thanks for the memories, mj!

For as long as I can remember (literally; I think I was two or three when he bought it), my grandpa has owned MJ Package Store. He's worked there six days a week that whole time, and he and Gram created a business that supported their large family and became an integral part of the community. But now Grandpa's ready to retire. I'm not sure who had the idea, but somebody decided that a company photo was in order, and I was recruited as photographer. I'm pretty pleased with how the pictures turned out, especially the last one, the portrait of the boss man in his habitat.

return to brown county

The boys and I started winter break off right by teaming up with Laura and the Kruyer kids and renting a cabin at Brown County State Park for a couple nights. Once again, the balanced school calendar worked in our favor, because the state park inns do a two-nights-for-the-price-of-one deal during the winter on weekdays, and it just so happened to overlap with our winter break by exactly two days (the rest of the break was in a blackout period). So between that and splitting the cost between our two families, we ended up with a really affordable little getaway.

And this particular cabin came with an added bonus: wristbands to get into the small water park in the inn proper! What a perfect way to keep all the kids occupied but not have them outside in the cold the whole time. We made lengthy visits to the water park each day, and also visited the game rooms in the inn, but don't worry, we found time for other stuff too. Thursday morning, Laura, Kelsey, and I went shopping in downtown Nashville, then after lunch we split up into a couple different groups to do some hiking. Laura took her girls and Max and went on the CCC trail that we hiked a couple weeks ago when we were here, while I took Jimmy, Liam, and Henry on a very muddy hike around Strahl Lake.

Thursday evening, Emma and Kelsey made sure to ask me if we could go watch the sunrise the next morning. I love that they remembered my habit from our trip to Gatlinburg last year, and that they wanted to share it with me again. Also, please note that Emma and Kelsey are teenagers, and thus rarely get out of bed before the sun if they don't have to, so I felt doubly blessed. Henry and Gracie decided to come with us, and we started by climbing the old fire tower, then checked out several different vistas around the park. For some reason (lucky me!) they were all really into posing for pictures and even suggesting different shots, so I'm really happy I made the effort to get us all out there so early on a chilly morning.

But for all the hiking and swimming we did, I would say that the thing the kids liked best was just being there with their cousins. Everyone got along fairly well, and they spent lots of time playing video games together (in hindsight, I really should have brought some board games or cards too!) and just hanging out. It's such a wonderful thing to watch them all together. Not to get too philosophical on you, but I think a lot about the relationships people have with their families, and even about what constitutes a family, and the only conclusion I can come to is that mine is unusual. Not just in terms of scale — although the sheer number of my aunts, uncles, and cousins is overwhelming enough that many people can't really wrap their heads around it — but in terms of actual closeness. We're related, so we're a little bound by genetics and traditional obligations, but for the most part, we all like each other outside of that. We spend time together for holidays and birthdays, but also just for fun. I know a lot of people who have worked to create a family made up of their circle of friends, and I think that's lovely, but I can't tell you how lucky I feel that I was born with a family that is simultaneously a circle of friends, and how grateful I am to be able to give the boys that same gift.

And on that note, I will retreat from my inner musings to just show you some pictures I like:

state parks project: a review

Much to my nerdy regret, I haven't kept data on how many miles we've traveled or how many trips we took or how much money we've spent on our quest to visit all 25 Indiana state parks in 2016. (That last one is probably for the best. Believe me.) But I can tell you that we have used our pass to enter a state park 42 times so far this year (with the most visits being to Potato Creek, Chain O' Lakes, and Indiana Dunes), which works out to about once every nine days. And along the way, we've learned some pretty interesting things about our state and ourselves. Here are a few of them, in no particular order:

Every season is the best season.
We started this project in January by hiking through a desolate winter prairie at Prophetstown and getting up close and personal with frozen waterfalls at Shades. We spent spring break watching turtles at Shakamak and munching on wild chives at Harmonie. There was a muggy, buggy summer hike at Tippecanoe River, a visit to the beach at Indiana Dunes, and swimming for people and dogs at Potato Creek. We spent fall break watching the leaves turn at four parks in southern Indiana, toured an 1800s pioneer village all decked out for the holidays at Spring Mill, and ended with a hike in the cold, cold rain in early December at Brown County. There is something beautiful about each of the seasons, and I'm so glad we live in a place where they are distinct. The parks are most crowded in the summer, of course, but we've found that even in the dormant seasons, they're teeming with life.

We love birds.
Don't get me wrong; we liked birds before. Who doesn't? Except when they use you or your car/house/boat/whatever for target practice, of course. But this year we've really gotten into actively seeking them out. I haven't gone so far as to keep a bird journal, but I have noted when we've seen them (particularly if we were able to take a picture), and going back through my posts, I'm pretty impressed by the number and variety of birds we've seen during this project: swans, eagles, woodpeckers of many varieties, red-winged blackbirds, hawks, wood ducks, cardinals, robins, grosbeaks, goldfinches, bluebirds, great blue herons, turkey vultures, sandhill cranes, and even one spectacular great horned owl. We saw dozens of eagles during their winter migration at Turkey Run in late January, thousands of sandhill cranes during fall migration at Jasper-Pulaski SRA (not technically a state park but I'm counting it anyway), and a sky full of creepy turkey vultures at Whitewater Memorial. So maybe we should think about keeping a bird journal after all?

