Beeds Lake State Park

Beeds Lake State Park

This past weekend we went camping with our friends, The Ness's, at Beeds Lake State Park in Hampton, IA.  We have only been to a few of Iowa's state parks, and so far, this one was our favorite.  There was a hiking trail that went around the lake, a lodge where you could rent canoes/kayaks and buy ice cream sandwiches, and a beautiful dam.  (I took a few more pictures on instagram if you want to see pics of the dam). 

Camping at Lake Auburn Campground

Last month we spent a week at the Lake Auburn Campground in Victoria, MN.  It was nice, because most of the people were camping in tents, like us.  The only thing we didn't like about it was the fact that there were no showers and during the week there were few campers.  There was the lake but it was so full of algae that I would never go in it.

While up there, Alex got to spend some time with a few friends and some family.  It was also our cats first (and last) camping experience.  Click below to see pictures:

Lake Auburn Campground, Victoria, MN

Cedar Rapids, IA

I know this pic (and the pics from the previous post) were taken before Thanksgiving, but I am just getting around to updating the blog.  The week before Thanksgiving we rented a car and drove up to the midwest for Thanksgiving and 5 interviews.  The first interview Keith had was in Cedar Rapids, IA.  Really, I didn't like the town so much.  There didn't seem to be a whole lot to do for kids.  But I did find a mall with a little play area in it.  Alex seemed to have fun!  After Cedar Rapids, we headed to Des Moines, IA which I liked a lot better!

Blank Park Zoo- Des Moines, Iowa

On our way to Minnesota we made a few stops. We spent on day in Cedar Rapids for an interview and another day in Des Moines for an interview. We really liked Des Moines. The city reminded us a little of Minneapolis with the skyway system connecting the downtown buildings. While Keith was at his interview we decided to check out the Blank Park Zoo.  Here is Alex next to a couple of sleepy lions!

Chattanooga, Tennessee

This past Friday Alex and I drove up to Chattanooga, Tennessee to meet some friends from Minnesota.  Chattanooga is only a two hour drive north of us and is a cute little touristy town with lots of activities for the family.  We stayed at the Chattanooga Choo Choo which is a historical hotel that used to be a train depot in the early 1900s.

Our first stop after meeting at the hotel was the Tennessee Aquarium.  The girls had so much fun exploring together.  This is a really neat aquarium and I would recommend to anyone heading to Chattanooga.  The jelly fish exhibit was my favorite part!  After the aquarium we headed back to the hotel to see if our room was ready and the girls got to explore the grounds and play on the trains.  I was a little disappointed with our hotel room.  It was really outdated and had an ant problem.  It was a neat hotel, a tourist attraction in itself, but I wouldn't recommend it and wouldn't stay there again.  I don't pay money to stay in a hotel room with a bunch of ants.  Anyways, the girls had fun playing at the hotel and swimming in the indoor pool.  The next day Alex did not want to head home.  She misses her friend Haylie and can't wait to see her again!

Click HERE to view some pictures from our trip.

Savannah, Georgia

This past weekend I spent in Savannah, Georgia with friends, Lily, Devin, and Courtney.  Devin found this fabulous condo for the weekend that was located in the perfect part of town.  We were able to walk to the restaurants and shopping.

Our first order of business on Saturday morning was to wait in line for reservations at Paula Deen's restaurant, The Lady and Sons.  After we made reservations for lunch we walked around downtown Savannah and checked out the shops and great parks.  Downtown Savannah is so beautiful!  I love all the square parks.

Lunch at Paula Deen's was a little disappointing, or maybe I am just not used to southern food.  I had fried green tomatoes, collard greens, fried chicken, fried pancake, fried cheddar biscuit, creamed corn, and sweet tea!  It was a ton of food and way too much grease!  It did not agree with me and if I ever make it back to Savannah I will not be going back to this place.

This is just one of the small parks in Savannah!  Love the parks!  We spent the whole day shopping and visiting parks and then went to a spa for a facial. :)

On Sunday we decided to walk around the historic riverfront area and then catch brunch before heading home.  I have posted pics to facebook so check there for more pictures.  I am super tired or I would write more!  I am headed for bed.

We are in Miami!

We left on Sunday morning from Mankato MN and drove for 29 hours to Miami! It was a long drive and I don't really want to do it again! The first day we started out drive about 6:30am and both Keith and I were so excited. It was like an adventure. But then after driving through Iowa and Illinois and then entering Kentucky we we're so tired we decided to stop for the night. We considered just driving straight through but decided it would be best to spend the night somewhere. So we stopped in Paducah, Kentucky (right near the Illinois border) to spend the night. The next morning Keith got us all up at 3am to start driving again. I only think I got two hours of sleep. We started off and this time it wasn't so exciting. We were tired and just wanted to be there. The second day we traveled the rest of the way through Kentucky, then went through Tennessee, Georgia, and finally Florida. We got to our new home at about 8:45pm that night. Alex did a wonderful job throughout the whole trip. We were so thankful for the DVD (and our newly purchased GPS).

I will leave you with a couple photos I took along the way. I haven't taken any pictures since I've been here since I've been busy unpacking, cleaning, and grocery shopping. The first one was taken at a stop in southern Illionois and the second one was in Cedar Rapids, IA.