This is the week that
most kids in Iowa start back to school. Because we homeschool I decided this
would be the perfect week to take a vacation. A nice break before life gets
crazy, the resorts would be much quieter and less crowded, and the rates go
down to half. I had it all planned. We headed to Okoboji for a 5 night stay at
Triggs Bay on the East side of Okoboji. The resort rate was half price, they
had a beach and a pool. It was perfect, except for the weather. Most years it
would still be hot. This week lows of 50, highs of 70 every day. That made for
some chilly mornings and not so hot days. Mark’s parents, to my surprise decided to join us on the first part of our vacation. They ended up staying in the same
resort right above our room. I wished my parents could
have joined us too. We got settled in and parked the boat for the night and
went out for supper. 
Day 2 was pretty breezy. We took the boat out and all had
on coats and were very chilly. We went all along the East lake looking at the
houses on the shore. The west lake was so choppy everyone got wet. We docked
and had lunch at Barefoot Bar.
Back on shore, Karen and I took a break from boating. Jayden went back out and did some tubing. At one point she hit a wake and crashed and burned. She got Jake in the tube with her for s short ride. he was not too excited about tubing. In the evening we fired up the grill in front of our room and grilled burgers and had a Yoli healthy supper. It was neat to eat right out in an open grass along the edge of the lake. I really like this location for staying.
Day 3 was nicer with less wind. In the morning we went to an art museum, then found a little mini golf. With it being off season, everything is shut down for the season, Arnold's Park, all the attractions, and most shops are only open a few hours. We were lucky to find the mini golf open. Mark is so competitive and was determined to beat me. I came out ahead, LOL. Half way through our game a bee swarm was discovered. Luke was so worried about those bees Ob our second to last hole out of nowhere he got stung on his finger. He cried and cried. We found some ice and the owner's feeling bad gave him a free ice cream cone. I am guessing this is a daily occurrence. That kind of spoiled the fun in a hurry. We then went to what used to be called "The Wharf" to eat lunch.
When we took the boat out in the afternoon, it was a much warmer day without the wind. We enjoyed the boat ride, Jayden tried tubing again. We also spent some time on the beach. In the evening, the kids stayed with Grandma and Grandpa while Mark and I went on a date to Minerva's pasta bar. We walked to the northwest shore where the Inn is an sat on a dock and watched the sunset. It was a lovely evening. Lake's are so peaceful.
Day 2 was pretty breezy. We took the boat out and all had
on coats and were very chilly. We went all along the East lake looking at the
houses on the shore. The west lake was so choppy everyone got wet. We docked
and had lunch at Barefoot Bar.
Back on shore, Karen and I took a break from boating. Jayden went back out and did some tubing. At one point she hit a wake and crashed and burned. She got Jake in the tube with her for s short ride. he was not too excited about tubing. In the evening we fired up the grill in front of our room and grilled burgers and had a Yoli healthy supper. It was neat to eat right out in an open grass along the edge of the lake. I really like this location for staying.
Day 3 was nicer with less wind. In the morning we went to an art museum, then found a little mini golf. With it being off season, everything is shut down for the season, Arnold's Park, all the attractions, and most shops are only open a few hours. We were lucky to find the mini golf open. Mark is so competitive and was determined to beat me. I came out ahead, LOL. Half way through our game a bee swarm was discovered. Luke was so worried about those bees Ob our second to last hole out of nowhere he got stung on his finger. He cried and cried. We found some ice and the owner's feeling bad gave him a free ice cream cone. I am guessing this is a daily occurrence. That kind of spoiled the fun in a hurry. We then went to what used to be called "The Wharf" to eat lunch.
When we took the boat out in the afternoon, it was a much warmer day without the wind. We enjoyed the boat ride, Jayden tried tubing again. We also spent some time on the beach. In the evening, the kids stayed with Grandma and Grandpa while Mark and I went on a date to Minerva's pasta bar. We walked to the northwest shore where the Inn is an sat on a dock and watched the sunset. It was a lovely evening. Lake's are so peaceful.
Day 4 Karen and Orrie headed home today. In the morning we went to some shops near Arnold's park at to the museum. We took the boat out and let the kids take turns driving. Jacob was very brave, he likes to throttle it to the max. I must say it makes me nervous. He was a good driver, just too fast.
Day 5 was on the cool side, so we went to an indoor water park. The water was so warm and relaxing. It had two tube slides, a lazy river, basketball hoops in the water, floating obstacle course, and a giant Pirate ship with the dumping bucket. It was fun for all of us. Mid day we took a break, then drove the boat back to the water park for more swimming. We ate dinner and the clouds were looking like rain. We had to get the boat back and docked. We made it just in time. Our hotel rooms were a little worn and stuffy. The carpet had seen its day and the furniture had been around. We had two bedrooms and a spacious living room/kitchen with one TV, It was not bad, but if you had to spend much time in it, it got stuffy.I don't like laying around watching television on vacation.This was our last evening of vacation. Next week its back home, back to reality, and school begins.
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