Our Jellystone adventures are always fun, rain or shine. And good thing, because there was a little more rain than shine this year.

We kicked off our camping vacation with some fireworks lighting up the night sky like it was the Fourth of July, even though it wasn’t (yet). Luckily, our campfire chairs gave us the best seats in the house, but poor Artemis thought the sky was falling.

Speaking of sky falling, the rain showed up that next morning. And when I say rain, I mean flooding-level rain. Thank goodness for 3rd of July fireworks because there would be no sparkles in the cloudy skies that covered Independence Day 2024. In fact, our campsite turned into a giant puddle, with a raging river flowing next to us! And that’s how you score yourself some lakefront property!

But Mother Nature didn’t dampen our spirits. We made our own fun inside the campers, and when the rain finally took a break, Genesee and I zoomed through the puddles on our scooters and then cooled off in the pool. We even had an unplanned reunion with our Minnesota friends, who we first met while camping last year! Eventually, the Nicoali gang joined us, too. And of course we ate like kings and queens because our personal chefs (a.k.a. Grandma & Grandpa) made sure we were well fed and appropriately hydrated.

Summer is just not complete without a Yogi Bear encounter. And so, I’m grateful to have grandparents who reserve our campsites months in advance, because Jellystone memories are the absolute best memories.