin soups' (as Anne calls them) and went down to the river to play. Upon our return a few hours later, we noticed the other family had arrived and was unloading their minivan and setting up camp right next to ours! Imagine, the whole place (large enough to hold stake camps) and this family sets up RIGHT next to us. So we laughed it off, took down our camp and moved to an even better sight on the other side of the property.

The second site.

This is me admiring my smoke. It took me a long time to get to this point. It's just amazing how, even though we had not had rain for several weeks, all the wood was still damp. It was never this hard in Utah! I did finally succeed in getting a nice fire before dark though.

We had been hearing about Reiman Gardens, a mini version of Thanksgiving Point that ISU owns. Only Reiman Gardens has a magnificent butterfly enclosure. The USDA imports a bunch of butterflies from around the globe and they show them off and breed them here. The butterflies are available to see in this large glass room filled with tropical plants. I thought Anne would really enjoy seeing the butterflies, and she did. Only not the live ones. She enjoyed looking at the dead ones posted up on the wall. When we got into the room and the butterflies were flying all around her, she got very scared and started screaming bloody murder (sorry for the choice of expression Paige, but I'm serious). You'd have thought they were eating her. Seeing as how the room is a glass enclosure, her screaming got her outta there p.d.q. Were successful in getting her to go back in a few hours later to giving it another try before we left . She was pretty nervous at first, but by the time we had made the loop around the room, she didn't want to leave. Success!

Since it's free for students and Anne gets in free still, Anne and I went back the next day and enjoyed it all again. We had forgotten the camera the first time, so I took these pictures of Anne on day two.

Do you see all the butterflies...? No? I swear there were 10 or so when I took this picture.

They showcase the cocoons of the moths and butterflies. This was a giant moth that had just come out. It's wing span was about as wide as Anne's head.

Here's Anne digging fossils.

We also got a pool pass for the month. Anne just loves going to the "deep pool" with her water wings. She does pretty good with them, but still has a hard time going under the water. I also get a kick out of how aware she is of the need for sunscreen (or sunscream as she calls it). She does not like being in the sun without protection. And it's a good thing too, since her pale skin still glows in the sun. Though I did notice this morning that she has the faintest swimming suit lines on her skin: white and slightly pink.

Sorry, no pictures from the pool. (As if I haven't already posted a plethora of pictures already. Yes, we watched 'The Three Amigos' a few days ago.)

Tomorrow we're off to the state fair. Which as I understand is the largest state fair in the nation, depending on who you ask. Some argue that Minnesota's might be bigger. But that argument usually gets quickly swatted away by any others present.

Cheers Paige, we miss you.