South Dakota!

July 5th Kayda, Carson and I started our drive to South Dakota.  The drive went really smoothly. I drove 12-13 hours then stopped to stay the night at a hotel.  I couldn't sleep so I got the kids up at 5 and we got on the road.  I could've driven farther the night before and was more tired the following morning than I was then.  So that was a bummer.   

Since we left so early, we got to Grandma and Papa G's before lunch (when I thought we'd be there).  We were very careful coming up their driveway knowing that Dillon may be squirrel hunting. He was.  So once I was sure he saw us we came up.  Almost immediately Carson and Kayda are shooting at targets.  I'm always excited to go to their house, but I was extra excited this time since Dillon went home with them in June.  I missed my kid!

Since we needed to do ALL the things on the first day.  We ended up going out in the side by sides.  I rode with Dillon, he drives a little too crazy for Papa.  Kayda drove everyone else down the road.  Later Carson was given the chance to drive but we had to get to the atv trails first.

We came over for a work trip this time around.  Since their contractor fell through we wanted to help wrap up some projects.  We all worked hard and managed to get a decent chunk done.  Not as much as I wanted since people ended up sick.  

Grandma and Dillon told us about an overlook you can go to but it was a little steeper than they wanted to go at the time.  This intrigued me of course.  So Kayda, Papa and I headed out to find it.  We were hoping to get there in time for sunset but we just missed it.  The hills were steep, but they were fun.  I drove the razor so I could drive.  Papa rode in "Terry" with Kayda.  She drove up and down on her own, I thought she might switch and have Papa drive but she didn't. 

Another evening we decided to go do the wildlife loop.  We started by the airport then met traffic.  That you could see stretch all the way up the hill and around the corner.  We talked about turning back because it wasn't moving.  We're so glad we didn't.  We ended up driving through a bison herd again.  They were moving in the same direction as us so they'd weave around and between us.  Unfortunately for me the traffic jam was uphill.  The jeep is stick shift.  My leg got SO tired.  

We're driving along watching the bison walk beside us and we come to a stop again.  I feel a bump and turn to look just in time to see a bison licking the Jeep. It's head ended up right at Kayda's door for a minute.  Then it moved on and found the truck... They LOVED the truck.  They followed it for a few minutes, chasing after it when it started moving.  The calf thought about trying out a different car, then returned to the truck.  Eventually the mama gave up and got a little mad at the calf to get it to leave.  

The truck really enjoyed it's tongue bath.

We found the burros.  Unfortunately, when Daddy bought carrots he got a little bag so each kiddo only had two carrots.  Which disappeared quickly with the burros. 

We went to work and work we did.  We did siding and deck railing.  We got a couple REALLY good days in before everyone started getting sick.  Then it slowed to a crawl.  We'd get a little done but people just weren't feeling well enough to keep pace.  Papa and Grandma have more pictures.  I didn't take pictures working because I was otherwise occupied.  The kids were pretty low key this trip too.  They didn't want to go do ANYTHING.  I had to drag them out the door for the lake and the loop.  It was actually kind of frustrating.  

We knew there was a storm coming but didn't think it was going to be nearby.  So Kayda, Daddy and Carson took off to the overlook.  Trying to catch the sunset again.  They got there and they could see the storm.  They quickly realized that the storm was coming toward them.  Then it was a race home, driving through rain, hail and lightning.  The wind was blowing hard enough the they had to hold the doors shut.  Good thing they were in Terry so there were windows!

Dillon REALLY wanted to go golfing with Daddy so they took off one afternoon to make that happen.  It was only a 9 hole golf course so that was nice.  

Sunday Daddy was down for the count and Grandma and Papa were tired.  So the kids and I headed to Sylvan lake.  We lucked out with a parking spot but it was nowhere near the good swim area (by the rocks).  We were able to get a good spot to launch the kayaks and they had a great time paddling around.  Unfortunately, the kayaks were a blessing and a curse.  The kids and I had fun on them, but we didn't have a way to lock them down and go swim.  Our trip to the lake didn't last long.   Later that evening the kids and I went to try to find the burros.  It was a long, unsuccessful drive.  We saw ONE bison, prairie dogs, some deer and we saw prong-horns closer than we've ever seen them.  None of the really fun stuff though. 

The night before I planned to leave we took off in search of the burros.  Kayda, Carson, Grandma and I.  We drove past where we usually see them, then came upon the bison herd.  We weren't there for the bison though so we turned around.  Down one of the dirt roads we saw the burros!  So we took off with our giant bag of carrots to go visit.  

I held the bag of carrots for the kids and got swarmed.  They'd sneak up behind me and bump me wanting me to give them a carrot.  They'd try to sneak their head in between a kid and the little baby burros to steal the carrot.  We saw someone there with a bag of baby carrots.  She didn't get swarmed but still had a good treat for them.  We'll try that next time.  It was a fun last evening for sure. 

For the way home I decided that I wanted to drive straight through. I hate hotels...and I just wanted to see if I could do it.  It was a bummer because with that long of a drive you should be able to shave off a couple of hours just by going 10 miles an hour over the speed limit on the freeway...but we kept hitting construction and traffic jams from the construction.  I think we managed to take 30 minutes off the 17 hour 10 minute drive.  We made it...and I will NEVER do it again.  I was feeling pretty weird by the time we got home.  Getting out of the car I had the worst vertigo I've ever had. It was like getting off a treadmill but SO much worse.  I was spinning and felt like I was never holding still.  It was making me nauseous. It took me 3 hours to get settled enough to sleep and it turned me into a slug the entire next day.  

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.