Sounders game

Post by Daddy:

I have been able to take the boys to a Seattle Sounders game and been promising to get Kayda to one.  We were able to get that done when the Sounders played New York City FC.

On the train, which we were able to ride to and from the game.

Kayda had been given this scarf from a secret Santa, so she was able to bring it to the game.  It is a Sounder tradition for fans to hold their scarfs up before the game.

It was a great game with lots of excitement (Sounders won 3-1).  As the season progressed, this win was part of a 9 game winning streak (and 12 game unbeaten streak) that set an MLS record.

This was Dillon's third game and Carson's second.  Immediately, they all three were asking to go to a game again.

South Dakota on our own

We had so many adventures with Daddy and a bunch after too.  We were able to stay an extra 6 days!

 After dropping Daddy off at the airport I got to take Carson and Dillon out.  They both drove the Razr.

 They got a kick out of riding on the back too!

 The wildflowers were in full bloom everywhere we went.  It was so beautiful.  I tried to convince Grandma to let me transplant some into her yard from along the forest roads but apparently it's illegal, so she said no.

 We got to take out the bow and arrows.  In no time at all they were all shooting on their own.  The target they had was so firm that the it took a while for the arrows to actually puncture it.  In order for them to be able to draw the bow the strength had to be down really low so the arrows kept bouncing off!

The kids like to play Beatles rock band.  They got Grandma to play with them several times and even roped Papa in.  There was one song called "Getting Better All the Time".  The first time they tried it was hilarious!  Grandma didn't know the tune and the lyrics are all about getting better.... but it wasn't getting better.   It was kind of a "had to be there moment" but I was laughing so I hard I was crying while I dutifully continued playing the guitar.  The whole room was echoing with our combined laughter.  We tried it again with Papa but it had lost it's impact by then.

We headed up to the old beryl mine to look for some.  It appeared that someone had found some on their way up there.  We suspect Aunt Kirsten and her kiddos.  The kids were so excited by the idea that we went up to check.  We didn't make it long before the thunder started and it freaked Carson out to be out in the open so we headed back.  We did take some quartz with us though!

 Our first day alone we headed to Reptile Gardens.  The kids love it there.  We watched the snake, alligator and bird shows.  Though the bird show was less than impressive the other two were really good.  The kids' favorite was the alligator show.  When the presenter came out with the chicken and went to one specific area there were actually quite a few aggressive alligators that headed towards him.  He had to run to a different area to avoid them.  It was actually kind of nerve-wracking!

 After the reptile garden we stopped by the dinosaur museum by the Black Hills Institute.  They had a lot of fossils and replicas.  There were a few fossils specifically set aside so you could touch them!  It was amazing reading about how many significant fossils they've found in South Dakota!

 When we were in Chicago, Daddy and I saw "Sue" I hadn't realized the fossil had been found in South Dakota. Here's the story about how she ended up there.

 Of course we can't just shoot once.  We pulled them out again.

Dillon absolutely would not stop until he hit the bullseye.  I'd say he did rather well!

 One of the days we were there we decided to help them replace their pound.  The critters that visit it had torn through the lining so they were putting in a hard sided one.  The kids were eager to help.

 They had to get out of the way while papa moved the bucket.

 The kids loved to ride along on the tractor with Papa.  They even took turns driving it and helping use the excavator!

 Kayda worked very hard to put together "chipmunk rock" the way the shell is set up there were no really shallow areas.  Turns out they aren't squirrels they're 13 striped squirrels.  Anyway.  She built this section.  Once it was full we saw the squirrels AND the birds using it so we went and built two other shallow sections.


 Another trip to the beryl mine!  The kids love riding in the jeep!  Once again we just ended up with a bunch of micah and quartz to bring home!

 Friday we went to gold discovery days for some activities.  We went to the craft fair and Dillon did the "stick horse rodeo".  All three kids were going to do it but it turned out to just be kids running around after one of the "princesses" with a stick horse.

