Sunday, October 21, 2007

Santa Claus, Indiana (Yes, there is such a place)


Ok, so we pretty much had a BLAST this last weekend with our neighbors and friends. In the little town of Santa Claus (three hours away from home) there is a Lake Rudolph campground and R.V. resort. For a very reasonable price you can rent an R.V. or cabin (there is also a Holiday Word theme park right next to the R.V. resort).


I had no idea what to expect other than we were going to get away and have fun. Although the girls both had fevers on the way there we decided to tough it out. We actually stayed at a hotel called Santa's Lodge but hung out at the R.V. all day with our friends.


They had what they called "Hallo Days" while we were there. There were so many fun activities including, hay rides, trick or treating, movies shown on a projector, dances and a carnival. That doesn't even include how fun it was to see all the camp sites that were decorated with Halloween stuff. These people didn't mess around!! We went on long walks all the time to check out all of the sites around us. The weather was so beautiful and I love when the leaves change colors. Although we didn't reserve one in time you can also rent golf carts to drive around the entire R.V. park. It felt like we were in a little gated community where everyone was just having a good time!


We are already to plan the same trip for next year! We are even considering another trip in the summer because there is a pool!







Amy, Ben and Little Kate






Gracie and Hailey hangin' out feeling sick together




Kate loved her (I mean the Mendenhall's) little baby seat




The little four wheeler was her fave

John and I had been trying all afternoon to get Hailey to sleep. One minute on Jason's lap and she was OUT! THANK YOU Jason!



Can you tell my girls love the whole Mendenhall FAMILY!


Taylor, Kate's little babysitter





Having fun at the carnival fishing pond





Decorating pumpkins at the carnival



Hailey was nice for about 3 minutes and then wanted Kate off



Getting ready to trick or treat




The whole crowd Taylor (Hannah Montana), Kate (butterfly), Gracie (Cinderella), Hailey (Belle), Ben (Dumbo), Nolan (Mummy)








I have to thank the Mendenhall's for letting us use their camera. I totally forgot our camera and they let us snap away. I wish I would have taken some more pictures of the things people did to decorate their sites. This picture is nothing compared to some of them! People even decorated their golf carts.




Katelyn turns ONE!!!

We had fun celebrating Kate's birthday on our trip. We bought one of those cheap, tacky cakes at the grocery store and she loved it! It's hard to believe last year at this same time John was in Indiana, I was in Utah and he was flying out for the delivery of our sweet baby Kate!





Totally forgot a picture of the cake before we cut it!


Kate eating her entire piece of birthday cake!
Andrew, Heather and cute little Nolan


8 comments:

Hanna said...

That looks like you had a great time! 1-year old!! That's HUGE! Time really does fly, doesn't it?

Mason Manor said...

Mel, I love all the pictures. It sounds like you guys had fun. :) Your girls are so cute and I can't believe Kate is one already! They grow so fast.

Sharp family said...

So fun! You got some cute pictures. What a fun place, looks like the girls had such a great time to. Happy Birthday Kate. Be watching in the mail you present is on its way. We love you.
Becca

Anonymous said...

Wow...what a fun place to celebrate the holiday and Katelyn's birthday! I'm so glad you have such good friends. Jason and Amy need to bring their little family to Idaho this summer when you come. Happy Birthday Katelyn! We miss you so much.
Love, mom

Meg said...

Don't you love having fun friends you can go away with!!! Looks like you had a ton of fun- and have I told you I love your little girls. Like daughter like mother :-) Hey send me an email with your phone number I would love to chat..

xoxo
MEg

Rachel said...

Hey Mel, it looks like you had so much fun. Careful though, once your kids get the camping bug they just want to go all the time. Good for you though staying in the hotel room though, I would have done the same, especially if the girls weren't feeling well. Hope everyone's back to normal, whatever that is! Love Rach

Arlene Heiner said...

Loved the pictures. It's the pictures that help the kids to remember such fun times. I'm back from Florida now so I'm cathching up on the blogs. Love Ya

Chantri said...

Okay so I had a comment all typed up and ready to post and…I dunno what happened…its totally gone. Sad. Anyways I loved the pics of your camping trip. What a fun time. Kate looked like she enjoyed her b-day…big number ONE…how exciting. I just absolutely love Haileys hair. She really looks like a sweet little princess in all the pics you post of her. Your girls are so adorable.