We are in day three of our 11-day trip with our two 8-year-old grandsons. We had a great day at the Evansville, Indiana Zoo on Wednesday. Both boys are really into animals and ran from one exhibit to the next. If there was something to climb on or slide down, so much the better! The Evansville Zoo is a small zoo but the animals are close to the viewer, unlike some larger zoos. They have one tiger, other zoos have more. We were less than six feet from the tiger as he paced his enclosure! The boys were always on the move, grandma kept up with them, grandpa was trying to take pictures and always lagging behind. We had too many good animal encounters to describe them all here.

We bought a digital camera for the boys to use. Grandma had to carry it but they could ask for it at any time. The pictures will be only part of their record. They are both working on journals. They both have books of blank pages stapled together and they write their story for each day in their books. It is a delight to listen to them discussing the days activities as they write in the book. The books weren't our suggestion, grandson #2 made them up and brought them with him.

We stayed at Burdette Park RV in Evansville. It is a very nice public park with bicycle trails, a BMX course, a huge swimming pool and water recreation area, lots of playgrounds, volleyball, tennis courts, you name it, they have it. The RV park is nice but not great for big rigs. The roads through town to get to the park are poorly trimmed and very narrow. This is true of the trees in the campground also. So many trees here we couldn't get the satellite TV to work. There is no wi-fi and our cell modem was roaming and would hardly work at all. Still, I would love to take the boys back there in the future and spend more time there. Rates are reasonable and staff is friendly.

Today we drove to Corydon, the first state capital of Indiana. It is a short drive from Evansville and we arrived early enough in the day to walk around town. It is a charming small town with a country feel. We walked by the old state capital building. It was closed for the day but we can tour it another day if we want. We found a pharmacy with a soda fountain and went in for ice cream. Our youngest grandson has a milk allergy so finding something for him when we are having ice cream is a challenge. The girl at the counter suggested a cherry phosphate and so he ordered one. It disappeared in short order. Now he has a favorite drink. His mother, a pharmacist, called this evening and he told her about the cherry phosphate several times and then grandma took the phone and explained it further. She had never heard of a phosphate! Times have changed!

I took the boys for a bicycle ride while grandma cooked dinner. We rode the bike trail, crossed a low water bridge through some water and grandson #1 slipped in the mud after crossing the creek and crashed! After much wailing, I got him calmed down and we talked about the fact that he had made it across the creek, just slipped in the mud. Then I saw a dead snake where he had crashed. I told him he had killed the snake. He laughed at that. After that everything was better. We got back to the RV and as I was claiming the muddy jacket to rinse in the hose, grandson #2 was inside telling grandma all about the accident. I had to laugh. No better story than someone getting injured in a crash. Luckily, nothing was seriously hurt, not even a single band aid required. The two boys were outside playing, swinging on tree limbs, collecting rocks and generally having a good time for an hour and half after dinner! Guess he'll survive. Not sure about grandpa!