While we were waiting for the stick horse rodeo the announcers kept talking about needing teams for the bed races.  You needed teams of five, so we had enough people.  So we decided it would be fun.  We walked over and signed up... there was no one there.  I ran back to get tennis shoes and by the time I got back there was a wall of spectators on each side!  Along with several teams, one of which was a bunch of guys in tutus.  If that wasn't intimidating enough they started auctioning off the teams!  We had to go walk out in front of everyone to be "bought"!  The boys sprinted out and ran around by the crowd like little showmen.  We lost miserably.  Had to do it twice because it was double elimination.  We ran as hard as we could.  I think Papa was doing most the work.  I was really just running as fast as I could to keep up, not pushing the cart at all!  Carson was our rider.  We sprinted down, had to turn around and get a watermelon in his lap and sprint back.  Of course, the way back was uphill.  Papa was such a great sport about it all.  It was SO much fun!  On the way back we talked about how we should do it again but have Papa be our rider.  Next thing you know our tale has spun into Papa walking out with a cane, it's an emergency, he's on a gurney, and he's got a megaphone telling us to push in time (just like a rowing team).  This develops into Papa, in a hospital gown, with the watermelon under his shirt yelling "push, push" as if he was having a baby.  The kids thought it was the best idea ever and requested going to South Dakota again just so we could do that. 

We stopped for snowcones/ice cream after running so hard.  Carson had some facial "hair" going, courtesy of his chocolate ice cream.  I wanted a picture and this is the sequence I ended up with.  This kiddo is such a goof he is constantly making exaggerated faces and I love it.  Mostly.  

 Everyone was in good spirits when we got back to the house.  Grandma loves to bake with the grandkids so they had to make cookies.  She had just received a shipment with CD's of music from as she was growing up. She was really excited to listen to them but it was bedtime... so as I rotated kids through the shower she started dancing with them.  When it was Dillon's turn Grandma tried to spin him.  Dillon dead stopped and told her he was the boy so he was supposed to spin HER.  It was so neat to see them having such a good time.

Our last day there we got up early to be at the hot air balloon launch at 5:30am.  We got up and headed to the field just to see them all pick up and drive off.  We followed them right back to the road Grandma and Papa live off except we drove down a different spur and way back in there.  There ended up being 13 balloons.  It was amazing how quickly they got them all spread out and lifting off.  

 It was so pretty to watch.  As we're sitting there watching, the balloons all start floating the opposite direction the pilots had said they thought they'd go...right towards Grandma and Papa's house.  So we hopped in the truck and headed home.

 Sure enough several of them went directly over the house.  We got to have a couple conversations with the fliers!

I cooked breakfast watching the balloons float by and land in a field just down the way.

Later that morning we headed down to the parade.  We got everything packed up before we headed down.  Kayda was feeling pretty down so she sat with me and watched the parade.  It was fun to be there but some of the things were kind of odd to me.  The band simply marched, none of the "dancing" and turns I'm used to seeing and a cheer team went through, riding on the back of a truck.  That hasn't been my experience with parades at all!

The boys got to be in the parade with Grandma and Papa.  They were representing the republican party and threw candy to people.

The kids ended up getting sick during this trip.  Second trip to South Dakota with tummy bugs.  It made it kind of difficult to do activities but we all still had fun.

In the 2.5 weeks we were there we saw 5 thunder storms, 3 of which were in the middle of the night and woke us up.  One we drove through and got hit with hail so hard you could barely see!  Many people were pulling off the road.  Thank goodness the hail wasn't so large to cause vehicle damage as we drove through.  The last one was a beautiful display of lightning right at bedtime so we got to sit and watch it until the kids were ready to go to bed.

