FINALLY! A Family Camping Trip.

The five of us finally had a chance to go on a camping trip. We went to Myre - Big Island State Park in Albert Lea, Minnesota. It was a great 3 days!

The kids and I (Holly is behind the camera...she looks great, doesn't she!)

We had a good time hiking on the miles of scenic trails. We had fun skipping rocks. The kids found a black snake, a fishing spider, pelicans, turtles, and TONS of toads, leopard frogs and snails.....just to mention a few of the many critters! Holly really enjoyed looking at the wild flowers, and I just enjoyed just getting out into nature! At night, millions....okay, thousands...of fire flies came out and flashed there fannies for a really neat night time show. After the fireflies got......what they were looking for, we were visited by at least 2 Barred Owls. We never actually saw them, but we heard them calling back and forth to each other. At least one of them was probably in the trees right above our campsite. Oh...I almost forgot the sneaky little raccoon that we had sitting under our picnic table, only 6 feet or so from Holly and I.

One spot in the miles of hiking trails.

Skipping rocks

On the second afternoon, we all went for a canoe trip around Big Island on Albert Lea Lake. The lake is pretty secluded, and it was just the five of us, the jumping carp, and the man eating mosquitoes! Despite our decreasing blood levels, and increased risk of West Nile, we had a really good time!

Canoeing on Albert Lea Lake

Our journey to southern Minnesota was a mosquito smacking success! We went during the week, so we had the park almost entirely to our selves. We also had simply gorgeous weather. If you are looking for a really nice state park to enjoy some DEEP woods and native prairies, Myre - Big Island comes highly recommended by Zimm's clan!


I pray you all are enjoying your summer!!

The Zimm