We like to find a little something on the side.
I know you've heard me say it before, but the side trips are often the best part of our adventures. We don't really plan them or have any expectations, and somehow that gives them an almost magical quality. This year's standout was the side trip we took during spring break to visit Garden of the Gods in the Shawnee National Forest just over the border into Illinois. We went on a whim, and we were handsomely rewarded. I guess the moral of this little story is that we shouldn't limit ourselves to our preset itinerary. Sometimes our side trips are kind of a bust, but more often than not, they end up being highlights.

Over, under, through, and in — we'll take it any way we can get it.
There's a lot more than hiking on offer at the state parks. We've gone underground on our own personal cave tour and climbed up the remains of an old quarry at McCormick's Creek, and explored an elevated cave (I'm sure there's a technical term for this but I don't know it) at Spring Mill. We've gone kayaking and mountain biking and swimming at Potato Creek. And at Chain o' Lakes, which we visited at least three times, we didn't go hiking at all — our time there was spent entirely on the water. I'm sure there are activities we haven't tried, but hey, there's always next year!

Moving outside our comfort zone is worth the effort.
By any stretch of the imagination, we aren't what you would really call "joiners." But this year, we've made a real effort to try new things and talk to new people. I've had a conversation with a stranger at the majority of the state parks, which is kind of a big deal for a hermit who works from home. Luckily, I've found that telling people about our resolution to visit all the state parks is a pretty great icebreaker. Aside from conversation, though, we've gone on organized bird watches and cave tours, learned to hunt wooden buffalo with atlatls at Mounds, entered (and won a prize for!) a fall colors photo contest, and dug for fossils with new friends at Falls of the Ohio. I even went with my mom to a jewelry-making workshop at Indiana Dunes. And the biggest deal of all, at least for me and Liam, is that we discovered how much we love kayaking. I see many happy mornings on the water in our future.

Also worth the effort: bringing our furry friend.
Whenever we could swing it in terms of distance and accommodations, we brought Charlie along with us. Sure, he tended to get messy because he never met a lake he didn't want to charge into or a muddy patch he didn't want to flop in, but the boys got messy too, and I've found so much happiness watching them wallow in it together. We're still deeply in mourning for our Charlie, but he taught us that we are definitely dog people, so we know that eventually we'll have another canine friend or two. And when that time comes, thanks to Charlie, we'll know just how much fun we can have exploring the world (or at least the state) together.

All adventures are better with people you love.
There's something about being out on the trail that makes the boys more talkative. Maybe it's being away from distractions like video games and TV shows and chores, or maybe it's just being out in the woods with our undivided attention, but they talk to us now in ways that they didn't do before. Sharing this time with them has really brought home to us the value of unplugging. But I'm happy to report that it hasn't just been the five of us doing our own thing all year. We've managed to bring other people into our adventure too, from spending a weekend at Pokagon with the Kruyers and Holidays to taking various cousins along for a hike, or a swim, or to try their hand at kayaking. We still have one trip planned this year where the boys and I will be staying in a cabin at Brown County with Laura and her kids, and next month Johnny and Erin and the kids are joining us for the eagle weekend at Turkey Run. We really love having them with us and being able to share this experience.

And sharing the experience — whether that means Mike taking one of the boys mountain biking, all five of us staying at one of the inns, or a whole group of friends and family members — has been the point of this whole exercise. This year is almost over, but our love of the state parks will go on, so if you want to join us sometime next year, we'd love it! You know where you can find us.

In case you missed any of the individual installments of the state parks project, you can find them here: SPP1, SPP2, SPP3, SPP4, SPP5, SPP6, SPP7, SPP8, SPP9, SPP10, SPP11, 
SPP12, SPP13, SPP14, SPP15, SPP16, SPP17, SPP18, SPP19, SPP20, SPP21, SPP22, SPP23, SPP24, SPP25.

state parks project, part 25: brown county

We spent Sunday morning at Brown County State Park in Nashville. It's definitely one of the better-known parks in the state, especially when it comes to fall colors. But one thing I've found this year is that I really like visiting the parks in the off-season. There's something really charming about, say, walking through a desolate late winter forest. Probably a lot of it has to do with the lack of crowds, but that's no surprise to anyone.

For this visit, we chose the CCC trail because it has lots of stone steps and bridges built during the 1930s as part of the New Deal. Not to get too political on you, but I really love the idea of the CCC, along with the things created through the program. Planting trees, making trails, building things ... what an incredible way to help people and land at the same time. We have a CCC-built conservation clubhouse in Plymouth, and it's one of my favorite buildings.