We actually ran in to one more thunderstorm, on the drive home.  Just East of Livingston, Montana we got hit... hard.  You could see the lightning and suddenly we were in a hard downpour with incredibly strong gusts of wind.  We had to go from 80 mph to 40 mph to have decent control of the car.  Fortunately, we got through it before they started doing emergency announcements with severe thunderstorm warnings.  We got to Missoula which is over half way home.  Stayed in an incredibly creepy hotel and got up and going in a hurry the next morning.  What should've been approximately an 8 hour drive ended up being 10 due to a big accident by Snoqualmie pass.  By the time we got home we were all absolutely exhausted.

South Dakota with Mom's family

We finally got to Grandma and Papa G's house!  All the cousins were already there waiting for us.  As soon as we got there the kids started playing together!  Meanwhile, I got to get acquainted with little Joel.  

 One of the best things about their house is the land.  The kids have a great time running around and exploring.  They were off to find the old "mine" at the base of the hill.

 They bought a little two person ATV called a Razr.  Kayda and I took it out and I let her drive some.  She had a great time.

The kids were all really good about making sure Clara was included and safe.

 We got to do the Cathedral spires trail, I've been wanting to do it since our first strip in 2015!

 Daddy's foot is missing because he had wandered off looking for a good view.  Along the trail we saw a couple of climbers (the spires are really popular climbing spots) and a couple of mountain goats that were way up on one of them.  It's amazing how those things can move along cliffs!

After the hike we met Grandma, Papa and Uncle Justin at Sylvan lake.  It's the prettiest lake there (they're all man made by the way).  You have to be careful swimming around because you'll often come across boulders barely beneath the surface that are actually really difficult to see. We went a couple of times. For this particular trip we had forgotten the paddles for the raft so I put on some flippers and was pulling it around.  Then the kids started using the kayaks and I was nervous since the boulders are in the middle of the lake so I swam after Dillon.  My left leg cramped really badly and I couldn't even kick it.  I ended up having to take off the flippers and awkwardly swim with them in front of me until I could get Dillon over so I could put the flippers on the kayak.  All of the kids picked it up really quickly and LOVED it. 

The second time we went we had the oars.  I didn't load the pictures but Dillon and Owen got across the lake and then Owen jumped out of his kayak so Aunt Kirsten and Uncle Ranen had to go over with the raft.  Carson hopped in to the kayak and took over while Owen was paddled back.  It was actually really entertaining to watch since Owen was in a life jacket so we weren't worried about him getting in to trouble. 

 Of course we had to do the wildlife loop since it's the kids' and I's favorite part.  We had a REALLY successful trip.  I drove so Daddy could ride in the back with the kids.  We drove through the herd of bison a couple of times, one of which I was the leader and we had to ever so slowly creep up so they would move out of the way.  There was a bull in the middle looking agitated.  When I got near him I just stopped, no way was I moving closer and getting the truck rammed.  We were at a stalemate until someone coming from the other side started pressuring them too.  Between the two of us we were able to get enough of a gap to pass through. It's always exciting when you get in the middle of the herd like that.  You're in the car and they completely surround you.  We saw a bison and their calves and prairie dogs but we got to see some special things too!  We saw antelope and their babies and big horned sheep and their babies!  It's not often you see the big horned sheep!  Babies of antelope are pretty elusive too.  The only animal we didn't see was the elk.  (We even got to see some wild horses on the way in to North Dakota)

 Absolutely LOVE this picture of Kayda.  One of my absolute favorites!

Here we are approaching the herd. 

 I LOVE the wildlife loop.  There are so many areas that are just beautiful.  If I could live in an area like this I would without even a little bit of hesitation.  It was so intriguing to see the abundance of wildflowers and lush green grass in contrast to the scorched trees from last fall's wildfire that swept through most of the park.

 Daddy's turn! He took Carson out for a little while and gave Carson the opportunity to drive a bit.

All the kids played well but Carson and Raelle played especially well.  They were almost always with each other!

 One evening the sky was clear enough to see the stars and some planets.  The kids got to see Venus, Jupiter and Saturn.  Uncle Justin was good enough at manipulating the telescope that you could see the eye on Jupiter and the rings on Saturn.  It was just as good as the giant observatory scope we went to years ago! Here's Dillon looking through the scope.  The sunset was SO pretty that evening.

