Lessons Learned

Lessons we learned while on vacation:

1. Heart Attack Hill is just as dangerous going down as it is coming up!

We arrived, unloaded the bikes and away Mikayla and Brice went to go exploring. They were back 5 minutes later (walking) each with injuries. Mikayla broke her arm (yes, I am serious) and Brice lost a pound of flesh from his right arm. We have decided that we are leaving Mikayla home from now on. She has this thing about visiting the Galena emergency room! (Last time we were there, she required stitches on her forehead).

2. Always wash your hands after handling tree frogs! If you touch your eyes before doing so, IT BURNS and you will think you are going blind!!!!! Both Brice and Carra experienced this. It was not a pretty sight (No pun intended!).

3. "If you go to bed with sunglasses on, you won't have to shut your eyes to sleep because the room will already be dark!" Carra, you are so smart!

4. Taking a two-year old on a vacation where you intend to rest, read and relax, is like packing your own mosquitoes when you go camping. You do a lot of jumping and swatting - and there is always this annoying noise . . . . !

5. Peacock "droppings" look somewhat like human "droppings." Owen is still convinced that Buff had issues out on the front deck!

6. If you step just right in the mud, you will never see your shoe again. . . . Poor Mikayla. They were her favorite shoes too!

7. When ordering "chicken tenders with cheese curds", speak slowly. Otherwise you will end up ordering "chicken terds." Ewwwww, Carra!

8. If positioned just right, I swear a squirrel can look just like a turtle sitting in the middle of the road! Of course, I can never prove my point - because Buff ran over the poor thing. (I think he was laughing too hard).

9. If you pee just after you step out of the pond, your "pee is hot!" Thank You, Owen for this little tidbit of trivia.

10. If you intend to sneak a toad home in the truck, inform the toad of the plan and to not hop out at the first rest stop. It kind of ruins the secret.

And so, we are happy to report that the only casualties of our trip were the poor squirrel (or was it a turtle?), a bird (Buff hit him too), a toad (he was too close to the door and didn't quite fit under the door) and about 200 flies (I love the invention of the fly swatter!).