The trail started with a long stone staircase leading down to a bridge over a creek, then a long hike back up a hill, then rinse and repeat. It started to rain just as we reached a lookout tower, so Mike volunteered to hike back to the van and come pick us up. Max went with him, so Liam, Henry, and I climbed the steps to the lookout tower and had fun exploring for a while.

It was a pretty quick visit, but there's actually a good reason for that: I booked a cabin later in the month, and the boys and I are planning to stay for a couple days with Laura and her kids. But since we started this project with the five of us, we wanted to finish it that way too.

So now we've hit our goal and visited all 25 state parks this year. It feels a little anticlimactic right now, but I'm sure once we've had a little time to reflect, things will look different.

See also: SPP1, SPP2, SPP3, SPP4, SPP5, SPP6, SPP7, SPP8, SPP9, SPP10, SPP11, 
SPP12, SPP13, SPP14, SPP15, SPP16, SPP17, SPP18, SPP19, SPP20, SPP21, SPP22, SPP23, SPP24.

state parks project, part 24: spring mill

Although later events completely overshadowed it, we spent the weekend visiting the last two state parks on our list. We stayed Friday night and Saturday night at the Spring Mill Inn at Spring Mill State Park in Mitchell. We actually meant to visit Spring Mill a lot earlier in the year. I made a reservation to spend Memorial Day weekend there, but then I realized that we had other plans, so we rescheduled for early September, but then we realized that was too close to yet more plans, so we rescheduled again for this past weekend. What can I say? We're a family on the go.

It was pretty late by the time we arrived on Friday, so we didn't do much more than get settled into our room, watch a movie, and sleep. But we woke up Saturday morning ready to hike. The day was chilly and overcast, but that didn't bother us. We chose a rugged trail that started with a scary-steep descent right from the inn down a wooded and rocky hillside, then we followed the trail until we got to Donaldson Cave (which is open year-round; we were hoping to take a boat tour through the underground river in Twin Caves, but alas, that was closed for the season). The cave had a beautiful rocky opening, but inside, it turned out that if you wanted to explore, you had to climb about six feet up a rock wall (with rocks helpfully stacked against it to make a very precarious staircase). The boys clambered right up, and I seriously considered it. I'm pretty sure I could have made it up there relatively easy, but the prospect of getting back down seemed a little too daunting, so I gave them a flashlight and wished them well on their exploration. (You may remember that Mike isn't a fan of caves, so he scouted out the surrounding area during this time.)

The boys got extremely dirty exploring the cave (the true mark of a good time), and they shouted excitedly when they found another entrance. Liam had my phone, so he took some pictures, but only one really turned out. Still, they were very proud of themselves for their extremely successful spelunking.

The trail we were on reminded me a lot of Gatlinburg. It was very hilly, and there was a crisp, clear stream with huge rocks all around it, and it was very peaceful. It's kind of funny that I told Mike and the boys about it, because it turns out that Brown County State Park, which is about 90 minutes away, is actually nicknamed the "Little Smokies" because of that resemblance. Guess I was getting ahead of myself.

Eventually, some of us got tired, so we split up. Max, Henry and I hiked back to the inn to shower and rest, and Liam and Mike kept on hiking, going up and down lots of hills and through a nature preserve of virgin timber. Mike reported that the trees were huge and impressive.

Oh, and just to make our day, we saw a bunch of pileated woodpeckers. You can tell this one is male because he has a red stripe on his cheek.

It turns out that all the schedule shuffling we did worked to our advantage, because we unwittingly ended up coming on the weekend of Holiday in the Village. Spring Mill features a limestone gristmill that's in the center of Pioneer Village, a little town full of restored buildings from the early 1800s. Costumed interpreters "live" in 1863 and do crafts and period-appropriate activities during the summer, and for the holidays, they do traditional decorations and activities too. So after a quick trip into town for some lunch, we set off to tour the village. We stopped in at the tavern and met Father Christmas, who gave the boys coloring books. It was actually pretty funny, because Liam walked up to him, offered his hand for a very manly shake, and said, "Hi, Father Christmas, how's it going?" I wasn't going to make them take pictures (I've never made them do Santa pictures), but FC himself asked about it, and Liam was a good sport. And of course, once Liam did it, Henry had to do it too, leaving Max the lone holdout.

Elsewhere in the village, we checked out dormant gardens, watched a pioneer family having a holiday meal, and made potpourri ornaments. We tried walking on stilts, we marveled at the decorations on the trees (popcorn strings, cranberries, actual sugar cookies), and we ate rock candy and cookies. There was supposed to be wassail, a traditional drink, but if it was there, we didn't find it. Even so, we had a really lovely time. Spring Mill was well worth the wait!

See also: SPP1, SPP2, SPP3, SPP4, SPP5, SPP6, SPP7, SPP8, SPP9, SPP10, SPP11, 
SPP12, SPP13, SPP14, SPP15, SPP16, SPP17, SPP18, SPP19, SPP20, SPP21, SPP22, SPP23.