Indiana Dunes

We went to the Indiana Dunes on Lake Michigan last weekend. Surprisingly, it is very much like a beach at the ocean, except all the factories around the Lake and the smell of ocean air. Friday evening we visited a friend, parked in his driveway and enjoyed the neighborhood private beach. It was beautiful, but REALLY windy. We played for about an hour and a half with the boys, then went to a Mexican restaurant for dinner. Chesterton, IN is in Central time zone so we got to dinner early (for them). We had a nice dinner, but Leaf melted near the end. We took the boys back to the hotel and everyone was asleep by 8pm (actually 7pm). I fell asleep on the floor beside Leaf, and Nathan fell asleep with his swim suit on. At 10, I woke up to no feeling in my legs. I had propped them up on the bed, so they wouldn't swell, but fell asleep that way. It took 10 minutes to get rid of the pins and needles.

When we got to the state park, they were building a bridge or something. Naturally the first thing we had to check out was the BULLDOZER.

We woke up early the next morning, had breakfast and went swimming in the pool. Around 12 (our time), we went for lunch. Leaf was really cranky and had a little bit of a croup cough. He fell asleep before we had lunch. After lunch, we hit the State Park and the beach. 

Leaf running to the bulldozer, with a ball in his hand....one of his favorite things. He loves balls.

 Burying Everest's feet, both boys enjoyed this a lot.

We played for over 3 hours. The kids had a great time. Leaf and I picked up lots of rocks, we buried each others feet and climbed some of the sand hills. The boys and Nathan played in the water for a while. Once the kids were good and wet, we decided to go for a hike through the dunes. We brought the stroller so Leaf could sleep, but didn't check out the handicap accessible trails before we headed out. We picked a trail that looked like the dirt was packed down...hahaha. When we got closer, we realized it was dark colored sand. "It shouldn't be too bad.", were Nathan's exact words. We ended up hiking about a mile, through a sand trail with a stroller. Have you every tried pushing a stroller on the beach? Not the nice packed down sand, I mean loose sand? Nathan pushed on the way in, then Everest wanted carried and I got to push on the way out. For a 6 month pregnant woman, it wore me out!

Leaf would climb up the sand hill and then slide down. You can see the track he made to the right. 

Everest liked watching all the sea gulls. When we stopped at the Nature Center, they had a poster to see how long your wing span is. Everest's wing span is the same as a sea gull. Mine was a Canada Goose. 

Leaf checking out the lake. He had no trouble getting in the cold water and filling up his cup. I would not let go of his hand, because he had fallen in more than once the night before and I did not want to go in (even to my ankles) to get him.

We did make it to the car and went for some VERY good Indian food. We have not had Indian food since we left Logan (We miss the Indian Oven!). Then it was an hour and 45 minute trip home. Neither boy napped much, so we thought they would be out the whole way. NO such luck. Leaf fell asleep about 15 minutes outside of town. 

Everest running on one of the big sand hills the bulldozer made. We found a lot of cool colored and shaped rocks here.

This is the little channel they had dug, the water was much warmer here. We spent at least an hour and a half playing in the water here.

Just wanted to show you a glimpse of the shore line. Notice all the factories in the background. Other than that and the cloudy day, it was beautiful and we had fun.

We had a great time, and are planning another trip soon. If you have never been, it is worth checking out.