Hooray! "Karin? Karin! Coming!"

Karin and Jul on IU campus (can you see my 16 week baby belly?)

"Karin? ... Karin! Coming!" That was Gemma's query and reply every time she woke up in the morning or after a nap for three days last week while Karin Svenson was visiting us. Gemma would stand at the top of the stairs and call down to Karin, then after hearing a reply, hurry down the stairs to find her. Needless to say, Gemma adored her and we had a GREAT visit together. (even though Karin might have tired of reading Dr Seuss books over and over and over by the end)

Karin and Jim have been friends since high school, and later I become friends with Karin in college and we were roommates senior year. There aren't too many people that we can spend time talking non-stop for 60+ hours on faith journeys, food & nutrition, relationships, families, exercise and just plain goofy stuff. 

Here are some photos from day 2 of Karin's visit (I know, I know, we forgot to take any photos on day 1): brunch at Farm Bloomington and a stroll downtown; back to the house for naps; afternoon & supper picnic at a state park.

We really enjoy Farm Bloomington - cool decor (modern country/farm), local and seasonal food - from produce to meats, and really really good biscuits and apple butter. The biscuits are a semi-formed drop biscuit: crunchy and peaked on the top, but very soft and very buttery inside. Perfect.

It's fun to have Gemma growing up and increasing her stamina for walking when we go out (meaning we can leave the stroller). She likes to request "hands, Daddy, Mommy" or "hands, Mommy, Karin".

We finally checked out McCormick's Creek State Park, about 30 minutes out of town (how has it taken us nearly 3 years to get there?), which we had heard has a rocky creek with waterfalls and lots of wading areas, in addition to lots more acreage of forests, trails, cabins, campsites, nature center, Inn and pool. 

The sun was bright and weather in the 80s, perfect for cooling off in the river. Gemma didn't hesitate at all and wanted to plunge right in.It was sometimes tricky to get her to keep holding on to someone's hand to walk around (the bottom was rocky). 

Definitely a neat place and we will have to return! And hopefully we will be with Karin again soon, too!