Queue

Carolyn and John stand in line to ride on a roller coaster. There were many rides that all four of us could ride. (Karen abstained from most)

Emmalee and Karen

Emmalee and Karen cool off with a drink.

John and Carolyn

John cheeses for the camera while mom looks on.

Cousins Playing Frisbee

Emmalee and Drew toss a giant frisbee.

Trickling Water

Water trickling over the rocks on a trail at Shades State Park

Waterfall

John hikes at Shades State Park

The Bridge

Lack of planning on your part should not constitute a loss of sanity on my part!

Just the latest technique I'm employing to manage unrealistic demands upon my time at work. I've capped the number of hours I'm available for meetings. We'll see how long this goes before somebody cries "Foul!"

Tadpole

Almost impossible to see, the kids caught tiny Tadpoles. they also caught tiny frogs the size of your smallest fingernail. there were hundreds of tadpoles in various stages of development, swimming in a puddle in the shallows of Sugar Creek.

Hiking

John hikes through the ravines at Shades state park.

Philosophical Question . . .

If a wildflower blooms in the forest and there is no one there to smell it, does it still smell sweet?

Summer Sunday

A sunday afternoon hike in Shades State Park.

It's a myth that Indiana has no beautiful scenery. It does -- but you have to know where to look.

Much of the beauty is underground, or beneath ground level.

John and Emmalee prepare to descend into a limestone ravine.

It's difficult to capture via camera the scale ... the majestic trees towering above rivers which have etched themselves 40 feet deep beneath the floor of the forest.

These aren't caves ... although there are caves nearby. These are underground rivers which have had their ceiling collapse. The stream babbles along the broken rocks on the floor of the former cavern. Emmalee poses with her walking stick.

Some sort of flowering fungus ... as delicate as a flower. Unfortunately the camera did not capture it well.