The end of summer is upon us and Flat Ginny wanted to take one last little trip before the kids went back to school. She wanted it to be close to home so we didn't spend all of our time travelling, so she decided on Springfield, IL. The KOA there had a large "Kamping Kabin" available so we decided to rent it for three nights. We have been in typical KOA cabins on prior trips and they are very rustic, but this cabin was really deluxe.
The cabin was nicer than a hotel room! It had air conditioning, satellite TV, a kitchentte, a refrigerator, a bathroom with shower, a little bedroom with a set of bunkbeds, and a separate bedroom with a queen size bed. It was so nice! It also had a deck and a fire pit and BBQ, and several outside tables.
You can see that Flat Ginny settled in very quickly. Here she is eyeing the bananas for a snack. She had already polished off the two McDonald's pops, a root beer, and a diet coke. She ate so much that she didn't feel good enough to go along with us to Lincoln's home.
Here are our three kids at Lincoln's home. It was a glorious day, weather-wise, which made the excursion much more pleasant. We and hot weather do not mix well, though Mommy does like a really hot day at the beach. We went through the visitor's center and saw the interesting items on display. Ian really enjoyed the large replica of the town of Springfield and Cami enjoyed the military weapons (like swords, etc) from the Civil War.
Here is a picture of Lincoln's home from the outside. It is quite nice and would have been really nice by the standards of 150 years ago. I thought it was interesting that Mrs. Lincoln had her own potty chair in her bedroom (she and Abe had their own bedrooms).
The next day we woke up with quite an appetite, so we headed out to find some much needed food. Woohoo, we found a Golden Corral! We like buffets because everyone can find something they'll eat and we don't have to wait 30 minutes for the food to arrive at our table. This really helps when you have fidgety children.
Daddy ate himself silly and later had a hard time back at the campsite trying to enjoy bouncing on the giant bouncy pillow thingy. Speaking of the campsite, the pool was nice but a little chilly. I found this interesting as the Midwest has just experienced one of the hottest summers in a while and the water was still cold. I'm not sure how this is possible.
Later this same night we cooked a wonderful meal at the campsite. We cooked corn-on-the-cob on the grill and we made good use of our Coleman stove. Speaking of this stove, Daddy used it most mornings to cook very tasty breakfasts. Here Flat Ginny is seen helping remove the silk from the cobs.
By the time we finished dinner Mommy had time to create a makeshift cake out of marshmallows and candles for Cami's birthday. See the video below of the birthday "cake"...
Cami said later that it was the best birthday cake she's ever had. Kudos to Mommy for thinking of it.
You can't really see it in the video because the blog shrinks the window size down so much, but the expression on Cami's face is priceless as she looks at the candles. She is so excited that we remembered her birthday!
After lunch we went to Lincoln's tomb. There were very few people there so we were able to take our time and see what there was to see. The kids were impressed with the building and all of the statues inside. Our kids are great. They actually like museums and places such as this. Other kids would probably find it very boring. Flat Ginny found it impressive as well. She had never been to Lincoln's tomb before.
We all took a turn rubbing the nose of Lincoln's bust that is outside the monument. Below see a compilation of our lovely little family.
After the tomb we went to the Illinois State Museum, which is a small museum next to the capitol (capital?) building. There were several sections on evolution (an old stand-by that all museums have) and a lot about the geology of Illinois. There was also a section on the Native Americans that lived in the area hundreds (thousands?) of years ago. There was a large diarama constructed that showed various aspects of their lives.
Flat Ginny, and Daddy, were very impressed with how detailed the displays were.
Yep, Daddy was very impressed with the level of detail.
An awesome find in the "Americana" section of the museum. A plate dedicated to the Nauvoo temple construction.
Later on Flat Ginny and Mommy hit the gift shop. So many things to buy and so little money.
Ian and Flat Ginny both had to take the occassional bathroom breaks. Here we see her helping Ian wash his hands.
If you get a chance to visit the Illinois State Museum it's worth the price of admission, which is free! Well, it's free at the door. Don't get me started about the high taxes in Illinois. Don't bother with the "art" gallery part of the museum unless you enjoy talentless "artists".
Well, it's time to leave, at least for a while. Of course, the kids are horsing around while the rest of us pack and clean up.
Everyone had a great time and we can't wait to go back to the Springfield KOA again. There was so much to do that we barely had time to go swimming and we never did go fishing. The kids had a great time and we made a lot of memories, plus it felt good to get out of town for a few days.
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