 Carson

 Kayda

 We spent another day over at Rush Mountain.  It's a mini amusement park.  By mini I mean four attractions but the kids had a blast.  My favorite was the "wingwalker course"  which is basically an areal obstacle course.  The kids loved the mountain coaster.  You're in a cart on a track but you control your speed by applying a brake.

At the park there is Rushmore Cave... I can't be near a cave and not go in it so in we went.  Unfortunately, for the first time ever, I forgot sweatshirts so the kids didn't enjoy it as much as they usually would.

They had a lot of actively growing formations, they're all an opaque white which was really cool to see.  We also saw columns with huge cracks in them where the cave floor has "sunk" under the weight of the types of formations in one area.

Owen and Dillon had a great time together too. 

When in South Dakota it's time to update pictures.  I must say, I have beautiful children.

Aunt Kirsten took a family photo for us.  I wish I had packed with pictures in mind!

With so many kids, getting a good photo is difficult.  I know Raelle's eyes are closed but this is most definitely my favorite picture.  Simply because it reminds me so much of the way Grandma and Papa G always interact.  Papa gets up to his usual, silly antics, and Grandma gives him this look of "really, must you do this now?"  I adore it and to capture it on film is perfect!

We were definitely not prepared for these pictures!  The contractor working on their deck snapped these pictures for us.  The ones from 2015 were more successful but an ok picture is better than no picture!  I am easily amused so I'll share my entertainment.  We didn't position ourselves well in thie picture.  Daddy, Dillon and I are slightly separated.  Well, as the pictures progressed the rest of the group slowly migrated further away.  Then at the end we did silly pictures and we get this:

We're farther away and Uncle Ranen's chosen face looks like "get away from me you lowly peasants!"  I get a chuckle every time I look at the two pictures!

There are so many hikes in the area but this one sounded great from the descriptions.  We kept trying to go but one thing after another got in the way.  One of which was Dillon getting really sick.  He was having tummy issues in addition to severe abdominal pain.  We had to take him in to the ER.  Turns out this kid's body is just sensitive.  The puking caused inflammation near the esophagus which makes them incredible tender so it causes intense pain above the belly button.  It's essentially an extreme reaction to the stomach acid.  Fortunately the doctor was able to give him some medicine that helped.

Anyway.  On Daddy's last day there we were finally able to go.  We were still worried about Dillon because he was still not feeling the best but he ended up doing the best out of all three kids!

The hike was called "Sunday Gulch" and we went the wrong direction.  It's a loop so technically there is no "right" way but we went through all the really cool, fun portion first and the dreaded switch backs in the sun last.  I think the hike would've been much easier for the kids had the fun stuff been at the end.  Either way it was beautiful and I would definitely do it again (the other way).

You climbed over and down all sorts of huge boulders and crossed streams using several different methods. It was gorgeous and the kids had a fantastic time exploring all the rocks.

It was SO hot on the way back up and the kids weren't handling it very well.  So, after checking for relative privacy, I made Kayda strip off her shirt, I dunked it in a stream and she put it back on.  It was quite a shock at first but it definitely helped!

There is micah everywhere and there were large portions of the trail that look like you're walking on a glitter trail. The picture doesn't do it justice!

Finally the end!  We ended up on the opposite side of Sylvan lake and rushed to a little store to get something to drink.  We didn't pack enough water since we didn't bring the kids' water packs from home.  Fortunately Papa was with us and was happy to help refill water bottles.

When at Papa's house you must spend some time shooting.  We convinced Papa to take out his black powder musket and try it for the first time.  It was quite spectacular to see.  Daddy even got try it!

The kids love to shoot!  Kayda and Carson both got bullseyes this round.  I got to try out some concealed carry guns so I could figure out my preference.  Even the contractor joined in!

Friday, Uncle Justin left, Sunday Daddy flew home and then Monday, Aunt Kirsten left.  So it was just the kids and I at the house...