Fall Break

It's fall break at the Grammar School. Each year we try to do something special. One year we went to the Shedd Aquarium. Last year, we went down to the newly opened indoor waterpark at Starved Rock State Park. We decided to repeat that trip this year...we went down Thursday and returned on Friday. It was a short trip, but we beat the crowds and got the 'bargain' weekday rates.

So what did we do on our trip? We first went to the state park. The lodge there was built in 1933 by the CCC. We had lunch, then hiked to the top of Starved Rock.

We then checked into our digs at Grand Bear Lodge. In addition to the water park, we got a room with bunk beds--a big deal in our house!--and played miniature golf.





On Friday morning, Steve and Andrew swam while Abby and I went to Cedar Point to go horseback riding. While she was a little scared in the beginning, within a few minutes she was totally in love with riding and her horse, Buckaroo, a former barrel racer. We rode a three mile trail, some of which was along an old rail line for the D & O (Danville and Oglesby) railroad and learned alot about Cedar Point history--in the mid 1800's it was a major coal mining town, with 10,000 men and boys working in the mines. Cedar Point now has 300 residents and is mainly a corn farming town.

Abby's first words when she got off the horse...."When can we come back?"