Put-In-Bay, Ohio

We had a fabulous vacation. We went camping at Put-In-Bay, OH. We went camping with our good friends Jackie, Ken, and Matt. It was a great time! These pictures are totally out of order, so please bare with me!
On our way home from vacation we stopped at African Safari Wildlife Park. It was a complete impulse stop, because the name sounded intriguing. This place ended up being a drive threw zoo. I am not positive why it was called an African Safari. There were very few African animals, and you really didn't get any contact with them. There were great American animals including bison, long horn cows, elk, and deer. It was a little too close for comfort for me, but a great experience for the kids. Unfortunately, a HUGE Elk stole our cup of food. It made me so nervous when the other animals would come up and beg for food...especially those that were large with horns, since I had nothing to offer them. But, we made it through. There was also a camel ride and pony ride included in the price. The kids did enjoy the rides.
We rented a six person golf cart and carted around Put-In- Bay for one day. It was really fun. We all took turns driving the cart and I think we drove on just about every street. We made a few stops and walked around when we saw something interesting. The kids loved this shop. It had some fun hats for sale. They each found one to try on.
To get to the island we had to take a ferry. This was a first for all of us. The ferry took our entire car across.
The kids were mesmerized by the ferry ride and Lake Erie. They immediately wanted to go on the ferry again. I promised we would ride the ferry home. That was an easy promise to keep. On the way home, I let each of the kids go out of the car and stand on the ferry. Kendall thought it was very exciting. On the other hand, getting out made Caleb extremely nervous. He chose to get right back into the car.
The kids loved spending the night in tents and hanging out at the camp site. They had fun eating at our picnic table and cooking s'mores over the camp fire. I was VERY thankful that Matt brought glow sticks for the kids. What an easy, yet fabulous idea. It gave the kids a nightlight for the tent. It also made it very easy to find them once it got dark!
I think another favorite moment that the kids had was swimming in Lake Erie. The water was surprisingly warm. Terry thought it was due to the nuclear power plant that was across the lake. I was also surprised how big the waves were in the lake. Some were 3 feet or larger. Kendall saw a huge water snake while she was swimming. It was about 4 feet long.

We left a day early, because the zipper on our tent broke and there was a chance of thunderstorms. The kids were pretty disappointed that we left early, but I really didn't want to deal with mud and 2 young kids.

All in all, it was a great trip! The kids want to go on vacation again. Caleb suggested California this morning. I told him that we would see!